According to Axios (9/16, Reed ), patients increasingly are “joining online communities to learn how to make pirated versions” of medications like “GLP-1s and other prescription drugs and medical treatments.” Some patients also are organizing “into online communities and sharing what they find.” Meanwhile, “These patients are essentially reformulating or mixing their own drugs and potentially putting themselves at a great risk for harm and even death on the advice of people they’ve never met, Bruce A. Scott, MD, president of the American Medical Association, told Axios.” Dr. Scott remarked, “I don’t think I can overemphasize the fact that this is scary stuff, and that patients should consult their physicians.”

Related Links:

— “DIY medicine draws frustrated patients to online forums,”Tina Reed, Axios , September 16, 2024

MedPage Today (9/16, DePeau-Wilson ) says, “A study of more than 8,000 kids found that those who reported severe sleep disturbances at age 10 had a higher odds of reporting suicidal ideation or attempt…at age 12.” The findings from the longitudinal cohort study were published in JAMA Network Open.

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— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

According to CBS News (9/16, Tin ), “Many people in [a] mental health crisis fear that if they dial 988, law enforcement might show up or they might be forced to go to the hospital,” but “involuntary emergency rescue” only occurs to “about 1% of callers, suggests new data from Vibrant Emotional Health, the administrator of the 988 Lifeline for suicide and mental health crises.” The research, however, “only spans around 2 million calls made from 2019 through 2023, tallied from a fraction of the now more than 200 locally run crisis centers that underpin the network.”

Related Links:

— “Will 988 call the police? Data suggests 1% of mental health crisis calls get “involuntary” rescues,”Alexander Tin, CBS News, September 16, 2024

HealthDay (9/13, Thompson ) reported, “Each additional hour of total screen time or social media use raises the likelihood that a kid or young teen will have eating disorder symptoms two years later,” according to findings published in Eating and Weight Disorders. These symptoms, researchers found, “include worrying about gaining weight, linking one’s self-worth to weight and binge eating, researchers said. Others include excessive exercise, restricting calories, throwing up, or taking water pills, laxatives or diet pills.”

Related Links:

— “Social Media Linked to Eating Disorders in Kids and Young Teens,”Dennis Thompson, HealthDay, September 13, 2024

Healio (9/13, Rhoades) reported a recent study published in JAMA Network Open found “new laws affecting the recreational or medicinal use of cannabis may be associated with changes in the use of prescription drugs to treat mental health disorders, but these links varied by drug class and state.” Investigators “found an association between medical cannabis laws, when in effect, and a 12.4% reduction in the benzodiazepine fill rate…and 1.3% reduction in the mean number of benzodiazepine fills per patient.” Also, “Specifically, medical cannabis laws were associated with improved self-reported mental health symptoms among older US adults, and recreational cannabis laws were associated with worsened mental health symptoms among younger US adults (≤35 years). Another recent study showed that medical cannabis use was associated with an increased risk of emergency department visits for depressive disorders.”

Related Links:

— “Medical, recreational cannabis laws may impact psychiatric prescription trends,”Andrew (Drew) Rhoades , Healio , September 13, 2024