Suicidality in Black Youth; Win for Schizo Agent; COVID Leaves Teens Hopeless

Compared with white peers, Black youth under the age of 13 have double the rate of suicide. On top of that, the rate of Black youth who contemplated suicide rose in the past decade from 12.95% to 16.89%. “Applying the white-centric lens that has driven existing suicide research is not sufficient to solving the increasing rates of suicide among Black youth,” wrote Arielle Sheftall, PhD, of Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, in a statement. (JAMA Pediatrics)

CVL-231, a novel muscarinic M4-selective positive allosteric modulator, succeeded in a phase Ib trial of adults with schizophrenia. A dose of 30 mg once daily improved Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) total score by 12.7% by week 6 versus placebo, with no safety issues, Cerevel Therapeutics announced.

The stimulant lisdexamfetamine (Vyvanse) cut symptoms of sluggish cognitive tempo by 30% in a small study of people with ADHD. (Journal of Clinical Psychiatry)

The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and its Neurological Institute were among one of the first in the nation to implant a new deep-brain stimulation device — Medtronic’s SenSight Directional Lead System — for Parkinson’s disease.

Developed by research in the U.K. and New Zealand, the DentalSlim Diet Control — a novel intra-oral device fitted to the upper and lower back teeth — is being lambasted by the public for eating disorder concerns. The weight-loss device works by engaging a magnet to prevent the individual from opening their mouth, forcing them on a liquid diet for 2 weeks, which yielded a 5.1% body weight reduction in a study published in British Dental Journal. (The Guardian)

The University of Maryland Children’s Hospital opened the first trauma-informed children and adolescent psychiatric unit this week for children ages 5 to 17.

A survey of Washington state teens found that almost 60% were sad or depressed for the majority of the COVID-19 pandemic, with up to 10% saying they had little to no hope for the future. (Seattle Times)

Thomas Laughren, the former director of the FDA’s division of psychiatry products who served for nearly 30 years, was recently recruited by psychedelic drug development company Cybin as it preps for its upcoming clinical trial of a sublingual formula of psilocybin for major depression. (Forbes)