According to MedPage Today (7/5, DePeau-Wilson), for children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD), “use of prescription stimulant medication to manage their symptoms was not associated with later substance use,” investigators concluded in a “longitudinal analysis” that “followed patients with” AD/HD “over a 16-year period from childhood through adolescence into early adulthood.” The findings of the 547-child study were published online July 5 in JAMA Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

The New York Times (7/5, Abelson) reports, “People with private Medicare coverage may not be getting the mental health services they need because they cannot find a psychiatrist within their plan’s network,” investigators concluded in findings published online July 5 in the journal Health Affairs. The study revealed that “more than half of the counties…studied did not have a single psychiatrist participating in a Medicare Advantage plan, the private-sector counterpart to traditional Medicare.” Psychiatrists “may be unwilling to participate in Medicare Advantage plans because of the low payments paid by the insurers, coupled with all of the required paperwork, said” Robert Trestman, MD, PhD, who chairs “the council on health care systems and financing for the American Psychiatric Association.” Dr. Trestman said, “Many of the challenges and frustrations are emphasized in the Medicare Advantage plans.”

Related Links:

— “Medicare Advantage Plans Offer Few Psychiatrists,” Reed Abelson, The New York Times, July 5, 2023

CNN (7/4, McPhillips) reports, “Residents of 12 states in the South and Midwest are more likely to smoke – and to smoke more – than people living in the rest of the United States, according to a new report” from the nonprofit Truth Initiative, which “has dubbed that group of states ‘Tobacco Nation,’ a region that spans Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee and West Virginia.” CNN adds, “Overall, smoking prevalence is about 50% higher there than in the rest of the U.S.”

Related Links:

— “The 12 states where smoking is 50% more common than in the rest of the US,”Deidre McPhillips, CNN, July 4, 2023

The New York Times (7/4, Mather) reports, “For the first time, the degenerative brain disease” known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) “has been diagnosed in a female professional athlete, researchers reported” in findingspublished online in the journal Acta Neuropathologica. Australian rules football player Heather Anderson, “who died last year” by suicide, “was found to have had C.T.E” as evidenced by “three lesions” on her brain.

According to NBC News (7/4, DaSilva), “Anderson’s family had donated her brain to the Australian Sports Brain Bank, where the analysis took place,” hoping “to learn ‘whether a lifetime of exposure to repetitive head trauma contributed to (Anderson’s) death.’”

CNN (7/4, Whiteman) reports, “Anderson started playing football when she was five years old and went on to play contact sport for 18 years across two codes – AFL and rugby league – before her death…at 28 last November, according to the paper.” During the course of “her career, Anderson had one confirmed concussion, and suffered another suspected four, according to her family.” The diagnosis “shows women’s contact sports also need CTE minimization plans to reduce players’ exposure to cumulative head injuries, and those plans need to start at the junior level.”

Related Links:

— “C.T.E. Found for First Time in Female Pro Athlete,”Victor Mather, The New York Times, July 4, 2023

HealthDay (7/3, Murez) reported, “Patients recently diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease who have early hallucinations are at greater risk of faster mental decline,” investigators concluded in the findings of a 75-patient study published online in the journal Nature Mental Health.

Related Links:

— “One Early Signal That Parkinson’s Progression Could Be Swift,”Cara Murez, HealthDay, July 3, 2023