The New York Times (3/16, Reynolds) “Well” blog reports, “Meditating before running could change the brain in ways that are more beneficial for mental health than practicing either of those activities alone,” a small study published online Feb. 2 in Translational Psychiatry suggests. After recruiting “52 men and women, 22 of whom had been given diagnoses of depression,” and having them complete meditation “sessions twice a week for eight weeks,” researchers found that the “22 volunteers with depression now had a 40 percent reduction in” depressive symptoms.

Related Links:

— “Meditation Plus Running as a Treatment for Depression,” Gretchen Reynolds, New York Times, March 16, 2016.

According to the NBC News (3/16, Fox) website, a study conducted by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and published online Feb. 10 in the Journal of Community Psychology reveals that “people living in Baltimore’s low-income neighborhoods who see rats as a big problem are significantly more likely to have depressive symptoms such as sadness and anxiety.”

The Baltimore Sun (3/16, Cohn) reports that after surveying 448 low-income Baltimore residents, “researchers found that those who considered the rats a big problem were 72 percent more likely to experience depressive symptoms than those who lived in similar neighborhoods where rats weren’t a big problem.” The study’s lead author “said the findings could change the way public health and other officials frame the conversation about rats, usually considered a nuisance and a vector for disease more than a depressive force.”

Related Links:

— “Rats Depress People More Than Crime Does, Study Finds,” Maggie Fox, NBC News, March 16, 2016.

MedPage Today (3/14, Walker) reports that research suggests children “with emotionally healthy childhoods had a lower risk of coronary artery calcification as adults.” Investigators found that “childhood psychosocial factors, such as self-regulatory behavior, positive health behaviors among parents, and socioeconomic status, had an inverse relationship with any coronary artery calcification (CAC) in adulthood.” For each “favorable 1-SD change in the childhood social factors score, the probability of coronary artery calcification in adulthood dropped 15%.”

Related Links:

— “Happier Kids Less Likely to Have CAC as Adults,” Molly walker, MedPage Today, March 14, 2016.

The Washington Post (3/14, Bieler) reports that yesterday, a top NFL official “made a stunning admission Monday, agreeing with a neuropathologist before a Congressional panel that a link exists between football-related brain injuries and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).”

The Los Angeles Times (3/14, Farmer, Fenno) reports that yesterday while appearing at a roundtable discussion of concussions before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, NFL senior vice president for health and safety Jeff Miller “acknowledged…for the first time that there is a connection between football-related brain trauma and” CTE, “a degenerative disease that can be diagnosed only after death.”

Related Links:

— “In stunning admission, NFL official affirms link between football and CTE,” Des Bieler, Washington Post, March 14, 2016.

On its website, CBS News (3/14, Welch) reports in “Science Now” that a study found quitting “cold turkey” is the most effective way to stop smoking. The findings of the 697-participant study were published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

The Los Angeles Times (3/14, Healy) describes the methodology of the study in which one group of smokers was instructed to quit immediately, or “cold turkey,” and the other group was instructed to gradually reduce how much they smoked over a period of two weeks. The study found that after six months, 22% of the group that was instructed to quit immediately had stopped smoking, but only 15.5% of the group that was instructed to slowly reduce their smoking had stopped smoking.

Related Links:

— “Trying to quit smoking? Here’s the most effective strategy,” Ashley Welch, CBS News, March 14, 2016.

In a 2,700-word article on the front of its Science Times section, the New York Times (3/15, D1, Goode, Subscription Publication) reports that the programs and residential care centers aimed at patients with eating disorders “have proliferated in recent years, with some” for-profit companies “expanding across the country.” There are currently over 75 centers, compared to 22 a decade ago. The industry growth is attributed to the Affordable Care Act and other changes in health insurance laws “that have increased coverage for mental disorders, as well as by investments from private equity firms.”

Related Links:

— “Centers to Treat Eating Disorders Are Growing, and Raising Concerns,” Erica Goode, New York Times, March 14, 2016.

HealthDay (3/11, Preidt) reported that research suggests “major surgery and general anesthesia” do not “cause long-term mental decline in older adults.” The research involved “nearly 4,300 twins younger than 70 and about 4,200 twins aged 70 and older in Denmark who were given tests to assess their thinking and memory abilities.” Investigators found “no significant link between major surgery, general anesthesia and long-term mental decline.”

Related Links:

— “Anesthesia Not Linked to Long-Term Mental Decline, Study Finds,” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, March 11, 2016.

In a 1,200-word article on its front page, the Boston Globe (3/14, A1, Kowalczyk) reports that “there is a growing realization that many” patients treated in intensive care units “are left emotionally troubled by” their experience in the ICU, “which can be marred by hallucinations, poor communication, lack of respect for privacy, and, later, post-traumatic stress syndrome.” According to the Globe, “Now, a group of leading hospitals…is working to make the ICU less terrifying and more humane, using innovative tools such as iPad applications that feature patient biographies and journals kept by nurses.”

Related Links:

— “Hospitals working to make intensive care less terrifying,” Liz Kowalczyk, Boston Globe, March 14, 2016.

In “To Your Health,” the Washington Post (3/11, Izadi) reported that “social support may end up discouraging some men from seeking out professional help” for depression, the findings of a study published in the April issue of the journal General Hospital Psychiatry suggest. After analyzing “data from 1,379 adults with depression symptoms who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey,” researchers found that “depressed men who said they had inadequate social support were more likely to get that professional help.” This dynamic “doesn’t appear to play out for depressed women, the study found.”

Related Links:

— “What everyone should know about men and depression,” Elahe Izadi, Washington Post, March 11, 2016.

According to the Los Angeles Times (3/10, Healy) in “Science Now,” investigators “at Boston University have identified specific state laws that, if implemented across the nation, might dramatically reduce the death toll from gun violence.” The “three initiatives” tied to “robust declines in suicides, homicides and fatal accidental shootings” include “universal background checks for firearms sales, background checks on those buying ammunition, and a requirement that gun owners get their firearms microchipped or ‘fingerprinted’ for identification purposes,” the report published online March 10 in The Lancet reveals. Were all three initiatives enacted across the US, “the number of gun deaths…might decline by as much as 90%.”

The Washington Post (3/10, Johnson) “Wonkblog” reports that the author of an accompanying comment “questioned” the “finding that nine minor laws might increase firearm fatalities, such as police inspection of firearm dealers or required theft reporting by gun dealers.” But, rather than putting “too much importance to those findings,” the editorialist “thinks it’s reasonable to look at the study as yet another piece of supporting evidence for the broader idea gun control works.”

Related Links:

— “Aiming to drive down gun deaths? Put these three laws on the books, researchers say,” Melissa Healy, Los Angeles Times, March 10, 2016.