HealthDay (7/13, Doheny) reports that “children who suffer from epilepsy or fever-related seizures may face a higher risk of also having attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD),” research suggests. After tracking Danish youngsters born “from 1990 through 2007…until 2012,” the study authors also found that kids “with both epilepsy and fever-related seizures had a risk of AD/HD more than three times higher than those without a history of either condition.” The findings of the nearly one million-participant study were published online July 13 in Pediatrics.

Related Links:

— “Epilepsy May Triple ADHD Risk, Danish Study Finds,” Kathleen Doheny, HealthDay, July 13, 2016.

TIME (7/11, Park) reports a new study published in JAMA Neurology suggests head injuries may be linked to a higher risk of Parkinson’s disease. Study participants who had reported head injuries saw a 3.5 times higher chance of developing symptoms of Parkinson’s compared to those who did not report head injuries. The study, however, did not find a correlation between reported head injuries and a higher risk of dementia or Alzheimer’s.

HealthDay (7/11, Reinberg) reports that the research also showed a link between traumatic head injuries and a “greater risk of microscopic stroke.”

Related Links:

— “Parkinson’s Head Trauma Link Looks Even Stronger,” Alice Park, Time, July 11, 2016.

Kaiser Health News (7/11, Ostrov) discusses and dubunks four myths about mental illness. The article points out that “nearly 20 percent of American adults will suffer from a mental illness at some point in a given year, according to the National Institute of Mental Health.”

Related Links:

— “Busting Myths About Mental Illness,” Barbara Feder Ostrov, Kaiser Health News, July 11, 2016.

US News & World Report (7/11, Leonard) reports that research indicates “state laws that require health insurance companies to cover autism treatment still aren’t reaching the vast majority of children with the disorder.” The findings were published in JAMA Pediatrics. Investigators “found that in states without insurance mandates, the treated prevalence of autism was 1.6 per 1,000 children, compared with 1.8 per 1,000 children in states with insurance mandates.” Although “the difference represents an increase in treated prevalence of 12.7 percent, the higher total still makes up only a small fraction of the” CDC’s “estimate of 15 in 1,000 children who have autism.”

HealthDay (7/11) reports that since Indiana first implemented insurance mandates 15 years ago, “43 other states have also made autism treatment more accessible to families that couldn’t afford it.”

Related Links:

— “Do Autism Laws Help Kids?,” Kimberly Leonard, US News & World Report, July 11, 2016.

HealthDay (7/11) reports several common operations can slightly increase a patient’s risk of becoming addicted to opioids, according to a new study published in JAMA Internal Medicine. Researchers examined the number of opioid prescriptions patients filled before and after 11 common operations in order to determine how many patients became addicted to opioids following surgery.

MedPage Today (7/11, Fiore) reports the 11 procedures that the study focused on were: “total knee arthroplasty, total hip arthroplasty, laparoscopic cholecystectomy, open cholecystectomy, laparoscopic appendectomy, open appendectomy, cesarean delivery, functional endoscopic sinus surgery [FESS], cataract surgery, transurethral prostate resection [TURP], and simple mastectomy.” Researchers found that some of the procedures, including total knee arthroplasty, laparoscopic cholecystectomy [gall bladder removal], and cesarean delivery, increased patients’ risk for becoming addicted to opioids, while there was no increased risk of opioid addiction for patients who underwent “cataract surgery, laparoscopic appendectomy, FESS, and TURP.”

Related Links:

— “Common Surgeries Raise Risk for Opioid Dependence: Study,” HealthDay staff, HealthDay, July , 2016.