The AP (11/17, Jojola) reported an ongoing investigation is tracking a “growing health care epidemic where hundreds of people” with dementia and similar conditions “are abandoned every year at metro-area hospitals,” a problem which “is costing hospitals and in some cases, taxpayers, millions of dollars a year.” Many such “at-risk adults…end up languishing in hospitals because they have no family to take care of them or a facility willing to take them in due to a lack of space, finances, or appropriate scope of care.” According to one survey of hospitals in the Denver area, “on a single day in September 113 at-risk adults were stuck in the system, beyond medical necessity,” and about 30 percent had mental health issues such as dementia.

Related Links:

— “People without caregivers end up stranded in hospitals, “Jeremy Jojola, AP, November 17, 2018.

USA Today (11/16, O’Donnell) reported, “From 2007 to 2017, the number of deaths attributable to alcohol increased 35 percent,” research indicated. What’s more, “deaths among women rose 67 percent,” whereas they rise “29 percent” among men. USA Today went on to summarize a number of studies indicating “increases for acute and chronic alcohol use.”

Newsweek (11/17, Wynne) reported, “Women are more susceptible to alcohol-related risks because they typically weigh less than men, and can feel the effects of alcohol faster, according to the National Institute on Alcohol and Abuse and Alcoholism.”

Related Links:

— “Alcohol is killing more people, and younger. The biggest increases are among women, “Jayne O’Donnell, USA Today, November 16, 2018.

HealthDay (11/15, Salamon) reports that in a “first-of-its-kind study, which surveyed white and Latino young adults identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT),” researchers found that “more than half of them experienced efforts to change their sexual orientation during adolescence.” The findings of the 245-young adult study were published online Nov. 7 in the Journal of Homosexuality.

Related Links:

— “Gay ‘Conversion Therapy’ Often Begins at Home, With Devastating Consequences, ” Maureen Salamon, HealthDay, November 15, 2018.

MedPage Today (11/15, Dotinga) reports, “Previous homelessness appears to be an independent risk factor for suicide attempts among U.S. veterans,” researchers concluded. In their “analysis of over 3,000 veterans, the link between lifetime homelessness and suicide attempts remained after adjusting for demographics and mental health,” investigators found. The findings were presented at the American Public Health Association’s annual meeting.

Related Links:

— “MedPage, (requires login and subscription), November 15, 2018.

The AP (11/15) reported that “health officials” with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention “say the workers with the highest suicide rates have construction, mining and drilling jobs.” The findings, which were published Nov. 16 in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, corrected “an earlier study that mistakenly said farmers, lumberjacks and fishermen killed themselves most often.” In arriving at these conclusions, investigators examined data on “22,000 people who died of suicide in 2012 and 2015, and what jobs they held.”

The NBC News (11/15, Fox) website reports that across the entire population, suicide rates are rising, the report revealed, with men being more likely than women to commit suicide.

Related Links:

— “Corrected study: Building, mining have high suicide rates, AP, November 15, 2018.