The AP (12/15, Thompson) reports that Rep. Mike Thompson (R-CA), who chairs the House Democrats’ Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, conducted a hearing in Sacramento, CA on Dec. 14 at which “a gun club owner and a gun dealer” testified that “closing loopholes in federal background checks and increasing mental health help would reduce gun violence.” Thompson, who is the “co-author of a House bill requiring nationwide background checks at gun shows and for those who buy guns from individuals online,” was accused by “gun rights proponents…of politicizing the issue.”

Related Links:

— “Mental health care would curb violence, some at hearing say,” Don Thompson, Associated Press, December 14, 2015.

ABC World News (12/14, story 13, 0:25, Muir) reported that new research suggests that “women taking antidepressants in the last six months of pregnancy are 87 percent more likely to have a child later diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder [ASD].”

On NBC Nightly News (12/14, story 7, 2:05, Holt), correspondent Anne Thompson explained that according to the study, “the most commonly prescribed antidepressants” called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), “if taken during the second and third trimesters, are” tied to a greater risk for ASD.

USA Today (12/15, Szabo) reports that the study, which was published online Dec. 14 in the journal JAMA Pediatrics, reveals that no “increase in autism rates” was seen “in women who took medication for depression in the first three months of pregnancy.”

The Washington Post (12/15, Cha) “To Your Health” blog reports that for the study, investigators analyzed “health records in Quebec from January 1999 and December 2009.” During that time frame, “145,456 full-term singleton infants were born, and 1,054 or 0.72 percent were subsequently diagnosed with autism.”

Related Links:

— “Taking antidepressants during pregnancy linked to increased risk of autism,” Liz Szabo, USA Today, December 14, 2015.

HealthDay (12/12, Dallas) reported that returning “to school could help older people stave off dementia.” The study of 350 older adults without dementia revealed that “taking college courses may boost brain functions, such as memory, decision-making and planning.” The findings were published in the journal Neuropsychology.

Related Links:

— “Seniors Who Head Back to School May Reduce Dementia Risk,” Mary Elizabeth Dallas, HealthDay, December 11, 2015.

HealthDay (12/14, Haelle) reports, “Increased stress could be a risk factor for the kind of thinking difficulties that can lead to Alzheimer’s disease,” a study published online Dec. 11 in the journal Alzheimer Disease and Associated Disorders suggests. In research involving some “500 adults, aged 70 and older,” researchers found that “adults who perceived themselves to be under the most stress had a 30 percent greater risk of early cognitive impairment.” Medical Daily (12/14, Baulkman) also covers the study.

Related Links:

— “Stress May Boost Risk for Alzheimer’s-Linked Thinking Problems,” Tara Haelle, HealthDay, December 11, 2015.

The New York Times (12/14, A22, Subscription Publication) editorializes, “As Americans debate how the country should respond to gun violence, they should not lose sight of the biggest category of firearm deaths: suicides.” Although “no policy or education campaign is going to prevent every suicide,” the Times argues that “that is no excuse for failing to save as many people as we can by improving gun safety and by protecting” those “who are a danger to themselves.”

Related Links:

— “To Reduce Suicides, Keep the Guns Away,” New York Times, December 14, 2015.

Congressional Quarterly (12/11, Zanona, Subscription Publication) reported that HR 4153 “would establish a three-year pilot program providing grants for middle schools to screen students for conditions such as anorexia and bulimia nervosa, as well as educate teachers, counselors, nurses and parents about identifying risk factors and symptoms.” The aim of the legislation “is to test the effects of early intervention – an issue about which bill supporters contend there is insufficient data.”

Related Links:

— Congressional Quarterly (requires login and subscription)

In an investigatory piece conducted in conjunction with Reuters, NBC Nightly News (12/13, story 7, 4:20, Snow) reported that the number of infants born with neonatal abstinence syndrome “has risen five-fold over the last dozen years.” Under a Federal law, “hospitals are supposed to report” such newborns “to protective services.” But, “despite the federal law, Reuters and NBC identified over 100 cases in the last five years when” babies of mothers who “used opioids…died preventable deaths after being sent home.”

Former Pennsylvania Congressman Jim Greenwood, who “sponsored the law to protect” such infants, placed the onus of enforcement on “the Secretary of Health and Human Services.” NBC News correspondent Cynthia McFadden said, “The Secretary of Health and Human Services declined our repeated request for an interview.”

Related Links:

— “Newborns Die After Going Home With Moms Fighting Drug Addiction,” Duff Wilson and John Schiffman, NBC Nightly News, December 7, 2015.

The Washington Post (12/11, Ingraham) “Wonkblog” reports that data released this week from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reveal that “America’s teenagers and young adults are much less likely to drive drunk than they used to be.” According to the CDC, between 2002 and 2014 “the prevalence of driving under the influence of alcohol alone and alcohol and marijuana combined significantly declined among persons aged 16–20 years and 21–25 years.” Specifically, “among 16- to 20-year-olds, the drunk driving rate fell 59 percent” and “among the 21 to 25 set, the rate fell by 38 percent.”

Related Links:

— “Good news, America! There are fewer drunk teens on the road today.,” Christopher Ingraham, , December 10, 2015.

On its front page, the New York Times (12/11, A1, Schwarz, Subscription Publication) reports in a nearly 1,300-word story on the “rapid” rise of cases in which youngsters “age two or younger are prescribed psychiatric medications to address alarmingly violent or withdrawn behavior.”

Figures from the prescription data company IMS Health reveal that nearly “20,000 prescriptions for risperidone (commonly known as Risperdal), quetiapine (Seroquel) and other antipsychotic medications were written in 2014 for children two and younger, a 50 percent jump from 13,000 just one year before.

Many physicians are concerned that these medications, which are “designed for adults and only warily accepted for certain school-age youngsters, are being used to treat children still in cribs despite no published research into their effectiveness and potential health risks for children so young.” Some experts attribute the increased use of psychiatric medications in kids of all ages to the “scarcity of child psychiatrists.”

Related Links:

— “Still in a Crib, Yet Being Given Antipsychotics,” Alan Schwarz, New York Times, December 10, 2015.

MedPage Today (12/10, Clark) reports that the issue of post-operative cognitive decline (POCD) was addressed at a presentation given at the American Society of Anesthesiology’s annual meeting. The condition affects possibly “as many as 15% of patients 60 and older.” Patients with POCD “experience some memory or problem-solving declines within three months of surgery.”

Although some surgeons still remain “skeptical about the syndrome…there is greater recognition among cardiac surgeons, who have dealt for years with the possibility that cardio-pulmonary bypass machines used during heart surgery may be associated with post-op cognitive problems.”

Related Links:

— “Is Surgery a Risk Factor for Cognitive Dysfunction?,” Cheryl Clark , MedPage Today, December 9, 2015.