Psych News Alert (8/17) reports, “Individuals with major depressive disorder (MDD) who exhibit suicidal behavior have 2.6 times the risk of dying from any cause compared with people with MDD who do not, according to a study.” Psych News Alert adds, “The study sample included 145,577 people who experienced a total of 158,169 MDD episodes, 1.4% of which included records of suicidal behavior; the average time from MDD diagnosis to the first record of suicidal behavior was less than six months.” The findings were published in JAMA Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Suicidal Behavior in Patients With MDD Associated With Death of Any Cause, Psych News Alert, August 17, 2023

CNN (8/17, Viswanathan) reports, “Last year, more middle-aged adults were binge drinking, using marijuana or consuming hallucinogens than ever before, according to a new report.” In addition, “cannabis use surged among young adults under 30, alongside historic rates of vaping.” This “new data comes from the University of Michigan’s Monitoring the Future panel study,” which is funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

The Hill (8/17, Fortinsky) reports that the survey has been “conducted annually since 1975. Data for this most recent 2022 survey was collected via online and paper surveys from April 2022 to October 2022, according to the report.”

Related Links:

— “Marijuana and hallucinogen use, binge drinking reached record highs in middle-aged adults, survey finds,”Giri Viswanathan, CNN, August 17, 2023

NBC News (8/16, Lovelace) reports that new research indicates Eisai’s Leqembi (lecanemab) and Biogen’s Aduhelm (aducanumab), the first drugs meant to slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease, “may only be available to a tiny fraction of patients.” The drugs “are approved for older adults with mild cognitive impairment or early-stage Alzheimer’s disease but, according to the study, less than 1 in 10 patients at this point in the disease may be prescribed them.” The findings were published in the journal Neurology.

Related Links:

— “Few patients may qualify to get new Alzheimer’s drugs, study suggests,” Berkeley Lovelace Jr., NBC News, August 16, 2023

MedPage Today (8/16, Firth) reports, “Children exposed to physical assault were at higher risk of a mental illness diagnosis over subsequent years, with the greatest risk seen in the year after the assault,” investigators concluded in a study that “included 5,487 children ages 0 to 13 years who from 2006 to 2014 presented to an emergency department…or were hospitalized for an acute physical assault in Ontario,” Canada. The study revealed that youngsters “seen for physical assault in an acute care setting were nearly twice as likely to be diagnosed with a mental illness over a median follow-up of nearly seven years when compared with children who were not assaulted.” The findings were published online Aug. 16 in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

The New York Times (8/15, Caron) reports, “In July, the Food and Drug Administration posted more shortages in” medications for the treatment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD), and this month, the agency “and the Drug Enforcement Administration took the rare step of issuing a joint public letter acknowledging the shortage and asking manufacturers to increase production.” These actions come as “parents and caregivers across the country are spending hours each month hunting down pharmacies with” AD/HD “medication in stock and asking their doctors to either transfer or rewrite prescriptions.” Meanwhile, “others pay hundreds of dollars out of pocket for name-brand drugs that are sometimes more readily available but, unlike generics, are not covered by their insurance.” Some parents are reporting that the shortage of AD/HD medications is causing “collateral damage to their children’s self-esteem.”

Related Links:

— “The Collateral Damage of A.D.H.D. Drug Shortages,”Christina Caron, The New York Times, August `5, 2023