The Huffington Post (9/14) reports the researchers who examined “brains of several older adults with remarkable memory performance” found that these so-called “super agers had brains with areas important for memory that did not show the typical shrinkage seen in most older adults.”

In fact, brain scans “comparing super agers with typical older adults and young adults revealed that some brain areas remained youthful and thick in super agers,” including “the default mode network, which is involved in learning and remembering, and the salience network, involved in identifying important information that needs attention.”

Related Links:

— “Researchers Would Love To Know Why Some Older People Have Such Excellent Memories,” Bahar Gholipour, Huffington Post, September 14, 2016.

HealthDay (9/13, Preidt) reports, “Patients seeking help for mental health problems wait hours longer in the emergency department than other patients do,” researchers found after examining data “from more than 200,000” ED visits in the US that occurred “between 2002 and 2011.” The findings were published in the September issue of Health Affairs.

Related Links:

— “Psychiatric Patients Face Longer Waits in ER,” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, September 13, 2016.

Kaiser Health News (9/13, Gold) reports, “Schools do not all screen students for mental health issues, and the practice varies widely” depending upon states. But even when children are screened, “many areas lack the community-based mental health treatment options that would be needed to help them.”

Despite the fact that two years ago, “the federal government announced $48 million in new grants to support teachers, schools and communities in recognizing and responding to mental health issues,” mental health issues “continue to go unidentified and untreated” in many school-age kids.

Related Links:

— “Parents Often Battle To Get Their Children Mental Health Services At School,” Jenny Gold, Kaiser Health News, September 13, 2016.

Healio (9/12, Oldt) reported, “College students who experienced childhood bullying and victimization were more likely to report symptoms of depression, anxiety and” post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), researchers found after surveying “482 undergraduate students about their childhood bullying experiences and current psychological functioning.” The findings were published online Aug. 16 in Social Psychology of Education.

Related Links:

— “Childhood bullying predicts depression, anxiety, PTSD in young adulthood,” Healio, September 12, 2016.

Healio (9/12, Oldt) reports a review published online June 27 in LGBT Health concluded “suicide prevention interventions for sexual and gender minority youth are lacking, despite higher rates of suicidal thoughts and behaviors among this population.” The review’s authors “suggest research methodologies be adapted to unique needs of sexual and gender minority youth at risk for suicide.”

Related Links:

— “Review calls for increased efforts in suicide prevention among LGBTQ youth,” Healio, September 12, 2016.

The New York Times (9/13, D5, Span, Subscription Publication) reports that beneficiaries are often told Medicare will no longer cover physical therapy or nursing home stays because they are “stable and chronic,” or have reached “maximum functional capacity,” or they have plateaued.

Seniors “with chronic and progressive diseases – dementia, Parkinson’s, heart failure” – are typically given this incorrect assessment, even though a 2013 settlement of a class-action suit mandated that Medicare “cover skilled care and therapy when they are ‘necessary to maintain the patient’s current condition or prevent or slow further deterioration.’”

In addition, last month, a Federal judge ordered CMS “to do a better job of informing health care” professionals “and Medicare adjudicators that the so-called improvement standard was no longer in effect.” The judge said that while CMS does not have to further update its manuals, it must do a better job of educating the medical community about these changes.

Related Links:

— “Failure to Improve Is Still Being Used, Wrongly, to Deny Medicare Coverage,” Paula Span, New York Times, September 12, 2016.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (9/10, Fauber, Wynn, Fiore) reports that “since 2013, there have been more than 19,000 reports of complications from AD/HD” medications “made to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, according to a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel/MedPage Today analysis.” The article points out that “in the case of adult AD/HD, the definition was relaxed in 2013 by the American Psychiatric Association.”

According to “the new definition, adults need to have five of a possible nine symptoms from either of two categories, down from six of a possible nine, and the symptoms must have been present before age 12, instead of the previous age 7.” However, some “experts question whether adult AD/HD truly is a widespread condition that needs treatment with dangerous” medications.

Related Links:

— “Abuse of ADHD drugs following path of opioids,” John Fauber, Matthew Wynn and Kristina Fiore, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, September 10, 2016.

The CBS Evening News (9/9, story 9, 2:25, Pelley) reported on some of the health problems experienced by first responders who survived the 9/11 attacks. CBS News’ Dr. Jon LaPook, MD, said, “In a study of more than 800 first responders, more than 12 percent had cognitive impairment.” He added that “responders…with a diagnosis of PTSD with flashbacks were three times as likely to have impairment.”

Meanwhile, the New York Post (9/9, Fears) reported, “The city Health Department released on Friday new findings from the World Trade Center Health Registry that illustrate the long-term physical and mental effects that 9/11 survivors and recovery workers are suffering.”

Related Links:

— “9/11 survivors continue battling long-term health effects,” Danika Fears, New York Post, September 9, 2016.

The Minneapolis Star Tribune (9/10, Olson) reported, “Veterinarians have the third-highest risk of suicide as a cause of death when compared to other US occupations,” the Star Tribune found after examining data from the CDC’s National Occupational Mortality Surveillance database. Included in that database are “death records from 24 states in a recent seven-year period.” The suicide rate for veterinarians is surpassed only by that of “podiatrists and dentists.”

Related Links:

— “Veterinarians at high risk for suicide, and job could play a role,” Jeremy Olson, Minneapolis Star Tribune, September 10, 2016.

The Hill (9/9, Disipio) reported that on Sept. 9, “members of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health pushed for insurers to do more to ensure parity so that those with mental health or substance abuse issues don’t face tougher obstacles to receiving care as those with other medical conditions.” According to The Hill, “Since the passage of the Mental Health Parity Act of 1996, Congress has pressed to improve upon making mental health and substance use treatment as accessible as other treatments.” Meanwhile, lawmakers in the Senate “are still struggling to reach a deal” on mental healthcare reform legislation.

Related Links:

— “Lawmakers push insurers on mental health access,” Joe DiSipio, The Hill, September 9, 2016.