HealthDay (2/24) reports that “exercising the mind and body may delay the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease…but in most people it does not slow underlying brain changes linked to the disease,” the findings of a 400-participant study published online Feb. 24 in Neurology suggest. In the study, participants “underwent brain scans to check for signs of Alzheimer’s disease and were also asked about their mental and physical activity levels.”

Researchers did find, however, that in the subset of participants who have the APOE4 gene, “people who had high education levels and who had continued to learn throughout their lives had less amyloid plaque, compared to those with high education levels who did not continue to challenge their mind.”

Related Links:

— “Active Mind, Body May Only Do So Much Against Alzheimer’s,” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, February 24, 2016.

According to the New York Daily News (2/23, Cutler), a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday that “cigarette smoking is at an all-time low” as “only 15.3% of American adults now light up – down from 16.8% in 2014 and 24.7% in 1997.” According to experts, “Americans are butting out because of the high cost of cigarettes and thanks to fewer legal places to smoke.”

Related Links:

— “Cigarette smoking at an all-time low among American adults ,” Jacqueline Cutler, New York Daily News, February 23, 2016.

HealthDay (2/23, Norton) reports, “Rates of” attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD) “have risen globally, and adults’ unreasonable expectations of young children could be one reason why,” a research letter published online Feb. 22 in JAMA Pediatrics suggests. The study authors “point to evidence that the rise in” AD/HD “diagnoses coincided with ever-growing demands on young children’s attention and focus.”

Related Links:

— “Could Adults’ Expectations Drive Up ADHD Diagnoses in Kids?,” Amy Norton, HealthDay, February 23, 2016.

Reuters (2/22, Seaman) reports that parental anxiety while expecting or during the earliest parts of children’s lives may be associated with fussy eating in preschoolers. The findings of the large study were published Feb. 22 in Archives of Disease in Childhood.

Related Links:

— “Parents’ anxiety, depression may lead to kids being fussy eaters,” Andrew M. Seaman, Reuters, February 22, 2016.

The New York Magazine (2/23, Carpenter) reports on the growing number of apps designed to help people with mental health disorders. For individuals “dealing with mental-health issues involving addiction or abuse or self-harm,” however, “an app can’t make up for in-person check-ins.” Still, such apps may help provide access to some form of mental health treatment. Currently, “more than half” of US counties “are entirely without mental-health professionals, according to the director of the National Institute of Mental Health.”

Related Links:

— “Uber, But for the Mirror Stage: How Mental-Health Apps Are Changing Therapy,” Julia Carpenter, New York Magazine, February 22, 2016.

HealthDay (2/19, Preidt) reported, “Children with autism and other development disorders are more likely than other youngsters to wander and put themselves in potential danger,” a study published in PLoS One suggests. After having “analyzed data from a 2011 US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey of parents and guardians of more than 4,000 children with special needs who were between the ages of six and 17,” investigators found that “more than 26 percent of the children had wandered away from a safe environment within the previous 12 months.”

Related Links:

— “Kids With Autism More Likely to Wander, Less Likely to Recognize Danger,” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, February 19, 2016.

Medical Daily (2/20, Castillo) reported that a study published online Feb. 10 in the journal Appetite “suggests habitual chocolate consumption is positively associated with cognitive performance”.

Related Links:

— “Health Benefits Of Chocolate: Habitual Consumption ‘Positively Associated’ With Brain Function,” Stephanie Castillo, Medical Daily, February 20, 2016.

The NPR (2/20, Silberner) “Goats and Soda” blog reported that psychologist and psychiatrist Daniel Vigo, MD, of Harvard University, “along with Rifat Atun, also of Harvard, and Graham Thornicroft of King’s College in London, co-authored an eye-opening analysis published this month in the journal Lancet Psychiatry.”

After reinterpreting “data about illnesses and deaths collected over the last two decades as part of… the Global Burden of Disease Study,” the team has “concluded that the number of people affected by mental illness is greater than has been thought.”

Related Links:

— “A Man On A Mission: Give A True Count Of The Toll Of Mental Illness,” Joanne Silberner, National Public Radio, February 20, 2016.

In a 1,200-word article, the New York Times (2/22, A9, Philipps, Subscription Publication) reports that over the past 15 years, “more than 300,000 people, about 13 percent of all troops,” many with undiagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), “have been forced out of the military with less-than-honorable discharges.”

Congress has since implemented changes, including a requirement for “mental health professionals to review all discharges,” and these days, soldiers “with PTSD are more likely to be medically discharged with benefits.” Such measures have not remedied the situation for veterans “discharged before the changes,” however.

Some veterans are now “pushing for a bill in Congress that would overhaul the system by mandating that the military give veterans the benefit of the doubt, requiring the boards to decide cases starting from the presumption that PTSD materially contributed to the discharges.”

Related Links:

— “Veterans Want Past Discharges to Recognize Post-Traumatic Stress,” Dave Philipps, New York Times, February 19, 2016.

HealthDay (2/18, Preidt) reports that patients with schizophrenia may be “at significantly increased risk of attempting suicide,” according to a study published online in Schizophrenia Research and Treatment. After analyzing data on “more than 21,700 Canadians,” researchers found that patients “with schizophrenia had six times the odds of having attempted suicide in comparison to those without schizophrenia.”

Related Links:

— “Schizophrenia Tied to Much Higher Risk of Suicide Attempts,” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, February 18, 2016.