The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration released the “2024 National Survey on Drug Use and Health” on July 28. [Becker's Behavioral Health]

The survey analyzes how people across the U.S. report experiences with mental health conditions, substance use and pursuit of treatment. The 2024 report marks the fourth consecutive year of comparable data collection, allowing the identification of emerging trends. 

Here are five statistics to note:

1. Current use of tobacco products, vaped nicotine, alcohol or an illicit drug was reported by 58% of people ages 12 years or older. Among those, 46.6% consumed alcohol. Reported “current use” is classified as use in the past month.
2. Nearly 1 in 5 adolescents ages 12 to 17 years reported moderate or severe symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder — a measure introduced for the first time this year with no prior data for comparison. 
3. Within the past year, 33% of adults age 18 years or older reported either a mental health condition or substance use disorder.
4. Nearly 1 in 5 people — about 10.2 million — classified as needing substance use treatment received it in 2024.
5. A total of 45 million people considered themselves to be recovered or actively in recovery from a mental health condition. An additional 23.5 million people considered themselves to be recovering or recovered from a substance use disorder.

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Exposure to places with high atmospheric lead levels is tied to an approximately 20% increase in memory problems. More news is on liver disease, Alzheimer's, a salmonella outbreak, and more. [Medpage Today]

— Lead-exposed neurons show persistent vulnerabilities

MedPage Today: Memory Problems Today Tied To Leaded Gas Levels Half A Century Earlier
People who grew up in U.S. areas with high atmospheric lead levels were about 20% more likely to report memory problems 50 years later, a study of more than 600,000 older adults showed. Compared with people from areas with the lowest atmospheric lead levels, the odds of reported memory impairment were higher in people from areas with moderate levels, high levels, and extremely high levels, said Eric Brown, MD, MSc, of the University of Toronto, at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference (AAIC). (George, 7/27)

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Living through the COVID pandemic aged your brain by about five and a half extra months. This, according to new research. It’s a pretty scary headline, but what does “brain age” even mean, how do you measure it, and what risks does a five-and-a-half month older brain have to face? [Medscape]

We’re going to use what’s left of our brains to dig through the data this week. Stay tuned.

The study generating those scary headlines is “Accelerated Brain Ageing During the COVID-19 Pandemic”, from Ali-Reza Mohammadi-Nejad and colleagues, appearing in Nature Communications. 

Full article here> 

Another article that may be of interest to you: WHO Eyes Emerging COVID-19 Variant>

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Chicago leaders said Wednesday they will invest $40 million to improve seven shelters for those experiencing homelessness, a mission they said will improve health outcomes and create safer settings for a vulnerable population. [Health News Illinois]

The funding, a mix of federal and local funds, will allow the shelters to turn 350 beds into non-congregate settings, as well as move beds from areas with multiple residents to single-resident rooms.

More than 750 permanent shelter beds in Chicago will be affected by the improvements, which also include making them accessible to disabled individuals and updating some facilities with air conditioning.

“This investment is the most significant step forward in the history of Chicago in our mission to make housing a human right in our city,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said in a statement. “When it comes to building a safe and affordable city, housing and shelter must be prioritized to stabilize our residents who are housing insecure or experiencing homelessness.”

Five of the seven shelters are on the city’s west end.

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CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz, MD, is charting an ambitious path to reshape federal healthcare policy in line with President Donald Trump’s “Make America Healthy Again” agenda. His vision comes as President Trump on July 4 signed The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, a sweeping package of reforms targeting Medicaid, Medicare, and the ACA marketplace.[Becker's Hospital Review]

From plans to close a Medicaid funding “loophole” to probing hospitals over gender care for minors and clamping down on states using federal Medicaid funds to treat undocumented migrants, here are 15 key actions CMS has taken since Dr. Oz was confirmed as administrator:

1. CMS plans to add prior authorization for some traditional fee-for-service Medicare services as part of its newly launched Wasteful and Inappropriate Service Reduction model.

The agency will partner with companies specializing in AI and machine learning to test ways to provide an improved and expedited prior authorization process for traditional Medicare services including epidural steroid injections for pain management, cervical fusion, arthroscopy for knee osteoarthritis, and skin and tissue substitutes. The news came one week after the wider insurance industry announced reforms that aim to reduce and streamline prior authorization processes across commercial, Medicare Advantage and managed Medicaid plans.

2. CMS is enacting a final rule that will shorten the open enrollment period on the ACA exchange and create stricter eligibility verifications for enrollees. The changes will lower individual premiums by about 5% on average, and save around $12 billion in 2026 by clamping down on improper enrollments, according to the agency, which estimates as many as 5 million people may have improperly enrolled in ACA plans “enabled by weakened verification process and expanded premium subsidies.”

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The Department of Public Health issued nearly $2.3 million in fines to 210 Illinois nursing homes during the first quarter of 2025. [Health News Illinois]

The agency cited four homes with “type AA” violations that led to resident deaths. They were:

Alden Estates of Huntley for failing to supervise and implement a physician's orders for an individual's diet, leading them to choke and subsequently die.

Bria of Palos Hills for failing to implement interventions to prevent accidental removal of tracheostomy cannula and accidental extubation for a ventilator dependent resident; ensuring a ventilator care unit had uninterrupted nursing supervision; initiating intravenous access to provide intravenous fluids and failing to call 911 immediately upon determining that intervention for hypoglycemia was not effective, leading to the death of a resident.

City View Multicare Center in Cicero for failing to ensure a cognitively impaired resident on an altered diet had access to a regular consistency sandwich, which led them to choke and subsequently die.

Goldwater Care Danville for failing to provide timely emergency airway management and suctioning for a resident in respiratory distress during a medical emergency.

Seventy-two homes received “type A” violations for incidents with a “substantial probability” of death or serious mental or physical harm.

See the full list>

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US rejects WHO pandemic changes to global health rules | The United States has rejected amendments adopted in 2024 by members of the World Health Organization to its legally binding health rules aimed at improving preparedness for future pandemics following the disjointed global response to COVID-19.
The Department of State and Department of Health and Human Services said in a statement they had transmitted on Friday the official U.S. rejection of the amendments to the International Health Regulations, which were adopted by consensus last year.

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Researchers from Emory University and the CDC found that only 35% to 40% of pregnant and new parents plan to fully vaccinate their children. In other news: A shortened drug regimen for drug-resistant TB shows some promise; Farm pesticides might be causing rheumatoid arthritis; and more.[KFF Health News]

Majority Of US Pregnant Women Don’t Plan To Fully Vaccinate Kids: Survey

Only 35% to 40% of US pregnant women and parents of young children say they intend to fully vaccinate their child, per survey results from researchers at Emory University and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

For the two surveys, published as a research letter this week in JAMA Network Open, the investigators recruited 174 pregnant women and 1,765 parents from a nationally representative panel in April 2024 to answer questions about their intent to have their child receive all recommended vaccines by 18 months.

"Many parents in the US choose to delay or refuse vaccines that are recommended for their child from birth to age 18 months," the study authors wrote. "Research is necessary to understand the value of intervening during pregnancy to proactively support parents with vaccination decisions before the birth of the child, as implementation of such interventions will require substantial engagement of health care professionals and entities outside of the pediatric care setting."

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The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) plans to develop and release recommendations on maternal immunizations, including COVID-19 vaccination, alongside the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy's Vaccine Integrity Project. [MEDPAGE TODAY]

The move comes after the CDC ended its recommendation for routine COVID vaccination among pregnant women and healthy children back in May.

In announcing the forthcoming recommendations, ACOG noted the "importance of unbiased, evidence-based guidance about maternal vaccination for respiratory conditions."

"All of ACOG's recommendations for maternal immunization are based on the available evidence, and that science hasn't changed," Steven Fleischman, MD, MBA, president of ACOG, said in a statement. "We have made the commitment to join the [Vaccine Integrity Project] because we want to ensure that absent the historically robust government-led annual review of data and subsequent evidence-based recommendations, our patients and our colleagues across the healthcare system are able to make maternal immunization decisions that are founded on science."

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In just 3 years, the Influenza Vaccines Research and Development (R&D) Roadmap Initiative has demonstrated important advancements in vaccine R&D, accomplishing 14% of its high-priority research goals and making progress on another 83%, the group reports in Vaccine.  [CIDRAP]

While noting barriers in areas such as immunology and vaccinology, the project team outlines achievements in the pursuit of better vaccines against both seasonal flu and strains with pandemic potential— both critical for protecting the nation and the world from flu-related death and disability.

Coordinated approach to vaccine development

Created through a partnership of more than 100 experts from 29 countries and the University of Minnesota's Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP), the roadmap, or IVR, was published in 2021 to inform a clear and structured approach to influenza vaccine R&D. The Global Funders Consortium for Universal Influenza Vaccine Development recommended development of the roadmap, and Wellcome Trust funded it.

Researchers, developers, industry, and funders use the roadmap as a strategic planning tool to advance influenza vaccine R&D, inform decision-making on research priorities and funding, identify knowledge gaps in basic and applied research, reduce duplication, and increase efficiency.

Photo credit: Smederevac / iStock

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