HealthDay (1/7, Thompson ) reports research found that children “with autism who speak more than one language tend to have fewer symptoms from their disorder.” Study results indicate that “being multilingual not only enhances their general cognitive abilities, but also helps them better control their daily thoughts and actions.” The findings were published in Autism Research.

Related Links:

— “Multilingual Children with Autism Show Improved Cognitive Function,” Dennis Thompson, HealthDay, January 7, 2025

The AP (1/6, Johnson) reports, “As U.S. lawmakers debate issues around health care for transgender youth, it’s been difficult to determine the number of young people receiving gender-affirming medications, leaving room for exaggerated and false claims.” Now, the AP says, “a medical journal has published the most reliable estimate yet and the numbers are low, reflecting more clearly on medical practices now being weighed by the U.S. Supreme Court.” The study found that “fewer than 1 in 1,000 U.S. adolescents with commercial insurance received gender-affirming medications – puberty blockers or hormones – during a recent five-year period.” The findings were published in JAMA Pediatrics.

NBC News (1/6, Lavietes ) reports the research, “which analyzed the private insurance claims for more than 5.1 million young patients ages 8 to 17 from 2018 to 2022, also found that no transgender patients under 12 were prescribed gender-affirming hormones.” Investigators “found that the use of puberty blockers and hormones was more common among trans minors who were assigned female sex at birth versus those assigned male at birth.”

Related Links:

— “Fewer than 1 in 1,000 US adolescents receive gender-affirming medications, researchers find,” Carla K. Johnson, Associated Press, January 7, 2025

Healio (1/6, Rhoades) reports, “Genetic predisposition for schizophrenia and frequent use of cannabis both independently corresponded with an increased likelihood of developing psychosis, results of a case-control study showed.” But, “researchers found no evidence of an interaction between genetic predisposition and cannabis use.” The findings were published in Psychological Medicine.

Related Links:

— “Cannabis use, schizophrenia genetic predisposition both independently raise psychosis risk,” Andrew Rhoades, Healio, January 7, 2025

CNN (12/30, Christensen ) reports, “Tiny packets of nicotine have quickly become a big problem for parents and schools.” Sold “under names like Zyn, O! Rogue, Juice Head and VELO,” such “products are supposed to be sold only to people over 21,” but “a growing number of children have reported using these types of smokeless oral nicotine packets.” The packets “have quickly become one of the most-used nicotine products among kids and young adults, according to the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention, second only to vaping.”

Related Links:

— “For young users, tobacco packets like Zyn are a nicotine trend that just won’t quit,” Jen Christensen, CNN, December 30, 2025

ProPublica (12/30, Eldeib , Miller , Berg ) reports, “Many Americans have faced the denial of mental health treatment by their insurance companies – at times despite vivid evidence of the risk such decisions pose.” And while “in most cases patients don’t appeal,” a small percentage of “patients and their families decide to fight the denials in federal court, setting up a David-versus-Goliath battle where insurers frequently have the upper hand.” Such cases, “ProPublica found, expose in blunt terms how insurance companies can put their clients’ health in jeopardy, in ways that some judges have ruled ‘arbitrary and capricious.’” In order “to do so, court records reveal, the insurers have turned to a coterie of psychiatrists and have continued relying on them even after one or more of their decisions have been criticized or overturned in court.”

Related Links:

— “Insurers Continue to Rely on Doctors Whose Judgments Have Been Criticized by Courts,” Duaa Eldeib and Maya Miller, with research by Kirsten Berg, ProPublica, December 30, 2024