Kaiser Health News (8/12, Huetteman) reports public health officials have said that people who test positive for SARS-CoV-2 should stay home and not go to work, but healthcare workers who test positive for the virus are often pressured to return to work. According to Kaiser Health News, “hospitals, clinics and other health care facilities have flouted that simple guidance, pressuring workers who contract COVID-19 to return to work sooner than public health standards suggest it’s safe for them, their colleagues or their patients.”

Related Links:

— “Nurses and doctors sick with COVID feel pressured to get back to work, “Emmarie Huetteman , Kaiser Health News, August 12, 2020

STAT (8/12, Cooney) reports that some individuals who have recovered from COVID-19 “say they can’t think.” Even those “who were never sick enough to go to a hospital, much less lie in an ICU bed with a ventilator, report feeling something as ill-defined as ‘Covid fog’ or as frightening as numbed limbs.” Experts told STAT that “as many as 1 in 3 patients recovering from [COVID-19] could experience neurological or psychological after-effects of their infections…reflecting a growing consensus that the disease can have lasting impact on the brain.”

Related Links:

— “Long after the fire of a Covid-19 infection, mental and neurological effects can still smolder, “Elizabeth Cooney, STAT, August , 2020

TCTMD (8/11, McKeown) reports researchers conducted a review study and found “despite evidence that prescription stimulants used to treat attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) raise blood pressure and resting heart rate, the literature is unclear with regard to the long-term CV risks of using them.” The researchers also found that “prescribing rates of the medications have been climbing in the United States while global rates of ADHD remain relatively stable.” The review study was published in JACC.

Related Links:

— “ADHD Drug Overprescribing Raises Concerns Over Future CV Events, “L.A. McKeown, TCTMD, August 11, 2020

Healio (8/11, Gramigna) reports researchers conducted a survey study and found “LGBTQ youth appeared to experience negative mental health outcomes associated with frequent social media use.” The findings were published in Journal of Gay & Lesbian Mental Health.

Related Links:

— “LGBTQ youth experience mental health benefits from social media break, “Joe Gramigna, Healio, August 11, 2020

Medscape (8/11, Greb, Subscription Publication) reports, “Concussion is associated with increased risk for subsequent development of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), as well as dementia and Parkinson’s disease, new research suggests.” The findings indicate that “after experiencing a concussion, the risk of developing ADHD was 28% higher and the risk of developing mood and anxiety disorder was 7% higher among women than men,” although “gender was not associated with risk for dementia or Parkinson’s disease after concussion.” The research was published in Family Medicine and Community Health, a BMJ journal.

Related Links:

— Medscape (requires login and subscription)