Healio (2/11, Michael) reports, “Access to medical and recreational cannabis dispensaries was associated with reductions in opioid-related mortality in counties where cannabis is legal in the United States,” researchers concluded in a study that “used secondary data on cannabis dispensary storefront locations and opioid-related mortalities from 2014 through 2018,” then specifically evaluating “812 counties from the 23 states that had legalized cannabis dispensaries by the end of 2017.” The findings were published online Jan. 27 in the BMJ.

Related Links:

— “Legal cannabis dispensaries tied to lower opioid-related mortalities “Erin Michael, Healio, February 11, 2021

Healio (2/11, Gramigna) reports, “Distinct psychological pathways may exist between developmental trauma during childhood and/or adolescence and psychotic phenomena in adulthood,” investigators concluded after conducting a 22-study “systematic review and meta-analysis.” The review revealed that “dissociation, emotional dysregulation and PTSD symptoms played mediating roles between developmental trauma and hallucinations.” The findings were published online Jan. 12 in the journal World Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Researchers identify pathways between youth trauma, psychotic phenomena in adulthood “Joe Gramigna, Healio, February 11, 2021

Oncology Nurse Advisor (2/11, Nye) reports researchers found that depression symptoms in men with prostate cancer are “associated with increased mortality, disproportionately affecting Black patients.” The findings were presented at the virtual 2021 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium.

Related Links:

— “Depression Common After Prostate Cancer Diagnosis, Incidence Higher in Black Men “Jessica Nye, Oncology Nurse Advisor, February 11, 2021

Psychiatric News (2/10) reports, “Patients with psychiatric diagnoses who undergo colorectal cancer surgery may be at increased risk for postoperative complications and readmission within 90 days, but psychiatric treatment prior to surgery may help to reduce these risks,” investigators concluded after examining VA data on “58,961 patients” who “underwent colon or rectal surgery for colon or rectal cancer.” The findings were published online Feb. 9 in Psychiatric Services, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association.

Related Links:

— “Psychiatric Diagnoses Prior to Colorectal Cancer Surgery Associated With Worse Outcomes, Psychiatric News, February 10, 2021

HealthDay (2/9) reports that “research suggests poor patients [with Alzheimer’s disease] living in rural areas may not have access to the specialists who could spot the first signs of memory declines.” Researchers “sought to determine whether Medicare beneficiaries with Alzheimer’s and related dementias were receiving care from” geriatric specialists, “as well as whether there were socioeconomic differences in access to care.” According to the study published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, “people with incomes above $24,999 were more likely to have seen a geriatric specialist than those with incomes below $15,000. And the odds of having at least one visit were lower for those in non-metropolitan areas.”

Related Links:

— “Specialist Care for Alzheimer’s Is Tough to Find for Poorer, Rural Americans ” Cara Murez, HealthDay, February 9, 2021