The AP (1/5, Crary) reports that “widows, widowers, parents, siblings and children are sharing accounts of their grief as part of the largest study ever of America’s military families as they go through bereavement.” The Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress at the Maryland-based Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences is conducting the study, which includes “about 2,000 people” and has gone on for about three years. Those who can participate are members of the “families of the more than 19,000 service members from all branches of the military who have died on active duty since the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, regardless of whether the death resulted from combat, accident, illness, suicide or other causes.”

Related Links:

— “MAJOR STUDY OF BEREAVED MILITARY FAMILIES UNDERWAY,” David Crary, Associated Press, January 4, 2015.

The AP (1/4, O’Dell) reports that advocates for civil liberties and mental health issues “are urging Gov. Terry McAuliffe [D-VA] to intervene in the case of a Virginia inmate with autism who faces trial Wednesday for allegedly assaulting a correctional officer.” Attorneys and supporters of Reginald “Neli” Latson maintain that “he needs treatment, not punishment, for intellectual disabilities that they say have caused his three clashes with law enforcement since 2010.” The governor has been asked “to grant conditional clemency so Latson can be moved to a secure treatment facility in Florida that has agreed to accept him.”

Related Links:

— “MENTAL HEALTH ADVOCATES SEEK RELIEF FOR AUTISTIC VA. INMATE,” Larry O’Dell, Associated Press, January 4, 2015.

The Washington Post (1/1, Kunkle) reported that a brochure developed using research from the Administration for Community Living, the NIH, and CDC “pulls together resources for maintaining one’s cognitive health.” The brochure, “Brain Health: You Can Make a Difference,” is part of a campaign that focuses on a holistic approach to managing personal health.

National Association of Area Agencies on Aging Chief Executive Sandy Markwood said of the initiative, “what we looked at are what are the practical things you can do to positively impact that. … No matter what age we are, but particularly as you’re growing older, these are things that often get discounted, but quite the contrary, are things people should focus on.”

Related Links:

— “How to keep your brain healthy in 2015 and beyond,” Fredrick Kunkle, Washington Post, December 31, 2014.

USA Today (1/1, Szabo) ran, as part of its “The Cost of Not Caring” series, a long-form version of its report on new programs intended to help young people with schizophrenia successfully cope with a psychotic break and prevent further decline. Thomas Insel, MD, director of the National Institute of Mental Health, said “first episode” programs “aim to change the trajectory of schizophrenia from one of tragic decline to one of a chronic but manageable condition.”

He added that studies “suggest that early intervention can halt the deterioration so often seen in schizophrenia, allowing young people to get their lives back on track after their first full break with reality.” The National Institutes of Health is “testing early intervention through a major study called RAISE, or Recovery After an Initial Schizophrenia Episode. The study has generated enormous excitement across the mental health world, even before its results have been released.”

Related Links:

— “Early intervention could change nature of schizophrenia,” Liz Szabo, USA Today, December 31, 2014.

Health Data Management (12/31, Slabodkin) reports that FDA has approved an app for the US military, called the Defense Automated Neurobehavioral Assessment (DANA), which is meant to “help clinicians diagnose cases of traumatic brain injury in as little as five minutes in almost any setting, including forward-deployed combat environments.” DANA functions like a video game in that “service members perform a series of baseline on-screen exercises during which both their speed and accuracy are recorded.” Some factors that “may affect reaction time include concussion, dementia, post-traumatic stress, depression and fatigue.”

Related Links:

— “FDA Approves Defense Mobile App for Traumatic Brain Injuries,” Greg Slabodkin, Health Data Management, December 30, 2014.

HealthDay (12/31, Mundell) reports that according to a study published online Dec. 30 in JAMA Psychiatry, a parent’s history of attempting suicide appears to raise “the odds of a suicide attempt in their child…fivefold.” After following some “700 young and adult-aged children (ages ranged from 10 to 50) of 334 parents with mood disorders, such as depression or bipolar disorder,” researchers discovered that “a history of suicide attempts in a child was strongly associated with a similar history in that child’s parent – even after they accounted for any mood disorder that might be shared by both parent and child.”

Related Links:

— “Parent’s Suicide Attempt Makes Child’s Much More Likely: Study,” E.J. Mundell, HealthDay, December 30, 2014.

Reuters (12/30) reports that according to a review published online Dec. 29 in the journal Pediatrics, further investigation is needed into how interactive and mobile media are affecting infants, toddlers, and preschool children in the areas of language acquisition, learning, interpersonal skills and behavior. Currently, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children younger than two should avoid entertainment media and television. The authors of the review made the suggestion that physicians speak to parents about how their little ones are using interactive media and take part in media use with their youngsters.

Related Links:

— “Guidance and research on mobile, interactive media for kids needed,” Reuters, December 30, 2014.

HealthDay (12/30, Mozes) reports that according to a review recently published online in the journal Neuropsychiatry of Childhood and Adolescence, “men obsessed with muscularity” may also develop anorexia. After examining the results of 24 studies encompassing some 279 male patients with anorexia, researchers found that about two-thirds of those studied “said that their dissatisfaction with their body stemmed from a desire for increased muscle mass and lower body fat.”

Related Links:

— “For Anorexic Men, the Focus Is on Muscle,” Alan Mozes, HealthDay, December 29, 2014.

The Daily Caller (12/30, Bennett) reports that a study published Dec. 11 in the journal LGBT Health suggests that the suicide rate among transgender military veterans “is very similar to the rate for veterans suffering from schizophrenia or serious depression.” After examining “a sample of 3,327 transgendered veterans over a period of 10 years, from 2000 to 2009,” researchers also found that transgender “suicides occurred at an even younger age than (in) veterans who committed suicide as a result of suffering from schizophrenia.”

Related Links:

— “10 Percent Died During Study Of Veteran Transgender Suicide,” Jonah Bennett, Daily Caller, December 29, 2014.

HealthDay (12/25, Haelle) reported that according to a study published online Dec. 1 in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence, adolescents may be “more likely to start smoking or drinking with each additional symptom they have of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD) or conduct disorder.” Researchers arrived at that conclusion after analyzing “data on more than 2,500 teens, aged 12 to 15, in a national survey conducted with their parents between 2000 and 2004.”

Notably, adolescents diagnosed both with AD/HD and with conduct disorder “were more than three times more likely to use tobacco or alcohol, even after accounting for differences in age, race/ethnicity, sex, household income and having a household member who smoked.”

Related Links:

— “ADHD May Raise Teens’ Odds for Smoking, Drinking,” Tara Haelle, HealthDay, December 24, 2014.