Psychiatric News (7/22) reports, “An estimated 1.562 million children worldwide lost a caregiver from March 2020 to April 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” investigators concluded in a study that revealed that “862,365 children in…21 countries had been orphaned or lost a custodial grandparent due to COVID-19, including 788,704 who lost a mother, father, or both parents.” The findings were published online July 20 in The Lancet.

Related Links:

— “More Than 1.5 Million Children Globally Lost Caregivers Due to COVID-19 Pandemic, Psychiatric News, July 22, 2021

CNN (7/22, Hunt) reports, “The proportion of schizophrenia cases linked with problematic use of marijuana has increased over the past 25 years, according to a new study.” According to the research, CNN writes that “in 1995, 2% of schizophrenia diagnoses in the country were associated with cannabis use disorder,” but “in 2000, it increased to around 4%,” and has “increased to 8%” since 2010. The findings were published online July 21 in JAMA Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Schizophrenia linked to marijuana use disorder is on the rise, study finds “Katie Hunt, CNN, July 22, 2021

Medwire News (7/21, McDermid) reports, “The presence of an eating disorder diagnosis significantly increases the risk for diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) and all-cause mortality in adolescents and young adults with type 1 diabetes [T1D],” researchers concluded after using “health records to identify 20,035 adolescents and young adults (aged 10–39 years) with type 1 diabetes, 0.8% of whom had an eating disorder diagnosis.” The study authors concluded. “It is important to incorporate screening tools for disordered eating behavior into routine type 1 diabetes care to allow for timely identification of such patients and to consider eating disorders as a reason for poor glycemic control, potentially due to insulin withholding.” The findings were published online in Diabetes Care.

Related Links:

— “Eating disorders tied to increased DKA, mortality risk in young people with type 1 diabetes “Eleanor McDermid, Medwire News, July 21, 2021

Medscape (7/20, Brooks, Subscription Publication) reports, “The global prevalence of young-onset dementia (YOD) is significantly higher than previously thought,” investigators concluded in a 74-study, 2.7 million-participant systematic review and meta-analysis showing that “currently, 3.9 million individuals are living with YOD” in which “symptoms of the memory-robbing disease start before age 65.” The findings were published online July 19 in JAMA Neurology.

Related Links:

— Medscape (requires login and subscription)

Psychiatric News (7/20) reports researchers have provided “a comprehensive overview of the neurological and psychiatric impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.” They did so by compiling “data from individual case reports, cohort studies, and meta-analyses on the neurological and psychiatric outcomes in patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection.” The study authors observed, “CNS infection combined with environmental stress caused by pandemic fear, social and financial restrictions, and ICU monitoring may result in the development of neuropsychiatric symptoms or syndromes, including depressive symptoms or episodes, manic or hypomanic symptoms or episodes, psychotic symptoms, obsessive-compulsive symptoms, and posttraumatic stress.” The findings were published online July 19 in the Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association.

Related Links:

— “COVID-19 Has Numerous Neuropsychiatric Consequences, Report Finds, Psychiatric News, July 20, 2021