The AP (4/9, Mulvihill, Lauer) reported, “On top of the stigma surrounding addiction, people who are in medical treatment for substance abuse can face additional discrimination – including in medical and legal settings that are supposed to help.” In response, “the U.S. Department of Justice published new guidelines aimed at dealing with the problem” and stated “that it’s illegal under the Americans with Disabilities Act to discriminate against people because they are using prescribed methadone or other medications to treat opioid use disorder.”

Related Links:

— “Treatment for opioid addiction often brings discrimination “Geoff Mulvihill and Claudia Lauer, AP, April 9, 2022

Endocrinology Advisor (4/7, Nye) reports, “Psychiatric symptoms and impaired health-related quality of life (HRQOL) have been reported among adolescents and young adults with youth-onset type 2 diabetes (T2D),” researchers concluded in a 514-patient study, the findings of which were published online in Diabetes Care.

Related Links:

— “Depression and HRQOL Influence Disease Trajectory Among Patients With Youth-Onset Type 2 Diabetes “Jessica Nye, Endocrinology Advisor, April 7, 2022

Psychiatric News (4/7) reports, “Screening cancer patients for anxiety, depression, and other symptoms of distress may help identify those at heightened risk of nonfatal self-injury,” investigators concluded in a study involving “a total of 806,910 patients.” The study revealed that patients with cancer “who scored higher on the Edmonton Symptom Assessment System (ESAS) – a tool that asks patients to score the severity of their symptoms of nausea, pain, depression, well-being, and more – were more likely to experience nonfatal self-injury within six months than those who scored lower on the ESAS.” The findings were published online March 31 in JAMA Oncology.

Related Links:

— “Screening Cancer Patients for Distress May Identify Patients at Higher Risk of Self-Injury, Psychiatric News, April 7, 2022

HealthDay (4/6, Munez) reports, “A record number of American adults are now dying with a dementia diagnosis,” but the “increase of 36% from two decades ago may have more to do with better record-keeping than an actual rise in dementia cases,” investigators concluded in a study that “used data from 3.5 million people over the age of 67 who died between 2004 and 2017, including bills submitted to the Medicare system in the last two years of their lives.” The findings were published online in JAMA Health Forum.

Related Links:

— “Half of Americans Now Die With Dementia Diagnosis, Better Record-Keeping May Be Why “Cara Murez, HealthDay, April 6, 2022

Healio (4/6, Kalvaitis) reports, “For adults with anxiety or depression, regular exercise had nearly double the CV benefit compared with those without these diagnoses,” investigators concluded after analyzing “health records of 50,359 adults (mean age, 59 years) in the Mass General Brigham Biobank database,” then assessing “rates of major adverse CV events among participants who self-reported physical activity for at least 500 metabolic equivalent (MET) minutes per week, which is aligned with current guideline recommendations for physical activity, compared with those who exercised less than 500 MET minutes per week.” The findings were presented at the American College of Cardiology’s 71st Annual Scientific Session & Expo.

Related Links:

— “Regular exercise yields greater CV benefit in adults with anxiety, depression “Katie Kalvaitis , Healio, April 6, 2022