Psychiatric News (3/5) reports, “Frequent cannabis use may raise the risk of heart attack and stroke, a study…has found.” Investigators came to this conclusion after examining “data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey (BRFSS) between 2016 and 2020.” The findings were published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

Related Links:

— “Frequent Cannabis Use Raises Risk of Heart Attack and Stroke, Psychiatric News, March 5, 2024

Healio (3/5, Weldon) reports, “Mass shootings on school campuses in the United States have become more deadly over the last 25 years, according to a study published in Pediatrics.” Overall, during that time frame “there were 1,453 school shootings. During the most recent 5 school years, there was a substantially higher number of school shootings than the prior 15 years combined, at a total of 794 shootings between 2017 and 2022.” Additionally, “there were an average of 7.6 fatalities in five school mass shooting[s] from 1997-1998 to 2011-2012 compared with 14 in six school mass shootings from 2012-2013 to 2021-2022.”

Related Links:

— “Study: US school shootings more deadly since 1997,”Rose Weldon, Healio, March 5, 2024

The New York Times (3/4, Baumgaertner ) reports, “Toddlers who are exposed to more screen time have fewer conversations with their parents or caregivers by an array of measures. They say less, hear less and have fewer back-and-forth exchanges with adults compared with children who spend less time in front of screens.” These results, “published on Monday in the journal JAMA Pediatrics, make up one of the first sets of longitudinal evidence to confirm an intuitive reality: Screens are not just linked to higher rates of obesity, depression and hyperactivity among children; they also curb face-to-face interactions at home – with long-term implications that could be worrisome.”

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— “The New York Times (requires login and subscription)

MedPage Today (3/4, DePeau-Wilson ) reports, “The proliferation of ketamine clinics in the U.S. has veered far off course from the recommendations of the nation’s premier psychiatric association when it comes to using the anesthetic to treat mood disorders, experts say.” MedPage Today adds, “In 2017, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) issued a consensus statement on the use of ketamine in treating mood disorders, published in JAMA Psychiatry.” However, “the ketamine clinics cropping up across the U.S. don’t appear to follow that guidance, Smita Das, MD, PhD, MPH, of Stanford University and a spokesperson for the APA, told MedPage Today.” Dr. Das said, “[Intravenous] ketamine is being offered in smaller clinics off-label and there isn’t a practice guideline from the American Psychiatric Association that’s recommending ketamine for use in the way that it’s being used.” Dr. Das also “said the surge of ketamine clinics is something of a ‘wild west’ where vulnerable patients are being offered treatment without being informed of the downsides.”

Related Links:

— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

HCP Live (2/6, Derman) reports, “Many individuals who had an emergency department visit for cannabis use developed a new anxiety disorder within 3 years, according to a new study.” Investigators found that “this applied to 27.5% of individuals who visited the emergency room due to heavy cannabis use.” The findingswere published in eClinicalMedicine.

Related Links:

— “Heavy Cannabis Use Linked to Increased Risk for Anxiety,”Chelsie Derman, HCP Live, February 6, 2024