HealthDay (7/28, Preidt) reports that research offers “insight into how Facebook use by young women can lead to poor body image and risky dieting.” The research, which is published in the August issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health, “included 128 college-aged women who completed an online survey about their eating habits and their emotional connection to Facebook…and whether they compared their bodies to friends’ bodies in online photos.” Investigators found that “women who had a greater emotional connection to Facebook were more likely to compare their bodies to their friends’ bodies and to engage in more risky dieting.”

Related Links:

— “Does Facebook Lead Young Women to Dangerous Diets?,” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, July 27, 2015.

In a nearly 3,200-word piece to appear in its Aug. 2 Education Life section, the New York Times (7/28, Scelfo, Subscription Publication) reports that across the US, “the suicide rate among 15- to 24-year-olds has increased modestly but steadily since 2007: from 9.6 deaths per 100,000 to 11.1, in 2013 (the latest year available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention),” a trend also seen on US college campuses.

Now, “a survey of college counseling centers has found that more than half their clients have severe psychological problems, an increase of 13 percent in just two years.” The Center for Collegiate Mental Health at Penn State University has found that “anxiety and depression, in that order, are now the most common mental health diagnoses among college students.” Students with mental health problems may run into difficulty getting a leave of absence to work through their problems, which may deter them from seeking help.

Meanwhile, on the front of its Personal Journal section, the Wall Street Journal (7/28, D1, Linden, Subscription Publication) reports on an increase in self-harm behaviors, primarily cutting, among adolescents of both genders, as a coping mechanism for those who cannot deal with strong emotions. In some cases, dialectical behavior therapy may be helpful for teens who self harm.

Related Links:

— “Campus Suicide and the Pressure of Perfection,” Julie Scelfo, New York Times, July 27, 2015.

The Washington Times (7/25, Blake) reported that on July 24, the CDC released a report warning of “the risks of consuming marijuana-infused edibles like weed brownies and other snacks.” The CDC report “said…there’s ‘a potential danger’ that comes with consuming marijuana-infused edibles, evidenced by an incident last March in which a 19-year-old man jumped to his death from the fourth-floor balcony of a Denver, Colorado, hotel while high.” The Denver Post (7/25, Paul) also covered the story.

Meanwhile, HealthDay (7/25, Preidt) reported that adolescents “who have legal permission to use medical marijuana are 10 times more likely to say they’re addicted than those who get the drug illegally,” according to a study published in the August issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health. After looking “at nearly 4,400 high school seniors, including 48 who had medical marijuana cards, 266 who used others’ medical marijuana and those who bought the drug from street dealers,” researchers found that teenagers “who used medical marijuana were far more likely to report problems with addiction.”

Related Links:

— “Marijuana in edibles not risk-free, holds ‘potential danger,’ CDC says,” Andrew Blake, Washington Times, July 24, 2015.

In an editorial, the Washington Post (7/26) wrote, “The incarceration of mentally ill inmates is a national epidemic,” which is resulting in “pressure and proposals to divert some people charged with nonviolent and minor crimes to treatment rather than a cell.” While the Post acknowledges Montgomery County, MD has been “a laggard when it comes to devising innovative alternatives to warehousing the mentally ill behind bars,” it praises “key officials” for creating a task force to establish a mental health court to “channel some nonviolent offenders into community-based programs.”

Related Links:

— “A better option for the mentally ill,” Washington Post, July 25, 2015.

TIME (7/25, Sifferlin) reported, “Boys and girls as young as age eight can experience dissatisfaction with their bodies that can predict their risk for eating disorders later in life,” according to a study published in the July issue of the British Journal of Psychiatry. After following “about 6,000 children until they were 14 years old,” researchers found that “at age eight, 5% of girls and 3% of boys were unhappy with their bodies.”

Related Links:

— “Kids Are Unhappy With Their Bodies as Young as Age 8,” Alexandra Sifferlin, Time, July 24, 2015.

Medscape (7/24, Melville) reported that a new meta-analysis published in The Lancet Psychiatry suggests that “smoking itself may play a causative role in the development of psychotic illness.” The analysis, which “included 61 studies with data through 2014 involving 14,555 tobacco smokers and 273,162 nonsmokers,” including international populations, found that “57% of people with a first episode of schizophrenia were already smokers, for an overall odds ratio of 3.22 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.63 – 6.33), with some evidence of publication bias.” In addition, “daily smokers were still approximately twice as likely to develop new psychotic disorders as nonsmokers (relative risk, 2.18; 95% CI, 1.23 – 3.85)” and developed such disorders about one year earlier than nonsmokers.

Related Links:

— Medscape (requires login and subscription)

The AP (7/24, Merchant) reported, “Suicide is the leading cause of death in jails after natural illness.” People who are incarcerated “take their own lives three times more often than the average population, according to a 2010 study cited in the National Study of Jail Suicide.” A 2013 article on suicide in Texas jails that appeared in the LBJ Journal of Public Affairs said that jail environment stressors include “isolation, loss of control, conflict with other inmates or staff, frustration with legal proceedings, or distress and shame over incarceration.”

Related Links:

— “TEXAS JAIL DEATH FOCUSES NEW ATTENTION ON INMATE SUICIDES,” Nomaan Merchant, Associated Press, July 24, 2015.

The Guardian (UK) (7/23) reports that research published in BMJ Open suggests that individuals “over 50 who are healthy, active, sociable and highly educated are at more risk of harmful drinking than their less well-off peers.”

The Telegraph (UK) (7/24) reports that “the findings are based on responses from 9,000 over 50s who took part in the English Longitudinal Survey of Ageing.” While the investigators “found that heavy drinking was no linked to feeling lonely or depressed, men who lived on their own were more likely to consume harmful amounts of alcohol.”

Related Links:

— “Harmful drinking among middle-class over-50s is a ‘hidden phenomenon’,” Haroon Siddique, The Guardian, July 23, 2015.

The Los Angeles Times (7/24, Healy) reports in “Science Now” on studies presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference suggesting that exercise may benefit people with mild cognitive impairment and “mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease.” In each of these studies, “subjects were asked to participate in three-to-four sessions of aerobic conditioning – ranging from 45 minutes to an hour – a week.” The goal “was to get participants working at between 70% and 80% of their aerobic capacity.”

The AP (7/24, Neergaard) reports that researchers found that “vigorous workouts by people with mild memory impairment decreased levels of a warped protein” called tau that is “linked to risk of later Alzheimer’s – and improved quality of life for people who already were in early stages of the disease.” One study involving magnetic resonance imaging scans demonstrated that “exercisers experienced increased blood flow in brain regions important for memory and thought processing – while cognitive tests showed a corresponding improvement in their attention, planning and organizing abilities.” Dr. Laurie Ryan, of the National Institute on Aging, cautioned, however, that “it’s too soon to say that [exercise] lowers risk’ of worsening memory…saying longer studies must test if sticking with exercise makes a lasting difference.”

Related Links:

— “To fend off dementia, run — or dance, bike, power-walk or step,” Melissa Healy, Los Angeles Times, July 23, 2015.

HealthDay (7/23, Preidt) reports that a new study published July 20 in the Journal of Adolescent Health suggests that “although more American teens are using marijuana, their use of alcohol and cigarettes has decreased.” Researchers at Penn State “reviewed information from nearly 600,000 high school seniors surveyed about their substance use between 1976 and 2013,” and found “an increase in marijuana use, particularly among black teens.” They “also found a significant decline in cigarette use, particularly among white teens.”

Related Links:

— “Teen Drinking, Smoking on the Decline, U.S. Study Finds,” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, July 22, 2015.