The New York Times (10/21, Klass) reports on the work of University of Pittsburgh postdoctoral scholar Frances Wang to understand the role of genetics in adolescents’ risk for developing alcohol use disorders and other “conduct problems, like aggression and antisocial behavior, which can be predecessors of alcohol problems.” Dr. Wang helped to author “a study published in 2018 in the journal Development and Psychopathology, which looks at a particular biological attribute – the functioning of serotonin, a neurotransmitter – determined by a combination of genetic factors.” Dr. Wang said that “for most people it’s the interaction between already having that genetic risk and an environment that increases genetic risk or makes genetic risk come out.” In another study, Dr. Wang and her colleagues “found that the serotonin function may be related to a tendency to become impulsive in the face of negative emotion, a trait called negative urgency.”

Related Links:

— “When Teen Drinking Becomes a Disorder, “Perri Klass, M.D., The New York Times, October 21, 2019

Healio (10/18, Gramigna) reported, “States with more behavioral health workers experienced a minor reduction in adjusted firearm suicide rates,” researchers concluded after conducting “a time-series cross-sectional analysis to compare firearm suicide rates in states with more available treatment professionals with rates in states with fewer professionals.” The findings were published online Oct. 7 in the journal Health Affairs.

Related Links:

— “, “Joe Gramigna, Healio, October 18, 2019

ABC News (10/17, Bhutani) reports on its website that a study published in Stroke indicates that PTSD may be contributing to the increased incidence of stroke among “young and middle-aged adults.” Researchers “found that young veterans with PTSD had a 36% increased risk for stroke,” and “they also had a 61% increased risk for transient ischemic attack (TIA), a brief, self-resolving stroke-like event that can represent a warning for future stroke.”

Related Links:

— “Strokes are becoming more common in younger adults and PTSD may be a cause, “Dr. Saumya Bhutani, ABC News, October 17, 2019

The Washington Post (10/17, Siegel) reports a Society of Actuaries study “identified which parts of the economy have suffered the most from” the opioid crisis. The study found the epidemic “cost the U.S. economy at least $631 billion – and that more than two-thirds of that toll fell on individuals and the private sector.” About a third of the economic burden – $205 billion – came from “excess health care spending for people with opioid-related disorders,” and 40 percent – $253 billion – of estimated losses were from premature mortality “mainly due to lost lifetime earnings for people who died from overdoses.”

Related Links:

— “Opioid crisis cost U.S. economy at least $631 billion, study finds, “Rachel Siegel, The Washington Pos, October 17, 2019

The New York Times (10/17, Bakalar) reports, “Extroversion, an energetic disposition, calmness, and maturity” in high school “were associated with a lower risk of dementia 50 years later,” researchers concluded after administering “a 150-item personality inventory given to a national sample of teenagers in 1960.” That “survey assessed character traits – sociability, calmness, empathy, maturity, conscientiousness, self-confidence and others – using scores ranging from low to high.” Investigators then “linked the scores of 82,232 of the test-takers to Medicare data on diagnoses of dementia from 2011 to 2013.” The findings were published online Oct. 16 in JAMA Psychiatry. Also covering the story are HealthDay (10/17, Mozes) and Healio (10/17, Gramigna).

Related Links:

— “Can Personality Affect Dementia Risk?, “Nicholas Bakalar, The New York Times, October 17, 2019