Healio (6/9, Herpen) reports, “Specific phenotypes of autism spectrum disorder [ASD], including issues with visual processing, found in older siblings are likely predictors of ASD in younger siblings,” researchers concluded in a study involving magnetic resonance imaging and including “384 pairs of siblings, the oldest of which had been diagnosed with ASD.” The findings were published online May 26 in the American Journal of Psychiatry, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association.

Related Links:

— “Phenotypic indicators predict ASD in siblings “Robert Herpen, MA, Healio, June 9, 2022

According to HealthDay (6/9, Preidt), herpes zoster, commonly known as shingles, appears not to be tied to an increased risk of dementia. Investigators arrived at this conclusion after they “analyzed data from more than 247,000 people in Denmark who visited a hospital or were prescribed antiviral medication for shingles over the course of 20 years, and 1.2 million age- and sex-matched people without the illness.” After adjustment for confounding factors, the study revealed that “people with shingles actually had a 7% lower risk of dementia than people who did not have shingles.” The findings were published online in the journal Neurology.

Related Links:

— “Shingles Won’t Raise Risk for Dementia: Study “Robert Preidt, HealthDay, June 9, 2022

mHealth Intelligence (6/9, Melchionna) reports “telehealth utilization rates correspond with how clinicians perceive the effectiveness level, ease of use, and quality of virtual care services” amid the COVID-19 pandemic, according to survey study findings published in JAMA Network Open. The survey including “866 participants, who worked in clinics that specialized in either mental health (MH), primary care (PC), or specialty care (SC),” found “that MH respondents were more likely than their PC and SC counterparts to rate video care as having the highest quality, and they preferred this modality to the phone.”

Related Links:

— “Clinician Perception of Quality Linked to Telehealth Modality Use Rates “Mark Melchionna, mHealth Intelligence, June 9, 2022

Medscape (6/8, Burton, Subscription Publication) reports, “Social isolation is associated with a significantly increased risk of dementia in older people,” investigators concluded after examining “data from the UK Biobank from 462,619 people from across the” UK. The study revealed that “individuals who reported feeling socially isolated had worse cognitive function at baseline than those who did not report social isolation and were 26% more likely to have dementia at follow-up.” What’s more, magnetic resonance imaging “scans conducted nearly nine years after study enrollment also showed that those who reported feeling socially isolated had lower gray matter volume…in areas of the brain linked to learning and memory.” The findingswere published online in the journal Neurology.

Related Links:

— Medscape (requires login and subscription)

According to Psychiatric News (6/8), the American Psychiatric Association (APA) has “denounced the ‘false and harmful attempts to link mental illness and gun violence’ in a statement issued” June 7 “in partnership with 59 other health, mental health, and youth services organizations.” The statement said, “The horrific school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, that killed 19 children and two adults on May 24th is just one in a long series of mass shootings throughout our country,” adding, “These shootings have one thing in common – easy access to weapons that can kill with terrifying efficiency on a massive scale.”

Related Links:

— “APA Joins Numerous Organizations in Denouncing Attempts to Link Mental Illness and Gun Violence, Psychiatric News, June 8, 2022