HealthDay (2/19, Norton) reported researchers “may have uncovered the reason” why antipsychotic “medications for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder cause weight gain and diabetes.” Working in the laboratory with pancreatic cells, investigators “found that dopamine influenced the production of both glucagon and insulin.” But, “when the researchers used antipsychotic medications to block the pancreatic cells’ D2-like receptors, that ramped up the production of both glucagon and insulin.” In the human “body, unchecked release of those hormones could quickly lead to a loss in insulin sensitivity and chronically high blood sugar levels.” The findings were published online Feb. 16 in the journal Translational Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Many Psych Meds Trigger Weight Gain, But New Research Points to Better Options ” Amy Norton, HealthDay, February 19, 2021

The New York Times (2/18, Tavernise, Goodnough) reports “life expectancy in the United States fell by a full year in the first six months of 2020, the federal government reported on Thursday, the largest drop since World War II and a grim measure of the deadly consequences of the coronavirus pandemic.” The new data give “the first full picture of the pandemic’s effect on American life spans, which dropped to 77.8 years from 78.8 years in 2019.” The data “also showed a deepening of racial and ethnic disparities: Life expectancy of the Black population declined by 2.7 years in the first half of 2020, slicing away 20 years of gains.”

The Washington Post (2/17, A1, Bernstein) reports “Americans can now expect to live as long as they did in 2006, according to the provisional data released by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), a part of the” CDC. Latinos lost 1.9 years of life expectancy, and white Americans lost 0.8 years, the data show. Bloomberg (2/18, Tanzi) says the report showed the gap in life expectancy “between the sexes rose to 5.4 years, the most in more than two decades.” Also reporting are the Wall Street Journal (2/18, Adamy, Subscription Publication), USA Today (2/18, Rodriguez), Reuters (2/18, Mishra, Chander), CNN (2/18, McPhillips), STAT (2/18), and Axios (2/18, Falconer).

Related Links:

— “Sabrina Tavernise and Abby Goodnough “Sabrina Tavernise and Abby Goodnough, The New York Times, February 18, 2021

Healthcare IT News (2/18, Jercich) reports that a Health Affairs study “found that telemedicine use during the COVID-19 pandemic was lower in communities with higher rates of poverty – suggesting that the industry must address the digital divide in order to ensure widespread access to virtual care.” The study, “which was conducted by researchers from Harvard and the RAND Corporation, examined the variation in total outpatient visits and telemedicine use among 16.7 million commercially insured and Medicare Advantage enrollees from January through June 2020.” The research team wrote: “Although the increase in telemedicine use during the pandemic is widely recognized, it is unclear how the use of telemedicine and in-person care has varied across patient demographics, clinical specialties, and medical conditions.”

Related Links:

— “Telehealth used less in disadvantaged areas, Health Affairs study finds “Kat Jercich, Healthcare IT News, February 18, 2021

Healio (2/18, Gramigna) reports researchers found “nearly one-third of patients with severe COVID-19 had PTSD after acute infection.” The findings were published in a research letter in JAMA Psychiatry.

MedPage Today (2/18, Grant) reports in the study, “among the 381 patients who were followed, those who developed PTSD were more likely to be women (55.7%), had higher rates of history of psychiatric disorder (34.8%), and were more likely to have had delirium or agitation during their acute illness (16.5%).”

Related Links:

— “One-third of ED-admitted COVID-19 patients may experience PTSD “Joe Gramigna, Healio, February 18, 2021

HealthDay (2/17) reports researchers analyzed 28 studies and found that children who bully other children are more likely to abuse tobacco, alcohol, and other drugs later in life. The review study was published in Pediatrics.

Related Links:

— “Child Bullies at Higher Odds for Substance Abuse as Adults: Study ” Denise Mann, HealthDay, February 17, 2021