Forbes (12/18) contributor David DiSalvo writes, “People suffering from anxiety and depression may be at higher risk for developing other major health conditions like heart disease, suggests new research” published online Dec. 18 in the journal Health Psychology. For the study, investigators “analyzed health data for more than 15,000 adults over a four-year period from the Health and Retirement study, a large US population-based study of older adults.” The study revealed that “compared to those without anxiety and depression, participants suffering from those conditions were at 65% increased risk of a heart condition, 64% for stroke, and 50% for” hypertension, plus an “especially high” risk “for arthritis at 87%.” Healio (12/18, Demko) also covers the study.

Related Links:

— “Depression And Anxiety Linked To Higher Risk Of Other Major Health Conditions, Suggests New Study, “David DiSalvo , Forbes, December 18, 2018.

Reuters (12/18, Rapaport) reports, “More than two in five teens who use marijuana experience psychotic symptoms like hallucinations, paranoia and anxiety,” researchers found after surveying “146 teen marijuana users, ages 14 to 18.” The study revealed that 40 teens, “or 27 percent, reported hallucinations while using the drug and 49, or 34 percent, said they had experienced paranoia or anxiety.” The findings were published online Dec. 17 in a research letter in JAMA Pediatrics.

Related Links:

— “Teen pot users may hallucinate, become paranoid, “Lisa Rapaport, Reuters, December 18, 2018.

The New York Times (12/17, Jacobs) reports that researchers have “found a nearly fourfold increase in confirmed reports of child abuse on the Saturdays immediately after the distribution of report cards at Florida public schools.” The findings were published in JAMA Pediatrics.
Reuters (12/17, Rapaport) reports that the study indicated “abuse cases were more than three times more likely to happen on Saturdays after a report-card Friday than on Saturdays when children hadn’t gotten their grades the day before.” The increase “in abuse only appeared when report cards came home on Fridays, not when kids received them on other days of the week.”

Related Links:

— “When Report Cards Go Out on Fridays, Child Abuse Increases on Saturdays, Study Finds, “Julia Jacobs, The New York Times, December 17, 2018.

A nearly 4,500-word article in the Huffington Post (12/17, Raghavan) examines mental healthcare coverage for children, focusing in particular on the case of Logan, a boy from Allen, Texas, who was reportedly denied full-time care by United Behavioral Health after he set fire to his home and who was later arrested for threatening via social media to “shoot up a school.” The Post adds, “Data gathered by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and a study by Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions suggest that one percent of the nation’s population under age 18, or roughly 740,000 children and adolescents, may qualify as having a psychotic disorder.”

Related Links:

— “Mental Health Care Coverage Is Leaving Kids Behind And Families Reeling, “Anita Raghavan, The Huffington Post, December 17, 2018.

Reuters (12/14, Crist) reported on research published online in the Journal of the American Osteopathic Association that found seniors “have the highest rates of gun ownership, depression and suicide in the U.S.,” and “are more likely to become victims of their own guns.” The researchers suggest physicians are in a unique position to identify seniors at risk because this population sees physicians regularly.

Related Links:

— “Doctors struggle to help older gun owners, “Carolyn Crist, Reuters, December 14, 2018.