Bloomberg News (9/21, Ostrow) reports, “Patients with Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of dementia, and their caregivers say the illness leaves them feeling isolated and apart from family, friends and life’s typical connections,” according to the World Alzheimer Report 2010 (pdf), released yesterday by Alzheimer’s Disease International, an organization based in London, UK. “About a quarter of people with dementia hide or conceal their diagnosis because of the stigma surrounding the disease and 40 percent say they are excluded from everyday life,” the report found. Currently, approximately “36 million people worldwide are living with dementia and the numbers will more than triple to 115 million by 2050, according to the report.”

Loneliness May Put Seniors At Risk For Health Problems. The Houston Chronicle (9/21, Morgan) reports, “According to the Department of Health and Human Services, approximately 30 percent of senior citizens live alone, the majority being women. Loneliness” may increase the risk for certain health problems in seniors. For some seniors, “Meals on Wheels delivers nutrition and socialization, said Janice Sparks, manager of the Aging and Disability Resource Center in Houston, a branch of the Harris County Area Agency on Aging.” And, “keeping in mind eating is often a social activity, the agency also offers a ‘congregate nutrition program,’ which is a network of congregate and home-delivered meal providers throughout Harris County.”

Related Links:

— “Alzheimer’s Leaves Patients, Caregivers Feeling Isolated, “Nicole Ostrow, Bloomberg, September 20, 2012.

The New York Times (9/21, Parker-Pope) “Well” blog notes that although previously rejected, the “notion that food can be addictive” is beginning to gain ground among experts. This spring, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius “said that for some, obesity is ‘an addiction like smoking'”; and National Institute on Drug Abuse Director Nora Volkow, MD, “gave a lecture…making the case that food and drug addictions have much in common.” Additionally, researchers at Princeton University and the University of Florida “have found that sugar-binging rats show signs of opiate-like withdrawal when their sugar is taken away”; and scientists in Italy and California “reported that the digestive systems of rats on a fatty liquid diet began producing endocannabinoids, chemicals similar to those produced by marijuana use.”

Related Links:

— “Craving an Ice-Cream Fix,”Tara Parker Pope, The New York Times, September 20, 2012.

The Huffington Post (9/21, Wood) reports, “After more than a decade of war, the US military cannot precisely diagnose concussion-related brain injuries resulting from the bomb blasts that are the most common cause of combat casualties.” Earlier this week, however, Veterans Affairs and the Defense Department “announced a new $100 million research effort to find better ways to diagnose and treat” mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a “form of combat trauma with many of the same symptoms as mTBI.”

The Warner Robins (GA) Patriot (9/21, Rector) says Veterans Affairs and the Defense Department have “announced…that more than $100 million will be invested in research to improve diagnosis and treatment” of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In a Pentagon statement, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs Dr. Jonathan Woodson said the research will “bring together leading scientists and researchers devoted to the health and welfare of our nation’s service members and veterans.”

Related Links:

— “Traumatic Brain Injury Treatment, Diagnosis Continues To Elude Military Doctors, “David Wood, Huffington Post, September 20, 2012.

HealthDay (9/21, Reinberg) reports, “More Americans now commit suicide than die in car crashes, making suicide the leading cause of injury deaths,” according to a study published online Sept. 20 in the American Journal of Public Health. “In addition, over the last 10 years, while the number of deaths from car crashes has declined, deaths from poisoning and falls increased significantly, the researchers” reported. Study author Ian Rockett, a professor of epidemiology at West Virginia University, believes “there may be 20 percent or more unrecognized suicides,” possibly from intentional overdosing on prescription medications.

WebMD (9/21, Warner) reports, “In the study, researchers looked at cause of death data from the National Center for Health Statistics from 2000 to 2009.” They found that “the top five leading causes of injury-related deaths were: suicide, motor vehicle crashes, poisoning, falls, [and] homicide.” The study authors “say the findings demonstrate that suicide is now a global public health issue.”

Related Links:

— “Suicide Now Kills More Americans Than Car Crashes: Study, “Steven Reinberg, HealthDay, September 20, 2012.

MedWire (9/19, Cowen) reports, “Children with a parental history of bipolar disorder (BD) or major depressive disorder (MDD) are at increased risk for any mood or anxiety disorder,” according to a study published in the September issue of the journal Bipolar Disorders. For the study, researchers examined “a total of 376 children, aged 6.0-17.9 years, of whom 139 had a parental history of BD (72 parents), 110 had a parental history of MDD (56 parents), and 127 (controls) had mentally healthy parents.” Investigators “also found that children with a parental history of BD were more likely to develop recurrent MDD than the children of parents with MDD and those of mentally healthy parents.”

Related Links:

— “Mood disorder, anxiety risk elevated in children with mood disordered parents, “Mark Cowen, MedWire News, September 19, 2012.

HealthDay (9/19, Dallas) reports that a study published online in the journal Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise “found that moderate exercise can help people manage future stress and anxiety, and the emotional and mental health benefits of exercise may last long after a workout ends.” For the study, investigators “compared the effects of 30-minute periods of quiet rest and moderate-intensity cycling on the anxiety levels of healthy college students.” Researchers found that “after viewing 90 stimulating photos from the International Affective Picture System, a database of images used in emotion research, for 20 minutes…only the students who exercised maintained a lower level of anxiety.”

Related Links:

— “Exercise May Prevent Stress and Anxiety, Study Suggests, “Mary Elizabeth Dallas, HealthDay, September 18, 2012.

Reuters (9/18) reports on a study published online Sept. 17 in the journal Pediatrics that found that one in every seven high schoolers in Los Angeles with a mobile phone has sent a sexually explicit photo or text message. The study found that the teens who had engaged in “sexting” were seven times more likely to be sexually active than those who never sexted.

The Los Angeles Times (9/18, Lynch) “Nation Now” blog reports that “the study polled more than 1,800 Los Angeles high school-age students. Of those polled, 15% acknowledged sexting, and 54% reported knowing someone who had sent a sext.” Lead researcher Eric Rice said that “there is an emerging sense of normalcy around sexting behavior,” adding that “if you have friends that sext, you are 17 times more likely to sext.”

Related Links:

— ““Sexting” again linked to risky sex among teens, “Genevra Pittman, Reuters, September 17, 2012.

US Medicine (9/18, Basu) reports, “The Army will no longer use forensic psychiatry to evaluate soldiers diagnosed with PTSD in the disability evaluation system, military officials” recently announced. The “announcement came after a firestorm of controversy erupted earlier this year” at the Madigan Army Medical Center. According to US Medicine, a “number of soldiers there had PTSD diagnoses overturned in the disability evaluation system, which used forensic psychiatry methods instead of those typically used in military evaluations.”

Related Links:

— “Army: Forensic Psychiatry No Longer Used for PTSD Disability Evaluations, “Sandra Basu, U.S. Medicine, September 18, 2012.

In continuing coverage, the Deseret (UT) News (9/18, Betar) reports that a new plan proposed by US Surgeon General Regina Benjamin will “focus on making suicide prevention a part of everyday life.” Among other things, the “plan asks community groups, friends and family members to take an active role in suicide prevention, including utilizing Facebook.” The News points out that Veterans Affairs “has hired 1,600 new mental-health workers under an executive order by President Obama.”

VA Using Crisis Line To Prevent Suicides. The KREX-TV Grand Junction, CO (9/17, Dias) website reported, “With September being Suicide Prevention Month, the Department of Veterans Affairs is stepping up its efforts.” Officials with VA are trying to prevent suicides “by providing easily available support right away through their crisis line.” The “important thing is that we know that treatment works and we know that we can intervene at the earliest level of crisis, that goes a long way,” said Sonja Encke, suicide prevention coordinator at the Grand Junction VA. KREX-TV Grand Junction, CO (9/17, 6:19 p.m. MT) aired a similar report.

Related Links:

— “Updated suicide prevention plan integrates social media, increased awareness, “Thomas Betar, Deseret News, September 17, 2012.

The Washington Post (9/18, Huget) “The Checkup” blog reports that a new study “finds that people who harm themselves — by intentionally injuring or poisoning themselves, with or without suicidal intent, according to the study’s definition — remain at greater risk of early death from both natural and external causes for years after their initial self-harming incident.”

MedPage Today (9/18, Phend) reports, “Suicide attempts and other self-harm may point to individuals at high risk for premature death due to overall poor health,” according to a 30,950-person study published online in The Lancet. “The rate of death from natural causes was two- to 7.5-fold higher than expected in people with a history of self-harm,” researchers reported. “While accidental poisoning and suicide were the top causes of death in this group overall, circulatory and digestive diseases were major contributors as well.”

Related Links:

— “Self-Harm Tracks Poor Health,”Crystal Phend, Medpage Today, September 17, 2012.