PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Around 1 in 10 young mentally ill teens drinks, smokes, and uses cannabis

Likely to contribute to higher risk of poor physical and mental health, suggest authors

2013-02-05
(Press-News.org) [Frequent alcohol, nicotine, or cannabis use is common in young persons presenting for mental healthcare: a cross sectional study doi 10.1136/bmjopen-2012-002229]

Around one in 10 young teens with mental health issues also drinks alcohol, smokes cigarettes, and uses cannabis on a weekly basis, indicates Australian research published in the online only fully journal BMJ Open.

The prevalence of this pattern of substance use increased with age, the study found, prompting the authors to raise concerns that these behaviours are likely to worsen both mental and physical health.

The evidence suggests that an early start on substance misuse increases the likelihood of mental ill health, and vice versa.

The authors base their findings on more than 2000 12 to 30 year olds, who were part of the national mental health headspace programme in Sydney, Australia.

Those seeking help for a wide range of mental health issues provided information on their weekly consumption of alcohol, tobacco and cannabis, with 500 giving more detailed information on their pattern of alcohol consumption.

One in eight (12%) young teens aged 12 to 17 drank alcohol at least once a week, as did almost four out of 10 (39%) 18-19 year olds, and almost half of those aged 20 to 30.

Those in the youngest age group were twice as likely to say they drank alcohol every week as their peers in the general population.

And a significant proportion of those who provided more detailed information on their alcohol consumption were "risky" drinkers, with almost half of those with bipolar disorder falling into this category.

Some 7% of young teens said they used cannabis at least once a week. The equivalent figures for the other two age groups were 14% and 18%, respectively.

Furthermore, those in the two younger age groups were more likely to smoke cannabis every day than they were to drink alcohol (3.6% vs 1.5% and 8.8% vs 6.0%, respectively).

Almost one in four (23%) young teens admitted to smoking cigarettes daily, as did one in three (36%) of older teens and four out of 10 (41%) of those aged 20 to 30.

The average age at which these patterns started was 15. And those who used any or all of the three substances were more likely to be male, older, and to have psychotic or bipolar disorders.

The authors point out that people with mental health issues are significantly more likely to develop serious health problems and to die early.

"Given the comorbidity with significant mental health problems, these patterns of substance use are likely to contribute to increased risk of poor physical and/or mental health outcomes," write the authors, adding that the patterns they found among the 12 to 17 year olds were "particularly notable."

Traditionally, mental health and drug and alcohol services have tended to be separate entities, but it might be more helpful to bring them together, suggest the authors.

###


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Sunlight may help ward off rheumatoid arthritis in women

2013-02-05
[Exposure to ultraviolet-B and risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis among women in the Nurses' Health Study Online First doi 10.1136/annrheumdis-2012-202302] Regular exposure to sunlight—specifically ultraviolet B (UVB)—may reduce the risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis, indicates a large long term study published online in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases. But the effect of UVB exposure was only evident among older women, possibly because younger women are more aware of the hazards of sunlight and so cover up with sun block, suggest the authors. They ...

High supplemental calcium intake may increase risk of cardiovascular disease death in men

2013-02-05
A high intake of supplemental calcium appears to be associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) death in men but not in women in a study of more 388,000 participants between the ages of 50 and 71 years, according to a report published Online First by JAMA Internal Medicine, a JAMA Network publication. Calcium supplementation has become widely used, especially among the elderly population, because of its proposed bone health benefits. However, beyond calcium's established role in the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis, its health effect on nonskeletal ...

Penn study confirms no transmission of Alzheimer's proteins between humans

2013-02-05
PHILADELPHIA - Mounting evidence demonstrates that the pathological proteins linked to the onset and progression of neurodegenerative disorders are capable of spreading from cell-to-cell within the brains of affected individuals and thereby "spread" disease from one interconnected brain region to another. A new study found no evidence to support concerns that these abnormal disease proteins are "infectious" or transmitted from animals to humans or from one person to another. The study by researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, ...

Scientists turn toxic by-product into biofuel booster

2013-02-05
UPTON, NY-Scientists studying an enzyme that naturally produces alkanes -- long carbon-chain molecules that could be a direct replacement for the hydrocarbons in gasoline -- have figured out why the natural reaction typically stops after three to five cycles. Armed with that knowledge, they've devised a strategy to keep the reaction going. The biochemical details -- worked out at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory and described in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences the week of February 4, 2013 -- renew interest in using the enzyme ...

Paired genes in stem cells shed new light on gene organization and regulation

2013-02-05
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (February 4, 2013) – Whitehead Institute researchers have determined that DNA transcription, the process that produces messenger RNA (mRNA) templates used in protein production, also runs in the opposite direction along the DNA to create corresponding long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs). Moreover, the mRNAs and lncRNAs are transcribed coordinately as stem cells differentiate into other cell types. This surprising finding could redefine our understanding of gene organization and its regulation. "It's a surprise to me that genes come in pairs," says Whitehead ...

TV viewing, exercise habits may significantly affect sperm count

2013-02-05
Boston, MA — Men's sperm quality may be significantly affected by their levels of physical activity, according to a new study led by researchers at Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH). They found that healthy young men who were sedentary, as measured by hours of TV viewing, had lower sperm counts than those who were the most physically active. "We know very little about how lifestyle may impact semen quality and male fertility in general so identifying two potentially modifiable factors that appear to have such a big impact on sperm counts is truly exciting," said ...

A 'nudge' can be the ethical choice

2013-02-05
HOUSTON -- (Feb. 6, 2013) – As patients and physicians share decision-making in choices among treatment options, decision aids such as videos, websites, pamphlets or books are coming to play an important role. However, in some cases, it may be ethical for the decision aids to provide a "nudge" toward a particular option, said researchers from Baylor College of Medicine, the Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center and the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in a report that appears in the journal Health Affairs. In general, decision aids are meant ...

Study highlights important role that patients play in determining outcomes

2013-02-05
EUGENE, Ore. — When it comes to health care, patients with the motivation, knowledge, skills and confidence to manage their own health have better health outcomes and incur fewer health care costs. Those are the findings of a study led by Judith Hibbard, a professor emerita in the Department of Planning, Public Policy and Management at the University of Oregon. Hibbard and co-authors found that patients with the lowest level of "activation"— that is, those most lacking in the skills and confidence to be actively engaged in their health care — had average costs that were ...

Damaged blood vessels loaded with amyloid worsen cognitive impairment in Alzheimer's disease

2013-02-05
NEW YORK (February 4, 2013) -- A team of researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College has discovered that amyloid peptides are harmful to the blood vessels that supply the brain with blood in Alzheimer's disease -- thus accelerating cognitive decline by limiting oxygen-rich blood and nutrients. In their animal studies, the investigators reveal how amyloid-β accumulates in blood vessels and how such accumulation and damage might be ultimately prevented. Their study, published in the Feb. 4 online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), ...

Researchers develop Rx for deafness, impaired balance in mouse model of Usher syndrome

2013-02-05
New Orleans, LA – Jennifer Lentz, PhD, Assistant Professor of Otorhinolaryngology & Biocommunications and a member of the Neuroscience Center of Excellence at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, is the lead author of a paper reporting that hearing and balance can be rescued by a new therapy in a mouse model of Usher syndrome (Usher) that contains the mutation responsible for type 1C Usher. The results provide the first evidence that congenital deafness can be effectively overcome by treatment early in development to correct gene expression. The paper, Rescue of hearing ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Exercise as an anti-ageing intervention to avoid detrimental impact of mental fatigue

UMass Amherst Nursing Professor Emerita honored as ‘Living Legend’

New guidelines aim to improve cystic fibrosis screening

Picky eaters by day, buffet by night: Butterfly, moth diets sync to plant aromas

Pennington Biomedical’s Dr. Leanne Redman honored with the E. V. McCollum Award from the American Society for Nutrition

CCNY physicists uncover electronic interactions mediated via spin waves

Researchers’ 3D-printing formula may transform future of foam

Nurture more important than nature for robotic hand

Drug-delivering aptamers target leukemia stem cells for one-two knockout punch

New study finds that over 95% of sponsored influencer posts on Twitter were not disclosed

New sea grant report helps great lakes fish farmers navigate aquaculture regulations

Strain “trick” improves perovskite solar cells’ efficiency

How GPS helps older drivers stay on the roads

Estrogen and progesterone stimulate the body to make opioids

Dancing with the cells – how acoustically levitating a diamond led to a breakthrough in biotech automation

Machine learning helps construct an evolutionary timeline of bacteria

Cellular regulator of mRNA vaccine revealed... offering new therapeutic options

Animal behavioral diversity at risk in the face of declining biodiversity

Finding their way: GPS ignites independence in older adult drivers

Antibiotic resistance among key bacterial species plateaus over time

‘Some insects are declining but what’s happening to the other 99%?’

Powerful new software platform could reshape biomedical research by making data analysis more accessible

Revealing capillaries and cells in living organs with ultrasound

American College of Physicians awards $260,000 in grants to address equity challenges in obesity care

Researchers from MARE ULisboa discover that the European catfish, an invasive species in Portugal, has a prolonged breeding season, enhancing its invasive potential

Rakesh K. Jain, PhD, FAACR, honored with the 2025 AACR Award for Lifetime Achievement in Cancer Research

Solar cells made of moon dust could power future space exploration

Deporting immigrants may further shrink the health care workforce

Border region emergency medical services in migrant emergency care

Resident physician intentions regarding unionization

[Press-News.org] Around 1 in 10 young mentally ill teens drinks, smokes, and uses cannabis
Likely to contribute to higher risk of poor physical and mental health, suggest authors