In a 7,300-word piece to appear this weekend, the New York Times (8/3, MM20, Padawer, Subscription Publication) Sunday Magazine features the stories of three children diagnosed with autism who appear to have overcome the condition. Recently, two studies were released that provide “the best evidence yet that…a small but reliable subset of children really do overcome autism.”

The first study confirmed that 34 people with documented diagnoses of autism “now no longer met autism’s criteria, a trajectory…called ‘optimal outcome.’” Several months ago, another “study that tracked 85 children from their autism diagnosis (at age two) for nearly two decades…found that about nine percent of them no longer met the criteria for the disorder.”

Related Links:

— “The Kids Who Beat Autism,” Ruth Padawer, New York Times, July 31, 2014.

BBC News (7/31) reports that the George Washington Bridge, which spans the Hudson River between New Jersey and New York, “will be getting a safety fence designed to prevent suicides, after an increase in deaths this year.” The new fence, which is estimated to cost up to $47 million, will be nine feet tall and will be put up on both sides of the bridge. The project is expected to be completed in 2022. The move to install a fence to prevent suicides “comes a month after officials at the Golden Gate Bridge in California voted to install suicide-prevention nets along the bridge.”

Related Links:

— “George Washington Bridge to get suicide prevention fence,” BBC News, July 30, 2014.

HealthDay (7/31, Norton) reports that according to a review published online in the Journal of the American Medical Directors Association, “spending time in a garden might help soothe the agitation that commonly strikes people with dementia.” Evidence suggests that “watering plants, or sitting or strolling in a garden can help soothe some dementia patients’ anxiety.” Researchers arrived at these conclusions after analyzing data from 17 studies.

Related Links:

— “Gardens a Center of Calm for People With Dementia,” Amy Norton, HealthDay, July 30, 2014.

Reuters (7/31, Doyle) reports that according to a study published online July 30 in the journal Neurology, depression appears to contribute to faster cognitive decline in seniors with dementia or mild cognitive impairment.

TIME (7/31, Sifferlin) reports that for the study, investigators “looked at 1,764 people with no memory problems around age 77 and followed them for about eight years.” Researchers then “discovered that people with mild cognitive decline as well as people with dementia were likely to have higher levels of depression symptoms before they were diagnosed, and that having these symptoms was associated with a greater decline in memory.” The study authors went on to estimate that symptoms of depression “accounted for 4.4% of the difference in memory decline that could not be caused by brain damage.”

Related Links:

— “Depression linked to faster cognitive decline in old age,” Kathryn Doyle, Reuters, July 30, 2014.

The Wall Street Journal (7/30, Beck, Subscription Publication) reports that according to a study published in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, people who are problem drinkers in mid-life may have double the likelihood of having late-life memory problems.

BBC News (7/30, Briggs) reports that the study of 6,500 Americans found that “men and women in their 50s and 60s with a history of alcohol abuse were more likely to have memory problems up to two decades later.”

Related Links:

— “Heavy Drinkers Are Prone to Memory Problems in Old Age,” Melinda Beck, Wall Street Journal, July 29, 2014.

HealthDay (7/30) reports that a new review shows that “quitting smoking is harder for people with depression.” The scientists discovered that “depression can make it more difficult to ride out the anxiety, cravings or lack of sleep that come with trying to quit cold turkey,” although “extra exercise – even just a walk – could help people quit faster, they said.” The study was published in Nicotine & Tobacco Research.

Related Links:

— “Extra Exercise Could Help Depressed Smokers Quit: Study,” Mary Elizabeth Dallas, HealthDay, July 29, 2014.

The Fox News (7/30, Kwan) website reports that according to a study published online July 29 in the journal Cerebral Cortex, “the brains of children with autism are relatively inflexible at switching from rest to task and this inflexibility is correlated with behaviors characteristic of the disorder.” The study involved 17 youngsters with autism and 17 kids who were developing normally. Both sets of children underwent “social face recognition” testing and functional magnetic resonance imaging scanning.

Related Links:

— “For children with autism, brain inflexibility may explain behavior,” Nicole Kwan, Fox News, July 30, 2014.

HealthDay (7/30, Doheny) reports that according to a study scheduled for presentation at the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior’s annual meeting, “dieting at a young age might set the stage for harmful health habits, including eating disorders.” From 1982 to 2012, researchers surveyed thousands of women of college age. The survey results also revealed an association “between early dieting and later obesity and alcohol abuse.”

Related Links:

— “Dieting at Young Age Often Backfires, Study Says,” Kathleen Doheny, HealthDay, July 29, 2014.

In a USA Today (7/29) op-ed, former congressman Patrick Kennedy warns against the recent trends of legalizing marijuana, saying that the commercialization of the drug “threatens healthy brain development and the mental health of our children.” He applauds President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder for their efforts in reforming the drug laws, to promote drug treatment and other diversion programs for nonviolent drug crimes, but says we should not replace one tragedy, “incarceration,” with another, “a public health crisis.”

Related Links:

— “Patrick Kennedy: Legalizing pot endangers children,” Patrick Kennedy, USA Today, July 28, 2014.

USA Today (7/26, Appleby) carried a Kaiser Health News report on the “limited networks of” physicians “and hospitals” that some people find under their ACA plans. According to the article, across the country, “regulators and insurance agents are inundated with complaints, while lawmakers are considering rules to ensure consumers’ access to” physicians. To address this issue, “for plans being submitted for sale next year, the federal Department of Health and Human Services said it will more closely scrutinize whether networks are adequate.”

Related Links:

— “New health plans’ limitations anger enrollees,” Julie Appleby, USA Today, July 27, 2014.