The Wall Street Journal (1/6, Kamp, Subscription Publication) reported that new Federal data indicate opioid overdose fatalities rose 16 percent in 2015 from the previous year, totaling 33,091. Many local jurisdictions are still compiling data from last year, but many expect there was another increase in 2016.

The New York Times (1/6, Subscription Publication) reported that opioid overdose deaths “were nearly equal to the number of deaths from car crashes” in 2015, while “for the first time, deaths from heroin alone surpassed gun homicides.”

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— “,”Jon Kamp, The Wall Street Journal, January 6, 2017.

Endocrine Today (1/5, Cox) reports, “Adults with diabetes – even those treated in a specialized diabetes clinic – often remain undiagnosed for cognitive disorders, including mild cognitive impairment and dementia,” researchers found after evaluating “30 adults with diabetes from the Mount Sinai Diabetes Center, as well as data from the Mount Sinai Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center on 189 adults without diabetes or cognitive impairment and 98 adults without diabetes and a diagnosis of amnestic mild cognitive impairment.” The findings were published online Dec. 22 in the Journal of Diabetes.

Related Links:

— “Cognitive disorders often missed in adults with diabetes, Healio, January 5, 2017.

The Los Angeles Times (1/4, Healy) reports that new research shows that “brain shrinkage” is “less pronounced” in older people whose diets “hew closely to the traditional diet of Mediterranean peoples,” which consists of “lots of fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts and olive oil, little red meat and poultry, and regular, moderate consumption of fish and red wine.” Findings from this study and other similar ones “have established that following a Mediterranean diet is effective at driving down heart attack, stroke and premature death risks, and improving the health conditions…that raise those risks,” but researchers “are less sure of the particulars of how the diet promotes better health.”

Related Links:

— “Less shrinkage: This is your aging brain on the Mediterranean diet,”Melissa Healy, Los Angeles Times, January 4, 2017.

Reuters (1/4, Kelland) reports, “People who live near busy roads laden with heavy traffic face a higher risk of developing dementia than those living further away,” researchers found after analyzing “records of more than 6.5 million Ontario residents aged 20 to 85,” then mapping “residents’ proximity to major roadways using postal codes.”

CNN (1/4, Senthilingam) reports investigators “found that people living within 50 meters (164 feet) of” a major “road had a 7% greater risk of developing dementia.” The findings were published online in The Lancet.

According to MedPage Today (1/4, Bachert), the author of an accompanying editorial observed that “the study ‘opens up a crucial global health concern for millions of people.

Related Links:

— “Scientists link higher dementia risk to living near heavy traffic,”Kate Kelland, Reuters, January 4, 2017.

MedPage Today (1/3, Walker) reports, “Teens with a history of substance use, as well as substance use within their families and neighborhoods, had an increased risk of death by gun violence,” researchers found after identifying and analyzing “data from police and medical examiner’s reports in Philadelphia…from January 2010 to December 2012.”

The findings were published online Jan. 3 in JAMA Internal Medicine. The author of an accompanying editorial “said that these findings suggested violence prevention efforts should target substance use at multiple levels – the individual, the family, and the neighborhood.”

The authors of an invited commentary “argued that alcohol is a key modifiable factor driving homicides and recommended that healthcare providers use the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration tool, Screening, Brief Intervention, Referral and Treatment (SBIRT)” to identify and treat “treating substance use disorders in adolescents and young adults.”

Related Links:

— “Environment of Drug Use Ups Risk of Teen Gun Death,” Molly Walker, MedPage Today, January 3, 2017.