Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Youth Mental Health, Drug Use Improving On Multiple Fronts, Federal Data Show
AP: Federal Survey Shows Promising Youth Mental Health Trends
A key U.S. government report on mental health, substance use and addiction showed continued improvements in several metrics, especially among young people. There was some uncertainty about the future of the National Survey on Drug Use and Health last year, when the entire 17-member team responsible for it was laid off by the Trump administration. But the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration released the latest report Monday, with data that lets researchers look at trends from 2021 to 2025. (Shastri, 7/27)
Los Angeles Times: Neurodivergent Kids Face Special Mental Health Risks. New Initiative Seeks Ways To Protect Them
Like many young people with a diagnosis of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, Jacob Schreiber was creative, empathetic and endlessly curious. He found deep satisfaction in composing music and studying the stars. He took solace in understanding how and why the world worked as it did. His 2024 death from suicide at age 19 devastated his loved ones. In their grief, Schreiber’s family has turned to the questions Jake grappled with his whole life. (Purtill, 7/24)
In other health and wellness news —
Phys.org: Kids Who Own Cellphones Have Poorer Reading Comprehension Scores Than Those Who Don't, Researchers Find
School cellphone bans might seem like a good way to improve learning for elementary school children, but new research published in Behavioral Sciences shows that simply owning a cellphone correlates with worse reading comprehension. Whether a child brings the phone to school made no difference in reading comprehension, the team of UCLA psychologists and researchers found. (Ober, 7/27)
The Washington Post: How Financial Stress Can Affect The Brain Over The Long Term
The stress of being poor can cause long-term damage to your brain, according to a new study. British scientists examined a group of more than 2,700 people who were all born in March 1946, meaning they are now 80 years old, who agreed to have their health and social circumstances tracked for years. (Weil, 7/27)
MedPage Today: Brain Worm Culprit In Woman's Hallucinations, Incoherent Speech
A previously healthy 52-year-old woman entered the emergency department with a 4-month history of headaches and visual hallucinations. For the past month, her speech was incoherent. When she reached the hospital, the patient was awake and alert, but unable to follow simple commands. Her speech was fluent but nonsensical, with paraphasic errors and impaired naming and repetition, reported Rolter Lorenz Lee, MD, of the University of Santo Tomas Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, and Bonifacio Pedregosa II, MD, of the Jose R. Reyes Memorial Medical Center in Manila in the Philippines, in the New England Journal of Medicine. (George, 7/27)
The New York Times: Hiker Trekked 10 Miles To Safety After Impaling Himself On Pole
David Cifaldi was hiking up Granite Peak, Montana’s tallest mountain, last week when he slipped and fell on one of his trekking poles. A wound nurse, he went into survival mode. (Tumin, 7/27)
In celebrity news —
Yahoo Entertainment: Carly Simon Reveals She's Been Diagnosed With Parkinson's Disease
Carly Simon is opening up about her health, revealing she has been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. Simon, 81, shared the diagnosis in a statement to ABC News on Monday, explaining that she has spent time learning to live with the progressive neurological disorder and deciding whether to discuss it publicly. (Najib, 7/27)
