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Weekly News Roundup
August 22, 2016
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Dennis J. Barbour, JD, Editor
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| New Zealand: Wave of transgender young people will swamp treatment services
A tsunami of transgender young people is poised to swamp New Zealand's ad hoc transgender health services, experts say. Increasing social acceptance of gender diversity, combined with the availability of puberty-blocking drugs, means more young people are coming out as transgender, and at an earlier age. New figures obtained by Stuff show the number of 10 to 14-year-olds taking puberty-delaying Leuprorelin has soared from 27 in 2005 to 95 last year. Counsellor Mani Mitchell said the surge was reminiscent of growth in the gay community in the 1950s and 60s.
Stuff New Zealand, August 20, 2016
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| Interview: Violent Deaths Disproportionately Affect Young, Minority Males
Bridget H. Lyons, MPH
Division of Violence Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Atlanta
Main findings:
1. Violent deaths resulting from suicide or interpersonal violence disproportionately affected persons less than 65 years of age, males, and certain minority populations.
2. Primary circumstances for homicide and suicide included intimate partner problems, interpersonal conflicts, mental health problems and recent crises.
Medical Research, August 19, 2016
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| Parents Feel Better About HPV Shots For Preteens If They Can Opt Out
The human papillomavirus vaccine is the only vaccine invented explicitly for the purpose of preventing cancer. Yet a decade after its approval, the vaccine continues to struggle from a PR problem, as shown in a study that finds just one in five parents would support making the HPV vaccine a requirement for school. But this first national study of parents' attitudes found that those attitudes shifted if the requirement allowed parents an opportunity to opt out. "It's interesting; if you had opt-out provisions, it tripled their support, but we know from previous research that if you add the opt-out provisions, you will make the law less effective," says the study's lead author, William Calo, a postdoctoral research associate at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
NPR, August 19, 2016
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| NYC health officials: Black male youth suicide rate growing
New York City's suicide prevention services say suicide rates of black adolescent males are the highest growing statistic. Although black suicide rates are the lowest in the country, more black boys ages 5 to 11 committed suicide between 1993 to 1997 and 2008 to 2012, according to Jama Pediatrics.
Brooklyn News 12, August 19, 2016
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| Concussion rates rising significantly in adolescents
The number of Americans diagnosed with concussions is growing, most significantly in adolescents, according to researchers at UC San Francisco. They recommend that adolescents be prioritized for ongoing work in concussion education, diagnosis, treatment and prevention.
The findings appear online August 16, 2016, in the Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine. Overall, 43,884 patients were diagnosed with a concussion, with 55 percent being male. The highest incidence was in the 15-19 age group at 16.5 concussions per 1,000 patients, followed by ages 10-14 at 10.5, 20-24 at 5.2 and 5-9 at 3.5. A 60 percent increase in concussions occurred from 2007 to 2014 (3,529 to 8,217), with the largest growth in ages 10-14 at 143 percent and 15-19 at 87 percent. Based on classification, 29 percent of concussions were associated with some loss of consciousness.
Science Daily, August 18, 2016
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| The Media's False Narrative About Teen Athletes, Prescription Pain Pills, and Heroin Use
Is misuse of prescription painkillers among youth athletes leading to heroin use? The short answer is "no."
Over the past several years, the sports media have presented several stories of
youth athletes who have become addicted
to prescription painkillers and eventually turned to heroin. The narratives in these reports typically revolved around a
young male athlete who sustained an injury
, was prescribed painkillers to manage pain after surgery and eventually developed a dependence on these medications. This dependence then subsequently escalated into a heroin addiction, as heroin is a cheaper and more available alternative to prescription painkillers. These stories resonate among many Americans, given the attention on both the rise of
prescription painkiller misuse
and the uptick in heroin overdoses over the past several years. While these trends suggest some dangerous overlap between prescription painkiller and heroin use, very little research has been done to see if this is an emerging pattern among youth athletes in the United States. In particular, young athletes who play one sport are at
greater risk
for injuries that may require some form of opioid pain management.
Alternet, August 18, 2016
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| CDC urges college students to get 'Meningitis B' vaccine
There are new immunization recommendations just put out by the
Centers for Disease Control
for all students attending an Arizona state university.The CDC is urging all incoming freshmen to get the "Meningitis B" vaccine before they start class. The goal is to protect students from getting the disease.
Tucson News Now, August 18, 2016
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| Minority of Surgical Studies Include Men, Women Equally
Few surgical studies include men and women equally, and only about one-third perform data analysis by sex, according to research published online Aug. 17 in JAMA Surgery.
The researchers found that 1.3 and 3.1 percent of articles included males only and females only, respectively, 78.3 percent included males and females, and 17.3 percent did not document participant sex. Considerable variability existed in the number of male, female, and unspecified participants among the journals, between U.S. domestic and international studies, and for single versus multicenter studies, although female participants represented more than 50 percent of the total number of participants. Overall, 38.1, 33.2, and 22.9 percent of articles reported the data by sex, analyzed the data by sex, and included a discussion of sex-based results, respectively.
Doctor's Lounge, August 17, 2016
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| The Data-Poor Lives of Adolescents
Data can save lives. Without it, we wouldn't know that smoking causes lung cancer and coronary disease, that helmets reduce death rates for motorcycle accidents, and that better education for women improves child survival - and much else. Given the importance of reliable data, collecting it must be a high priority. One area where data collection is particularly inadequate is adolescent health. People aged ten to 24 receive far less attention than other age groups. More broadly, as the new
Lancet Commission on Adolescent Health and Wellbeing
highlights, global health and social policy largely tends to ignore adolescent health.
Project Syndicate, August 17, 2016
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| Teenagers Have High Suicide Risks When They Misuse Prescription Drugs
Suicide is the third leading cause of death in children aged 10 to 14, and the second for people aged 15 to 24. Also, 90 percent of suicidal teenagers have a substance abuse problem not just with drugs, but also with alcohol. Adolescent males complete suicide at four times the rate of adolescent females. Teenagers are more likely to attempt suicide when they abuse prescription drugs. A new study published in JAMA Pediatrics found that teenagers are three times more likely to commit suicide after using prescription drugs for non-medical reasons for a year,
Dr. Lan Guo, the study's lead author from Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, China, said misusing opioids, sedatives, and prescription drugs is associated with "later suicidal ideation." Opiates, primarily used to ease pain and suppress extreme coughing fits, are one of the most abused drugs in the United States. The drug is easy to obtain, is readily prescribed, and are highly addictive. Teenagers using prescription painkillers or opioids like codeine, hydrocodone, and oxycodone for non-medical purposes are more likely to develop a substance abuse disorder by the time they turn 35 years old, according to a study published in the journal
Pain
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Parent Herald, August 17, 2016
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| Gay Sex Should Be A Part Of Sexual Education
Our sexual education system is lacking in many areas. Many schools still teach "abstinence only" education to its students, despite the
risks
that are associated with it. Other programs passively shame students surrounding their sexuality, without realizing that they're doing so. However, even for most of these students, masturbation and sexual pleasure are rarely included in their sex ed. Instead, the focus is heavily on reproductive health and teen pregnancy. Such a heavy focus on reproductive health is often guilty of leaving gay boys behind. For them, it can feel like there is nowhere to turn for sexual education that they need. Even for those who are out, there can be shame in talking with their parents about sex. Because relationship, romance, and sexuality role models continue to be based in heteronormativity, it's difficult to know what gay sex should look like. Many young, gay men don't know how to improve sexual pleasure. Instead, they rely on myths surrounding sex. They can develop beliefs that there is a caste system surrounding sexual positioning. They risk learning that pain with anal sex is normal and just has to be dealt with. They also risk learning that there is only one way for gay men to have sex.
Huffington Post, August 17, 2016
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| New Zealand - "Porn: Turning teenage boys into old men"
Online pornography is damaging the sexual health of young men, a senior psychosexual therapist has warned. Men in their late teens and early 20s are increasingly likely to suffer erectile dysfunction, with experts blaming the problem on the spread of online porn. In June a UK report found children as young as 11 were being "stripped of their childhoods" and warped by online porn. A survey of more than 1,000 children by the NSPCC and the Children's Commissioner for England found 94 per cent of 14-year-olds had seen X-rated films or photographs. Half of parents do not realise children who take nude selfies are breaking the law, according to an NSPCC survey. It also found two in five parents fear their children will be involved in sexting but most have not spoken to them about the risks.
New Zealand Herald, August 16, 2016
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| Students Of Color Less Likely To Receive Mental Health Treatment Than Whites, Study Suggests
The study published in the
International Journal of Health Services
said that based on the information they have taken covering all 50 states in 2006 to 2012, black and Latino children make 37 and 49 percent fewer visits to psychiatrists compared to white children. The problem is not only with the race. Gender also plays a factor, with females receiving less mental health care than male children, however the rate is reversed for young adults - more females visit mental health care professionals as teens and young adults compared to males.
Science World Report, August 16, 2016
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| MANY MEN DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT THEIR HEALTH
Physicians often bemoan how challenging it can be to get male patients thinking about the health of their colon, heart and prostate-and then do something to avoid a health crisis later in life. Most young, healthy guys rarely stress out over ED or the Big C, and when it comes to medical issues, especially preventive medicine, men would rather remain avoidant than face a colonoscopy head-no, bottom-on. According to a new survey of 500 men
conducted by the Cleveland Clinic
, way too many male patients have no idea when or how frequently to undergo routine life-saving tests. This includes even the easy ones, like having your blood pressure taken at a doctor's office or getting your cholesterol checked. More than half didn't know the recommended age to start routine heart disease screening. (For the record, the American Heart Association says a man should get their ticker checked beginning the third decade of life.)
According to the survey:
- Only 7 percent of men discuss health issues with their male friends.
- About one-fifth (22 percent) do not discuss private topics such as health or relationships with anyone.
- When they do bring up health, 48 percent of men reach out to their spouse or significant other.
- Topics guys prefer more than health include current events (36 percent), sports (32 percent) and their job (32 percent).
Newsweek, August 16, 2016
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NEW RESOURCE
In March 2016, the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS), supported by funding from Gilead Sciences, Inc., convened an Expert Work Group to address issues surrounding pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) delivery and contribute to the development of an online resource to support primary care providers in offering PrEP to adolescents and young adults under age 25. Expert stakeholders from diverse disciplines convened to identify key concerns as well as barriers to greater primary care provider (PCP) engagement with PrEP. These robust discussions led to the development of the
PrEP Education for Youth-Serving Primary Care Providers Toolkit. The
PrEP Education for Youth-Serving Primary Care Providers Toolkit
is the only toolkit to date focused on supporting PCPs in providing PrEP to youth.
SIECUS, August 2016
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NEW RESOURCE
Male Health Information for Young Men
The Palo Alto Medical Foundation has released a comprehensive health guide for young males that contains useful information on a range of diseases and disorders.
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JOURNAL ARTICLE
Abstract: International research has identified young men as reluctant to seek help for mental health problems. This research explored barriers and solutions to professional help seeking for mental health problems among young men living in the North West of Ireland. A qualitative approach, using two focus groups with six participants each and five face-to-face interviews, was conducted with men aged 18 to 24 years (total N = 17). Data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Seven key themes of barriers to professional help seeking were identified: "acceptance from peers," "personal challenges," "cultural and environmental influences," "self-medicating with alcohol," "perspectives around seeking professional help," "fear of homophobic responses," and "traditional masculine ideals." Five key themes of solutions to these barriers included "tailored mental health advertising," "integrating mental health into formal education," "education through semiformal support services," "accessible mental health care," and "making new meaning." Interesting findings on barriers include fear of psychiatric medication, fear of homophobic responses from professionals, the legacy of Catholic attitudes, and the genuine need for care. This study offers an in-depth exploration of how young men experience barriers and uniquely offers solutions identified by participants themselves. Youth work settings were identified as a resource for engaging young men in mental health work. Young men can be encouraged to seek help if services and professionals actively address barriers, combining advertising, services, and education, with particular attention and respect to how and when young men seek help and with whom they want to share their problems.
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JOURNAL ARTICLE
Abstract:
OBJECTIVE:
Research on the manifestations and health correlates of eating disorder symptoms among males is lacking. This study identified patterns of appearance concerns and eating disorder behaviors from adolescence through young adulthood and their health correlates.
CONCLUSION:
Results underscore the importance of measuring concerns about leanness, muscularity, and use of muscle-building products when assessing eating disorder presentations among males in research and clinical settings.
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10 Top Health Risks for Men
A lack of awareness, weak health education, and unhealthy work and personal lifestyles have caused a steady deterioration of the well-being of American men. Common conditions facing men are cancer, depression, heart disease, and respiratory diseases.
Healthline, June 20, 2016
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The Weekly News Roundup is produced by The Partnership for Male Youth and is released every Monday.
For more information contact Dennis J. Barbour, JD. News Roundup editor and President/CEO of the Partnership, at [email protected].
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