Healio (2/6, Hornick) reports, “During the COVID-19 pandemic, loneliness, family conflict and difficultly accessing health care raised the risk for first-time and recurrent depression among older adults with asthma, according to a study” of data “of 2,017 older adults…with asthma from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging.” The “researchers found that 13.5% of patients who did not have prior depression developed it during the pandemic, whereas depression recurred among 48.6% patients with a history of depression in autumn 2020.” The findings were published online in Respiratory Medicine.

Related Links:

— “COVID-19 pandemic linked to depression among older adults with asthma “Isabella Hornick, Healio, February 6, 2023

Psychiatric News (2/6) reports, “Genetics play a strong role in the development of avoidant restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID),” investigators concluded in a twin “study population” that “consisted of 33,902 children born between 1992 and 2010,” some 682 of whom “met the criteria for ARFID based on the DSM-5.” The study suggested that “ARFID is more heritable than other eating disorders.” The findings were published online Feb. 1 in JAMA Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “One Eating Disorder Found to Be More Heritable Than Others, Psychiatric News, February 6, 2023

Healio (2/4, Liptak) reported, “Depression and high quantity of poor mental health days are independently associated with premature CVD and suboptimal CV health in young people,” researchers concluded in the findings of a 593,616-young adult study published online ahead of print in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

Related Links:

— “Young adults with depression, poor mental health at greater CVD risk “Holly Liptak, Healio, February 4, 2023

The American Journal of Managed Care (2/3, Gavidia) reported, “Prevalence of psychiatric comorbidity, emergency care usage, and inpatient psychiatric admissions were shown to be substantial among veterans with drug-resistant epilepsy (DRE), with women especially affected,” according to “a comprehensive retrospective analysis of a Veterans Health Administration (VHA)–wide sample” comprising 52,579 patients. Also, these results published online in Epilepsy & Behavior showed that “of the psychiatric comorbidities reported, depression (51.7%) was the most common diagnostic category, followed by posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD; 38.8%) and anxiety (38.0%).”

Related Links:

— “Veterans With Drug-Resistant Epilepsy Show High Prevalence of Psychiatric Burden “Matthew Gavidia, AJMC, February 3, 2023

According to the Wall Street Journal (2/5, Frosch, Subscription Publication), across the US, both legislators and governors from many states and from both political parties are calling for increases in mental health funding to deal with shortages in services and staffing.

Related Links:

— “More Money for Mental-Health Programs Gets Bipartisan Support in Many States “Dan Frosch, Wall Street Journal, February 5, 2023