HealthDay (4/23) reported, “Depression and other mental health problems have become much more common among pregnant women and new mothers during the COVID-19 pandemic, an international study finds.” The “researchers noted that mental health issues can harm not only a woman’s own health but also affect mother-infant bonding and children’s health over time.” The findings were published online in the journal PLOS ONE.

Related Links:

— “Pandemic Is Leading to More Depression for Pregnant Women Worldwide: Study ” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, April 23, 2021

Healio (4/23, Miller) reported, “Most people who used kratom did so to self-treat their opioid dependence or withdrawal,” investigators concluded after analyzing “500 YouTube videos.” The study revealed that “kratom was most frequently used to self-medicate for opioid dependence/addiction (83.4%), followed by pain (75%), anxiety (67%), lack of energy (50%), depression (42%) and substance use problems (42%), as well as mood elevation (25%) and nootropic effects (25%).” The findings were published online ahead of print in the journal Emerging Trends in Drugs, Addictions, and Health.

Related Links:

— “Most people use kratom to self-manage opioid addiction “Janel Miller, Healio, April 23, 2021

NBC News (4/23, Carroll) reports, “Women who use marijuana during pregnancy are putting their babies at risk, a study published Thursday finds.” The piece says that “babies born to women who were heavy cannabis users during pregnancy are more likely to have health problems, including premature birth and death within a year of birth, compared to babies born to women who did not use cannabis during pregnancy, according to an analysis of nearly 5 million California women who gave birth between 2001 and 2012.” The findings were published in the journal Addiction.

Related Links:

— “Heavy marijuana use during pregnancy linked to premature birth, early infant death “Linda Carroll, NBC News, April 23, 2021

The AP (4/22, Arbel) reports, “Recognizing that many Americans rely on texting, U.S. regulators are weighing whether to require that phone companies allow people to text a suicide hotline.” The Federal Communications Commission “last summer voted to require a new ‘988’ number for people to call to reach a suicide-prevention hotline.” Phone companies “have until July 2022 to implement it.”

Related Links:

— “Texting option weighed for upcoming ’988′ suicide hotline “Tali Arbel, AP, April 22, 2021

HealthDay (4/22) reports autism spectrum disorder (ASD) “appears to develop differently in girls and boys, so the findings of research conducted mainly with boys might not apply to girls,” investigators concluded in a study using “functional MRI…to examine brain activity during social interactions.” The study revealed that “girls with autism use different sections of their brains than girls without autism.” Researchers also found that “girls with autism had much larger numbers of rare variants of genes active during early development of a brain region called the striatum.” The findings were published online in the journal Brain.

Related Links:

— “Brain Study Suggests Autism Develops Differently in Girls Than Boys “Robert Preidt, HealthDay, April 22, 2021