CNN (5/8, Holcombe) reports, “Adults in their 20s and 30s with mental disorders have a higher chance of having a heart attack or stroke, according to a new study.” Investigators looked at data on “more than 6.5 million people,” approximately 13% of whom “had some type of mental disorder.” The researchers found that individuals “younger than 40 with a mental disorder were 58% more likely to have a heart attack and 42% more likely to have a stroke than those with no disorder.” The findings were published online in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology.

Related Links:

— “A mental illness in your 20s and 30s could mean a greater chance of heart attack and stroke “Madeline Holcombe, CNN, May 8, 2023

Psychiatric News (5/5) reported, “More than a quarter of people who experience substance-induced psychosis are diagnosed with schizophrenia within six years,” investigators concluded after analyzing “data from 3,187 patients in the Norwegian Patient Registry who were between the ages of 18 and 79 and had a diagnosis of substance-induced psychosis from 2010 to 2015.” The findings were published online May 3 in the American Journal of Psychiatry, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association.

Related Links:

— “Psychosis Induced by Substance Use Linked to Schizophrenia, Psychiatric News, May 5, 2023

Kaiser Health News (5/7, Hilzenrath) reports, “Marijuana and other products containing THC, the plant’s main psychoactive ingredient, have grown more potent and more dangerous as legalization has made them more widely available,” with some products currently having “more than 90% THC.” These higher concentrations of THC “pose greater hazards, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse,” which said on its website that “the risks of physical dependence and addiction increase with exposure to high concentrations of THC, and higher doses of THC are more likely to produce anxiety, agitation, paranoia, and psychosis.” Psychiatrist Smita Das, MD, “chair of an American Psychiatric Association council on addiction,” said that “cannabis use disorder ‘can be devastating.’” Dr. “Das said she has seen lives upended by cannabis – very successful people who have lost families and jobs.”

Related Links:

— “Legal pot is more potent than ever. And it’s still largely unregulated, putting consumers at risk. “David Hilzenrath, KFF Health News, May 7, 2023

Healio (5/5, Welsh) said, “Women who developed mood or anxiety disorders associated with pregnancy and childbirth had a specific and unique plasma protein signature regulating various neuronal signaling and proinflammatory pathways, researchers reported.” The findings were published online in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Related Links:

— “Women with perinatal mood, anxiety disorders have specific altered proteins “Erin T. Welsh, Healio , May 5, 2023

The Hill (5/4, Yarrow) reports, “Medical experts urged Congress to hold insurance companies accountable for inaccurate medical directories that can hamper access for patients seeking mental health treatments,” a “problem…referred to as a ‘ghost network,’ when health insurance” companies “ostensibly provide coverage, but direct customers to nonexistent or unavailable” physicians or other mental healthcare professionals. Some experts “said the problem can have serious consequences for patients seeking psychiatric care or other mental health treatments.”

Related Links:

— “Congress urged to tackle ‘ghost networks’ amid mental health crisis “Grace Yarrow, The Hill , May 4, 2023