Healio (5/27, Gramigna) reports, “Early emerging autism spectrum disorder [ASD] symptom levels often declined across development,” the study team concluded after analyzing “data of 8,094 individuals who participated in the prospective U.K. population-based cohort the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children and had two time points available for the parent-rated Social and Communication Disorders Checklist…spanning ages seven to 25 years, which the researchers used to derive trajectories based on five assessments.” The findings of the “prospective population-based cohort” were published online April 26 in the American Journal of Psychiatry, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association.

Related Links:

— “Autism symptoms tend to decline with age, but support, monitoring remain beneficial “Joe Gramigna, Healio, May 27, 2021

USA Today (5/26, Rodriguez) reports researchers at UCLA “examined data from emergency medical service (EMS) calls and compared overdose deaths in 2020 to prior years,” and “found overdose deaths seen by EMS increased by 42% in the U.S. in 2020 compared to 2018-2019, according to the study published Wednesday in the peer-reviewed journal JAMA Psychiatry.” The greatest increases “were seen among Blacks and Latinos, with 50.3% and 49.7% increases in overdose deaths during the pandemic, respectively.”

Related Links:

— “Not just a ‘white problem’: Blacks and Latinos see largest spike in overdose deaths during COVID-19 pandemic, study finds “Adrianna Rodriguez, USA TODAY, May 26, 2021

HealthDay (5/26, Reinberg) reports, “Teenage girls who use over-the-counter diet pills and laxatives to lose weight run a very high risk of developing eating disorders,” investigators concluded after examining “data on more than 1,000 girls” who “were followed from their teens for more than” a decade. The study revealed that “girls who used diet pills had a 258% greater risk of being diagnosed with an eating disorder like anorexia or bulimia within five years,” and “if they used laxatives, the risk was 177% greater, compared with those who didn’t use those products.” The findings were published online May 5 in a brief report in the International Journal of Eating Disorders.

Related Links:

— “Diet Pill Use Could Be a Step Away From Eating Disorder “Steven Reinberg, HealthDay, May 27, 2021

MedPage Today (5/26, Grant) reports, “Adults with schizophrenia, particularly young adults, have a significantly higher suicide rate compared with the U.S. general population,” investigators concluded after analyzing “five national retrospective longitudinal cohorts of patients with schizophrenia in the Medicare program from January 2007 to December 2016 who were split up by age groups – 18 to 34, 35 to 44, 45 to 54, 55 to 64, and 65 and older,” including “668,836 patients with schizophrenia (52.5% men), 2,997,308 years of follow-up, and 2,218 suicide deaths.” The study revealed that “the rate of suicide per 100,000 person-years among” adults with schizophrenia “was 74.0, which is 4.5 times higher than the rate for the general population,” with “suicide risk…highest among the youngest group of adults – ages 18 to 34 – with a suicide rate of 141.95.” The findings were published online May 26 in JAMA Psychiatry. Healio (5/26, Gramigna) also covers the study.

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— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

Healio (5/25, Gramigna) reports, “Most patients with bipolar disorder endorsed involuntary treatment via self-binding directives on the basis of impaired decision-making abilities,” investigators concluded after conducting “a qualitative study in which they analyzed data from an internet-based survey sent to the mailing list of the U.K. charity Bipolar U.K.” According to Healio, “a total of 932 participants with a self-reported clinical diagnosis of bipolar disorder completed the survey; 565 of them, most of whom were white British, gave free-text responses to the open question.” Of those “565 participants, 82% (n = 63) endorsed self-binding directives, and of these individuals, 89% (n = 411) said their main reason for endorsement was a determinate shift to distorted thinking and decision making when unwell.” The findings were published online May 20 in The Lancet Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Most patients with bipolar disorder support self-binding involuntary treatment directives “Joe Gramigna, Healio, May 25, 2021