Forbes (12/7) contributor Anuradha Varanasi writes research “shows there was an almost 66 percent jump per month in anorexia diagnoses among girls between the ages of 9 to 18 years during the first wave of the pandemic.” What’s more, researchers “further observed that the number of hospitalizations for” patients newly diagnosed with anorexia “nearly tripled compared with pre-pandemic rates.” The study, published in JAMA Network Open, included “1883 children and adolescents with newly diagnosed anorexia nervosa.”

Related Links:

— “Anorexia Cases Among Children & Teens Have Risen During Covid-19: Study “Anuradha Varanasi, Forbes, December 7, 2021

The Washington Post (12/7, Jeong) reports, “Gen Z is feeling the stresses of the pandemic more than any other age group, according to a U.S. survey” that found “higher proportions of Americans between ages 13 and 24 say the pandemic has made their education, career goals and social lives more difficult, compared with millennials and Gen X.” The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research survey “polled 3,764 people between ages 13 and 56 from Sept. 1 to Sept. 19.”

Related Links:

— “The Washington Post (requires login and subscription)

Healio (12/6) reports, “Nearly 50% of individuals with incident mild cognitive impairment diagnoses were considered cognitively normal at follow-up, according to results of a community-based cohort study.” The findings were published in Neurology.

Related Links:

— “Many mild cognitive impairment cases appear to resolve over time “Joe Gramigna, Healio , December 6, 2021

MedPage Today (12/6, George) reports, “Cataract surgery was linked to a nearly 30% lower risk of dementia in older adults,” researchers concluded in a 3,038-patient study. The study’s lead author posited, “One possible mechanism by which cataract surgery could decrease the risk of dementia or Alzheimer’s disease is by enabling higher quality sensory input to the retina and therefore improving stimuli to the brain.” The findings were published online in JAMA Internal Medicine. Psychiatric News (12/6) also covers the study.

Related Links:

— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

Modern Healthcare (12/6, Devereaux, Subscription Publication) reports, “Since the start of the pandemic, mental health conditions have remained the top diagnosis seen in telehealth nationwide, recently reaching 61.2% of all virtual care claims,” according to “FAIR Health’s Monthly Telehealth Regional Tracker.” Meanwhile, FAIR Health also found that “in August, COVID-19 accounted for between 1.5% and 3.5% of claims in every region except the Northeast, and in September, the virus dropped out of the top five diagnoses seen nationwide in telehealth.”

Related Links:

— “Mental health continues to dominate telehealth diagnoses “Mari Devereaux, Modern Healthcare, December 6, 2021