Healio (6/15, Oldt) reports, “Chronic physical illness in childhood,” particularly cancer, “was associated with increased risk for depression and anxiety in adulthood,” researchers found in a meta-analysis of 34 studies including 45,358 youngsters. The findings were published online April 27 in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Childhood chronic illness increases risk for adult depression, anxiety,”Amanda Oldt, Healio, June 15, 2017.

USA Today (6/14, Weichselbaum) reports, “Suicides, post traumatic stress disorder and other mental-health problems that afflict corrections officers as well as police officers are an underreported sector of the criminal justice system.” Now “an awakening of sorts – from the halls of Congress to the prisons of California – is under way.” Recently, “the California peace officers association completed the first major step of a partnership with the University of California, Berkeley, by analyzing the results of a 61-question survey from more than 8,600 corrections and parole officers statewide.” The survey “responses serve as the basis for an ambitious plan to develop, test and implement a range of mental health services for officers across the state’s prison system.” Meanwhile, last month on Capitol Hill, “the Senate unanimously passed the Law Enforcement Mental Health and Wellness Act.”

Related Links:

— “,”Simone Weichselbaum, USA Today, June 14, 2017.

Kaiser Health News (6/14, Allen) reports many people are concerned that proposed cuts to Medicaid could restrict access to treatment for drug addiction. The article highlights the situation in Pennsylvania where more than 124,000 people used Medicaid “to get help for their drug or alcohol addiction last year.”

Related Links:

— “People In Recovery Worry GOP Medicaid Cuts Would Put Treatment Out Of Reach,” Ben Allen, Kaiser Health News, June 14, 2017.

HealthDay (6/13, Norton) reports, “Older adults with evidence of ‘plaques’ in the brain are more likely to see their memory and thinking skills wane over the next few years,” researches found after studying “445 older US and Canadian adults (average age 74) who had no signs of dementia at” the start of the study. About 200 of these people did “have elevated levels of beta-amyloid in the brain,” however, that “were detected either in spinal fluid samples, or by specialized PET scans of the brain.” The study revealed that individuals “with elevated beta-amyloid showed a steeper decline in their memory and other mental skills over the next three years.” The findings were published June 13 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

MedPage Today (6/13, Fiore) reports the study supports “the idea that amyloid plaques presage eventual dementia, even in people with no signs of clinical impairment.”

Related Links:

— “Sticky Brain ‘Plaques’ Implicated in Alzheimer’s Again,”Amy Norton, HealthDay, June 13, 2017.

CNN (6/12, Emanuel) reports that teens with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD) appear to be “36% more likely than other adolescent drivers to get into a car accident,” researchers found after examining data from some “18,500 electronic health records for young people, including nearly 2,500 with” AD/HD. The findings were published online June 12 in JAMA Pediatrics. Reuters (6/12, Seaman) and HealthDay (6/12, Mozes) also cover the story.

Related Links:

— “Young drivers with ADHD 36% more likely to have an accident, study says,”Daniella Emanuel, CNN, June 13, 2017.