According to Healio (6/10, Herpen), in a June 8 press release, “HHS has announced nearly $15 million in funding will be granted for rural communities to address psychostimulant misuse and related overdose deaths.” The press release acknowledged that “the overdose crisis is now largely characterized by deaths involving illicitly manufactured synthetic opioids, including fentanyl, and psychostimulants such as methamphetamine, cocaine, ecstasy, as well as prescription stimulants for conditions such as” attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

Related Links:

— “HHS earmarks $15 million for treatment, prevention of stimulant use in rural areas “Robert Herpen, Healio, June 10, 2022

Healio (6/12, Monostra) reports, “People who spend more time per day using wireless mobile devices are more likely to have a higher BMI, lower-quality sleep and other adverse health outcomes, according to” a medical literature review, the findings of which were presented at ENDO 2022. The review revealed that “each hour per day increase in mobile screen time was associated with an increase in BMI, and excessive device use was linked to insufficient sleep, greater daytime tiredness, sleepiness and depression.”

Related Links:

— “Excessive mobile device use linked to higher BMI, other adverse health outcomes “Michael Monostra, Healio, June 12, 2022

Psychiatric News (6/10) reported, “The majority of boys and men who die by suicide have no known mental health conditions,” researchers concluded after having “analyzed data from the CDC’s National Violent Death Reporting System…for 70,376 males aged 10 years and older who died by suicide between 2016 and 2018.” The findings were published online June 7 in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Related Links:

— “Most Males Who Die by Suicide Have No Known Mental Health Conditions, Psychiatric News, June 10, 2022

Healio (2/22, Gramigna) reported, “Among patients with first-episode psychosis [FEP], the effectiveness of antipsychotics for relapse prevention decreased significantly after the second occurrence,” researchers concluded after using “the nationwide Hospital Discharge register in Finland” to identify 5,367 “inpatients with first-episode schizophrenia aged 45 years or younger who were followed for five years of illness or until a fifth relapse episode.” The findings were published online Feb. 16 in The Lancet Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Antipsychotics for relapse prevention less effective a second time “Joe Gramigna, Healio, February 22, 2022

MedPage Today (5/25, Monaco) reported, “The COVID-19 pandemic spurred” clinicians “to get creative in their shift to telepsychiatry for patients with schizophrenia, a subanalysis of the OASIS study” revealed. In fact, “across all types of visits – from routine to crisis visits – the percentage conducted via telepsychiatry increased more than threefold during the pandemic among 35 sites across the country,” researchers concluded.

Healio (5/25, Hemphill) reported, “According to the study, 94% of the investigators said telepsychiatry maintained the standard of care for patients with schizophrenia who are being treated with” long-acting injectables (LAIs). The findings were presented at the American Psychiatric Association 2022 Annual Meeting.

Related Links:

— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)