NBC News (9/14, Sullivan) reports, “The U.S. is in the throes of what researchers have deemed a ‘fourth wave’ of the opioid crisis, a phase characterized by overdose deaths caused by the combination of stimulants and the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl.” Drug “overdose deaths in the U.S. surpassed 100,000 for the first time in 2021, fueled by the rise of synthetic opioids” like fentanyl, “which accounted for 75% of those deaths.” However, “now it has taken on a new challenge: so-called polysubstance overdoses, which include more than one drug.” The share “of overdoses involving fentanyl and a stimulant – most commonly cocaine and methamphetamine – increased more than 50 fold from 2010 to 2021, a study published Thursday in the journal Addiction found.”

ABC News (9/14, Koirala, Aggarwal) reports, “In 2010, only .6% of overdose deaths involved fentanyl combined with stimulants, according to the analysis.” And “that year, fentanyl was most commonly found mixed in with prescription opioids and benzodiazepines.” However, “by 2021, 32.3% of overdose deaths involved the combination of fentanyl and stimulants.”

Related Links:

— “Fentanyl plus stimulants drives ‘fourth wave’ of overdose epidemic in the U.S.,” Kaitlin Sullivan, NBC News, September 14, 2023

CNN (9/13, McPhillips) reports, “Drug overdose deaths reached another record level in the United States this spring, new data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows, as 2023 is on track to be another devastating year amid the drug epidemic.” Over “111,000 people died from a drug overdose in the 12-month period ending in April, according to the new estimates.” The prior “record from March 2022 was first surpassed in December, and deaths have been ticking up since.” However, “the pace of the increase is much slower than it’s been in recent years, especially compared with the steep rise in the early years of the COVID-19 pandemic.” Nonetheless, “the latest data through April shows that about a thousand more lives were lost in the past 12 months than in the year before that.”

Related Links:

— “Overdose deaths continue to rise in the US, reaching another record level, provisional data shows,”Deidre McPhillips, CNN, September 13, 2023

Healio (9/13, Bascom) reports, “Mothers in Greece who strongly adhered to a Mediterranean diet had a significantly reduced risk for postpartum depression,” according to the findings of a 3,491-postpartum woman study published online Sept. 4 in the journal Nutrients. Investigators assessed “postpartum depression with the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale and adherence to the Mediterranean diet with the MedDietScore.”

Related Links:

— “Mediterranean diet may reduce postpartum depression,”Emma Bascom, Healio, September 13, 2023

KFF Health News (9/13, Saint Louis) reports, “Family-based residential treatment” for addiction “has been recognized by behavioral health professionals as having better outcomes for women and their children,” but these “programs often struggle to stay afloat because of staffing shortages and volatile funding.” As a result, “families in rural areas are less likely to find such a residential treatment program in their communities.”

Related Links:

— “Despite Successes, Addiction Treatment Programs for Families Struggle to Stay Open,”Christina Saint Louis, KFF Health News, September 13, 2023

HealthDay (9/13, Reinberg) reports, “Using both tobacco and marijuana is tied to significantly higher odds for depression and anxiety,” according to findings published online Sept. 13 in the journal PLOS One. After collecting “data on 53,843 adults who participated in online surveys as part of the COVID-19 Citizen Science Study from 2020 to 2022,” researchers found that “those who used both substances experienced anxiety or depression at nearly twice the rate of nonusers.” Healio (9/13, Rhoades) also covers the study.

Related Links:

— “Depression Risk Rises in Folks Who Use Both Marijuana & Tobacco,”Steven Reinberg, HealthDay, September 13, 2023