HealthDay (7/28) reports, “Obesity, depression, high blood pressure, asthma: These are just a few of the chronic health conditions that are now affecting almost 40 million Americans between the ages 18 and 34,” investigators concluded. Federal data from 2019 “found that more than half of young adults (nearly 54%) now deal with at least one chronic health issue,” with “the most prevalent conditions” being “obesity (25.5%), depression (21.3%), and high blood pressure (10.7%).” The findings were published online in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Related Links:

— “More Than Half of Young U.S. Adults Have a Chronic Health Condition “Ernie Mundell, HealthDay, July 28, 2022

Healio (7/28, Downey) reports, “Following the 2021 record-setting report of opioid overdose deaths in the United States, experts are predicting higher rates of overdose deaths,” researchers concluded in findings published online July 28 in a research letter in JAMA Network Open. For the study, investigators “used data from CDC’s WONDER database for 3,147 United States counties and county equivalents and categorized them on a six-point urbanicity scale.” The study also revealed that “counties of urbanicity experienced statistically significant annual overdose death rate growth.”

Related Links:

— “Overdose rate will continue to grow: ‘It’s going to mean mass death’ “Ken Downey Jr., Healio, July 28, 2022

Kaiser Health News (7/28, Louis) reports, “The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline’s 988 phone number, which launched July 16, was designed as a universal mental health support tool for callers at any time anywhere,” but “the level of support that 988 callers receive depends on their ZIP code.” For example, “rural Americans, who die by suicide at a far higher rate than residents of urban areas, often have trouble accessing mental health services,” and even though “988 can connect them to a call center close to home, they could end up being directed to far-away resources.”

Related Links:

— “The US Mental Health Hotline Network Is Expanding, but Rural Areas Still Face Care Shortages “Christina Saint Louis, Kaiser Health News, July 28, 2022

HealthDay (7/28) reports, “Researchers examined care given to” veterans “before and after a transition to telehealth visits in early 2020 for treatment of their opioid use disorder,” finding that “the rapid switch to virtual visits for most patients kept people from dropping out of care, and telephone visits [also] played a key role.” The findings were published online July 28 ahead of print in the American Journal of Psychiatry, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association.

Related Links:

— “Telehealth, Phone Visits a Lifesaver for Veterans Addicted to Opioids “Sydney Murphy, HealthDay, July 28, 2022

Healio (7/26, Monostra) reports, “Nearly 30% of adults with obesity gained 5% or more body weight during the COVID-19 pandemic, and those who gained weight were more likely to have depression and engage in unhealthy eating,” investigators concluded in a study that “recruited 404 adults aged 18 years and older with a BMI of 30 kg/m2 or higher (82.6% women; mean age, 52.5 years) to complete a 15-minute online survey on the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on health and lifestyle behaviors from March to November 2021.” The findings were published online June 30 in the journal Obesity. HealthDay (7/27) also covers the study.

Related Links:

— “Depression, unhealthy eating linked to weight gain during COVID-19 in adults with obesity “Michael Monostra, Healio, July 26, 2022