On its website, ABC News (11/16, Kindelan, Joseph) reports, “The number of people who were hospitalized for eating disorders in the United States doubled during the COVID-19 pandemic, new research shows.” According to the study, published in JAMA, “rising cases were seen across anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and unspecified eating disorders.”

Related Links:

— “Eating disorder hospitalizations doubled during COVID-19 pandemic, new data shows “Katie Kindelan and Lauren Joseph, ABC News, November 16, 2021

HealthDay (11/16, Norton) reports, “Medical training may be taking less of a mental health toll on young” physicians “than it used to, but depression remains common,” researchers concluded in a study that “tracked nearly 17,000 U.S. interns (first-year residents) who entered residency programs between 2007 and 2019.” The study revealed that “overall, interns in 2019 did show an increase in depression symptoms during that first year of training, but it was about one-quarter less, compared to their counterparts in 2007.” The findingswere published online Nov. 16 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Related Links:

— “Better Work Conditions Bringing Better Mental Health to Resident Doctors: Study “Amy Norton, HealthDay, November 16, 2021

Healio (11/15, Gawel) reports, “Stretch marks can negatively impact pregnancy, quality of life and the psychological and emotional well-being of those who experience them,” investigators from Michigan Medicine concluded after surveying “116 pregnant patients with” striae gravidarum. The findings were discussed here.

Related Links:

— “Pregnancy stretch marks cause psychological, emotional burden “Richard Gawel, Healio, November 15, 2021

MedPage Today (11/15, Monaco) reports patients with COVID-19 “on an antidepressant were less likely to die from the infection, a retrospective study found.” According to researchers, “compared with patients not on an antidepressant, patients with COVID-19…taking a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) had a modest but significant 8% reduced risk of death.” Overall, the study, published in JAMA Network Open, found that “14.6% of patients (497 of 3,401) on an SSRI died from COVID-19 versus 16.6% (1,130 of 6,802) of patients who never had a history of taking an SSRI.”

HealthDay (11/15, Mozes) reports the study also revealed a “higher survival rate among those taking two specific SSRIs – Prozac (fluoxetine) and Luvox (fluvoxamine). The 481 patients taking either Prozac or Luvox alone…were 26% to 28% less likely to die from COVID-19, the study team found.”

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— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

Healio (11/15, Gramigna) reports, “Suicide prevention efforts may need to account for ethnicity because of variation across underrepresented groups,” investigators concluded after analyzing “data of those who died by suicide within 12 months of mental health service contact between 2007 and 2018, with data collection occurring for the National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Safety in Mental Health.” For the study, the team “compared suicide rates and standardized mortality ratios…of 698 South Asian, Black African, Black Caribbean and Chinese patients (69% men; mean age, 41 years) with those of 13,567 white patients (66.6% men; mean age, 48 years).” The study authors concluded, “The important social and clinical differences we found between minority ethnic groups highlights that the one size fits all approach by mental health services might not be fit for purpose.” The findings were published online Nov. 8 in The Lancet Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “‘One size fits all’ suicide prevention does not account for ethnic differences “Joe Gramigna, Healio, November 15, 2021