The AP (1/8, Kelleher) reported, “The current explosion of Omicron-fueled coronavirus infections in the U.S. is causing a breakdown in basic functions and services – the latest illustration of how COVID-19 keeps upending life more than two years into the pandemic.” According to the AP, “First responders, hospitals, schools and government agencies have employed an all-hands-on-deck approach to keep the public safe, but they are worried how much longer they can keep it up.”

Related Links:

— “Omicron explosion spurs nationwide breakdown of services “Jennifer Sinco Kelleher and Terry Tang, AP, January 8, 2022

Healio (1/6, Herpen) reports, “Using polygenic risk scores to determine likelihood of parental bipolar disorder [BD] passing to offspring is promising but unproven,” researchers concluded after collecting and analyzing “data from 745 participants (336 parents, 409 children) enrolled in the Pittsburgh Biological Offspring Study, which included parents with BD I/II and their offspring, as well as parents without BD and their offspring.” The findings of the “community-based case-control longitudinal study” were published online Dec. 22 in JAMA Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Polygenic risk scores may be useful in finding bipolar disorder link in adults, offspring “Robert Herpen, Healio, January 6, 2022

Healio (1/6, Herpen) reports, “Suicidal thoughts and behaviors in the U.S. adult population arise due to several factors, including geography, demographics, socioeconomic status and cultural setting,” CDC researchers concluded after culling “data from 254,767 responses on the mental health section of the” National Survey on Drug Use and Health from persons “18 and older from all 50 states and the District of Columbia.” The findings were published in the Jan. 7 issue of the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Related Links:

— “CDC: Geographic, socioeconomic factors linked to suicidal behaviors in adults “Robert Herpen, Healio, January 6, 2022

Psychiatric News (1/5) reports, “Older individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) who have depressive, hyperactive, and/or psychotic symptoms are at higher risk of developing dementia than are older people with MCI with mild or no neuropsychiatric symptoms,” researchers concluded after analyzing “data on neuropsychiatric symptoms…among 7,971 patients (average age: 73 years) diagnosed with MCI who were enrolled in the National Institutes of Health’s Alzheimer’s Disease Centers between June 2005 and December 2019.” The findings were published online Jan. 2 ahead of print in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Some Neuropsychiatric Symptoms Increase Dementia Risk for Those With Mild Cognitive Impairment, Psychiatric News, January 5, 2022

HCPlive (1/5, Kunzmann) reports, “Prescription” medication “misuse…is prevalent among nearly half of all US adults, according to data from a 26,000-plus person assessment that spanned 32 years,” researchers found in a study that included 26,575 people followed up from age 18 to age 50. Furthermore, “the risk of substance abuse disorder is significantly greater in adults misusing prescriptions than the general population.” The findings were published online Jan. 4 in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Study: Half of US Adults Report Prescription Drug Misuse “Kevin Kunzmann, HCPlive, January 5, 2022