Illinois has seen a recent surge in the number of kids arriving in the emergency room for suicidal thoughts — both during and shortly before the pandemic, according to a new study. Among kids ages 5 to 19, ER visits for suicidal thoughts rose by 59% across the state between 2016 and 2021, researchers found. That included a sharp spike in the fall of 2019, followed by another in the fall of 2020. Experts said that while the findings come from one state, they reflect what’s been going on nationally. They also highlight a sobering fact: U.S. children and teenagers have been showing a deterioration in their mental health for years. “It’s absolutely not the case that this started with the pandemic,” said senior researcher Joseph Feinglass, of Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. Over the past two decades, suicide deaths have risen by more than 50% among U.S. teens and adults younger than 25. And a 2019 government study found that about one-third of high school students said they felt persistently sad or hopeless — a 40% increase from a decade before. The new study, published Nov. 14 in the journal Pediatrics, focused on emergency room visits for suicidal thoughts — which are indicative of kids in real crisis, Feinglass said. Researchers found that from 2016 to June 2021, Illinois hospitals recorded…  read on >  read on >

A growing number of U.S. teenagers are undergoing weight-loss surgery, but the figures suggest many still lack access to the procedures — especially underinsured Black and Hispanic kids. That’s the conclusion of a new study charting trends in bariatric (weight-loss) surgery among U.S. teens. Researchers found that between 2010 and 2017, the annual rate of the procedures doubled among kids younger than 19. But Black and Hispanic teens, who have a higher prevalence of obesity than their white peers, accounted for a disproportionately low percentage of the procedures. That points to a disparity in access, said senior researcher Dr. Baddr Shakhsheer, a pediatric surgeon at St. Louis Children’s Hospital-Washington University in St. Louis. Surgery is only appropriate for some teens with severe obesity, he said, but there should be equal access to the option. Bariatric surgery has been used for decades to treat some adults and teens with severe obesity. In the United States, the two most common procedures are gastric bypass and sleeve gastrectomy. Both change the anatomy of the digestive system and limit the amount of food a person can eat before feeling full. They also alter the function of the gut’s hunger hormones, according to the American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery. The point is not to “make people thin,” stressed Dr. Marc Michalsky, surgical director of the Center for Healthy…  read on >  read on >

The brains of girls and boys who have binge eating disorder show key differences, according to a new study. That’s an important finding, researchers say, because both genders struggle with eating disorders, yet treatments are mainly targeted at girls. “Males have been excluded from research on eating disorders for decades,” said Stuart Murray, an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine. He noted that the exclusion stems from the belief that it was uncommon for males to have eating disorders. “As a result of the exclusion of boys and men, we have developed treatments only from studying females, which we then apply to boys and men and hope they work with the same efficacy,” Murray said in a school news release. Some eating disorders are nearly as prevalent among men and boys as in women and girls. Evidence is mounting that eating disorders are diseases of the brain and not the result of social pressure or a lack of willpower, according to researchers. This research team used data from a study of adolescent brain development that included more than 11,800 participants. Researchers identified 38 boys and 33 girls who had a diagnosis of binge eating disorder. In all kids, boys represent about 57% of those with binge eating disorder. Adult males represent about 43% of…  read on >  read on >

The state of California is suing several companies for their role in manufacturing “forever chemicals.” The lawsuit filed Thursday also claims that the companies, including 3M and DuPont, covered up the harm their products, commonly known as PFAS, were causing to the state’s environment and to people. “PFAS are as ubiquitous in California as they are harmful,” State Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a news release. “As a result of a decades-long campaign of deception, PFAS are in our waters, our clothing, our houses and even our bodies,” Bonta said. “The damage caused by 3M, DuPont and other manufacturers of PFAS is nothing short of staggering, and without drastic action, California will be dealing with the harms of these toxic chemicals for generations. Today’s lawsuit is the result of a years-long investigation that found that the manufacturers of PFAS knowingly violated state consumer protection and environmental laws. We won’t let them off the hook for the pernicious damage done to our state.” In addition to 3M and DuPont, the state is suing 16 smaller companies for their work with compounds used in firefighting foam, nonstick frying pans, cleaning sprays, water-repellent sports gear, stain-resistant rugs, cosmetics and more. Both DuPont and 3M responded to the lawsuit. Minnesota-based 3M said in a statement that it “acted responsibly in connection with products containing PFAS and will defend…  read on >  read on >

Only one day after California voters approved allowing a state law banning flavored tobacco products to take effect, a tobacco giant has sued to prevent it. R.J. Reynolds on Wednesday filed a federal lawsuit challenging Proposition 31 and the law originally signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom two years ago. The law would ban the sale of all flavored tobacco and vaping products, and could happen within weeks. “Time and time again, Big Tobacco has attempted to steam roll state efforts to protect our youngest residents from the damaging effects of tobacco use,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement. “While we have not yet been formally served with the lawsuit, we look forward to vigorously defending this important law in court.” Reynolds, which makes Newport menthol cigarettes and also owns the vaping brand Vuse, is seeking an injunction of the ballot initiative. But the ban’s supporters cried foul. “This is a corporation that sells deadly products trying desperately to overcome the will of the people of the state of California — manipulating the legal system in an attempt to undo democracy,” Desmond Jenson, a senior lawyer in tobacco control programs at the Public Health Law Center, told the New York Times. Tobacco companies had first turned to the ballot initiative to try to delay the ban and put the issue to a statewide…  read on >  read on >

It’s a potentially deadly issue: Some U.S. school administrators don’t keep life-saving albuterol asthma inhalers on hand because they’re afraid of getting sued for misuse. That’s true even in states like Illinois, where strong “stock albuterol” laws are on the books, researchers say. Kids with asthma don’t always carry their inhalers, and some may not even know they have asthma until they have an attack, experts note. But stock inhaler programs in some states are designed to make sure schools do have an asthma reliever, such as albuterol, on hand in case of emergency. “Stock inhaler laws improve access to asthma reliever inhaler medications in schools for children who experience respiratory symptoms,” said study author Dr. Andrea Pappalardo. She’s assistant professor of medicine and pediatrics at the University of Illinois College of Medicine in Chicago and an American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology (ACAAI) member. “This simple policy solution allows for a fail-safe method to having medicine when a child needs it readily available [and] is critical to keeping our children in class where they belong,” Pappalardo said. As it stands, 16 states (Arizona, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, and Virginia) have laws or guidelines in place that aim to increase access to timely asthma treatment for kids when they are in…  read on >  read on >

Despite continued efforts by health advocates and U.S. public health officials, a huge number of middle and high school students are still using addictive tobacco products, most often vaping products. A new study released by two federal agencies on Thursday estimated a total of 3.08 million U.S. middle and high school students using some form of tobacco product within the previous 30 days in 2022. “Commercial tobacco product use continues to threaten the health of our nation’s youth, and disparities in youth tobacco product use persist,” said Deirdre Lawrence Kittner, who directs the Office on Smoking and Health at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “By addressing the factors that lead to youth tobacco product use and helping youth to quit, we can give our nation’s young people the best opportunity to live their healthiest lives,” she said in a CDC news release. In total, just over 11% of all students in middle and high school now vape or use cigars, cigarettes or some form of tobacco product, according to the new report issued jointly by the CDC and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Rates were higher at the high school level, with 16.5% of kids in that age group using a tobacco product. About 4.5% of middle school students used tobacco products. By far the most commonly used tobacco product among…  read on >  read on >

Lead is known to damage young children’s brains, and a new study suggests the effects may still be apparent in old age. Researchers found that among nearly 1,100 older U.S. adults, those who grew up in cities with lead-contaminated drinking water generally scored worse on tests of memory and thinking skills. The findings, experts said, suggest that older adults who were exposed to lead decades ago could be at relatively higher risk of dementia — since their cognitive starting point is typically lower. Lead is a naturally occurring metal that can cause serious health effects if it accumulates in the blood. Children younger than 6 are particularly vulnerable, as lead can damage their developing brains and cause learning or behavioral problems. Yet little has been known about whether early life lead exposure has consequences for the aging brain, said John Robert Warren, a professor at the University of Minnesota who worked on the new study. “You can count on one hand the number of studies,” he said. The new findings — published online Nov. 9 in the journal Science Advances — show only a link between childhood lead exposure and cognition later in life. They do not prove cause and effect. But Warren said there are various ways that childhood exposure could have long-range effects, including indirect means. For example, children with high blood lead…  read on >  read on >