In “To Your Health,” the Washington Post (8/13, Bever) reports that after studying some 80,000 youngsters “over a four-year period,” Kaiser Permanent researchers found “no association between the prenatal Tdap (for tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis, also known as whooping cough) vaccine and autism spectrum disorder when looking at tens of thousands of children.” The findings were published online Aug. 13 in Pediatrics.

Also covering the study are Newsweek (8/13, Spear), HealthDay (8/13, Norton), MedPage Today (8/13, Walker), and Medscape (8/13, Subscription Publication).

Related Links:

— “Tdap vaccine given to pregnant women did not increase risk of autism in children, study says, “Lindsey Bever, The Washington Post, August 13, 2018.

Medscape (8/10, Brooks, Subscription Publication) reports new research shows that “one of the two major psychoactive constituents in kratom has high abuse potential and may also increase the intake of other opiates.” The finding “contradicts claims by kratom makers that the substance has no abuse potential and supports the US Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) view that kratom is an opioid.” Mitragynine (MG) and 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-HMG) “are the two major psychoactive constituents of kratom,” and the researchers wrote 7-HMG should be considered a kratom constituent with “high abuse potential that may also increase the intake of other opiates.” The study was published online June 27 in Addiction Biology.

Related Links:

— Medscape (requires login and subscription)

Modern Healthcare (8/11, Kacik, Subscription Publication) reported on how opioid treatment varies across the country. The nonprofit Fair Health “pored through 26 billion privately billed healthcare claims and found tremendous variation in opioid treatment cost and utilization by state and region.” Dr. Martin Makary with the group said, “We need to recognize the downstream impacts of undertreating and improperly treating opioid abuse and restore the reimbursement of outpatient medication treatment and MAT.”

Related Links:

— “Variety of factors drive wide variation in opioid treatment across the U.S., “Alex Kacik, Modern Healthcare, August 11, 2018.

In “Health & Science,” the Washington Post (8/10, Adams) reported, “An in-depth survey of more than 10,000 teens used face-to-face interviews conducted between 2001 and 2004 to screen for psychiatric conditions,” finding that “anxiety disorders are the most common in this age group, far outnumbering behavioral, mood and substance use disorders.” In fact, “one teen in four met diagnostic criteria for an anxiety disorder.” Meanwhile, research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reveals that “more than two million American children have been diagnosed with anxiety disorders, including 3.5 percent of those between ages six and 11.” The article interviewed experts who explained the differences between “normal, functional anxiety” experienced by teens and youngsters and anxiety disorders that need professional treatment.

Related Links:

— “Your child is nervous about the new school year, which may be normal — or not, ” Jill U. Adams, The Washington Post, August 10, 2018.

The Denver Post (8/10, Seaman) reported, “Teenagers with serious antisocial behaviors and substance-use histories are more likely to die prematurely,” research indicated. After following some “1,463 youths in their mid- to late- teens who had been arrested or referred to counseling for substance abuse or ‘conduct disorder’ for about 15 years,” investigators “found that ‘conduct disorder,’ a mental health disorder that involves aggressive behaviors, such as property destruction, lying and thievery, in youths may be as much of a predictor of early death as substance abuse.” The findings were published online Aug. 9 in the journal Addiction.

Related Links:

— “Teenagers with conduct and substance abuse problems are more likely to die young, Colorado researchers find, “Jessica Seaman, The Denver Post, August 10, 2018.