Healio (9/19, Bascom) reports, “An umbrella review published” online in The BMJ and including 101 meta-analyses “provided a breakdown of the associations between cannabis and health outcomes, highlighting the uncertain potential for clinical use.” The umbrella review found that “cannabis-based medications seem to be effective for those with chronic pain, multiple sclerosis and more.” Among “the general population,” however, “cannabis worsened cognition, psychotic symptoms and psychiatric symptoms.”

Related Links:

— “Umbrella review reveals what the benefits and risks of cannabis are and for whom,”Emma Bascom, Healio, September 19, 2023

Healio (9/19, Cooper) reports, “Factors previously associated with short-term risk for new-onset bipolar disorder also were associated with significantly higher risk after more than 10 years of follow-up,” investigators concluded after tracking the “long-term association between bipolar at-risk…criteria – which includes subthreshold mania, cyclothymic features, subthreshold depression and family history of bipolar disorder (BD) – and the development of BD” in a study that included 60 participants. The findings were published online Sept. 15 in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Patients at risk for bipolar disorder would benefit from long-term monitoring and support,”Justin Cooper, Healio, September 19, 2023

Healthcare Finance News (9/18, Morse) says, “Ahead of a hearing on pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) before the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability on Tuesday, PhRMA released Nephron Research that contends PBMs are driving up profits and drug prices through fees.” The PBMs “demand double the amount of fees today than they did five years ago, according to the report released Monday.” To address the issue, “PhRMA recommends that PBM compensation no longer be tied to the price of medicines and they should instead receive a flat fee.” Additionally, “PBMs should share savings directly with patients so they don’t pay more than their insurer pays, PhRMA said.”

Related Links:

— “PBMs are driving up drug prices through fees, PhRMA report claims,”Susan Morse, Healthcare Finance News, September 18, 2023

Healio (9/18, Herpen) reports, “Individuals who sustained at least one head injury saw an increased risk for developing cognitive issues over a 30-year period compared to those who did not, according to” the findings presented in a poster at the American Neurological Association annual meeting. After examining “cognition in 11,677 individuals, with 2,110 having a recorded prior head injury,” investigators found that people “who sustained a head injury were at significantly increased risk for cognitive change after 30 years.”

Related Links:

— “Prior head injury linked to higher risk for cognitive change over 30 years,”Robert Herpen, Healio, September 18, 2023

According to HealthDay (9/18, Mundell), “seniors who develop dementia begin to lose their wealth in the eight years before a definitive diagnosis,” according to findings published online in a research letter in JAMA Neurology. Examining “medical records, researchers compared the financial health of two groups of participants: One group of about 5,400 people whose mental capacity (and that of their spouse) remained stable throughout those two decades, and another group of nearly 2,700 people where dementia was probable and then at some point definitively diagnosed.” The study revealed that “in the years leading up to a dementia diagnosis, average net worth fell by more than half.”

Related Links:

— “Older Americans’ Finances Decline in Years Before Dementia Diagnosis,”Ernie Mundell, HealthDay, September 18, 2023