TIME (7/18, Sifferlin) reports that research (7/18) published in Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research suggests “that when people drink alcohol with energy drinks they have a stronger desire to keep drinking compared to people who just drank a vodka soda.” In the study, investigators “assigned 75 participants between the ages 18 and 30 to either just drink alcohol, or drink an alcohol and energy drink combination.”

Newsweek (7/18, Mejia) reports that study “participants were asked to take an Alcohol Urge Questionnaire 20 minutes before and after imbibing the libation to indicate how strong their desire was to continue drinking.” Individuals “who drank the alcohol and energy drink combo reported a greater increase in the urge to continue drinking alcohol than the group drinking only vodka.” Additionally, “the energy drink consumers…reported liking the cocktail more and wanting to drink more of it than those who only drank the vodka cocktail.”

Related Links:

— “Alcohol Plus Energy Drinks Makes You Want to Drink More, Study Says,” Alexandra Sifferlin, Time, July 17, 2014.

Medscape (7/18, Jeffrey) reports that a study presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference that surveyed “access to guns by patients with dementia finds that among consecutive patients being evaluated for cognitive problems, caregivers and family members did not consistently remove guns from their homes or keep them in a locked state.”

The study included 495 patients, 378 of whom had dementia, including Alzheimer’s. The study found that of participants “with a gun in the home, 62 (71%) had dementia; 33 (37%) had delusions, of which the majority (73%) were persecutory or paranoid delusions, and 15 (17%) had hallucinations, roughly half of which (47%) were hostile hallucinations.” The study authors recommended that physicians should ask about the presence of firearms during a patient visit.

Related Links:

— Medscape (requires login and subscription)

USA Today (7/18, Zoroya) reports that a paper published online July 17 in the journal Current Psychiatric Reports has found “an indirect link between deployment, combat and self-destructive urges” among Afghanistan and Iraq veterans. The report concludes that “high rates of depression or post-traumatic stress disorder flowing out of the combat experience can lead to suicidal behavior.”

Related Links:

— “Study: Indirect link between combat and suicide risk,” Gregg Zoroya, USA Today, July 17, 2014.

Scientific American (7/17, Yuhas) reports that a study published online July 16 in the journal Neurology reveals that even a mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) may affect brain matter and cognition. The study’s findings “hint that the contusions leave a lasting trace in the brain.”
The Fox News (7/17, Kwan) website reports that researchers arrived at that conclusion after “working with a group of 44 people with mild TBI, nine people with moderate TBI and a control group of 33 healthy” matched individuals to whom they “administered DTI scans within one week of injury,” along with “the Glasgow Coma Scale (GSC) test to measure cognition.”

HealthDay (7/17, Preidt) reports that according to a review recently published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, “taking B vitamins does not slow age-related mental decline or prevent Alzheimer’s disease.” After analyzing “data on 22,000 people who took part in 11 clinical trials that examined the effect of B vitamins on mental abilities in older people,” researchers found that even though “taking B vitamins did lower homocysteine levels by about one-fourth, this reduction had no effect on thinking skills.”

Related Links:

— “Vitamin B No Help for Alzheimer’s: Review,” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, July 16, 2014.

The Los Angeles Times (7/17, Morin) reports in “Science Now” that according to a study published online July 16 in the journal Nicotine & Tobacco Research, “smoking and suicide may be more closely related than previously thought.”

HealthDay (7/17, Preidt) reports that the study found that “smoking may increase a person’s risk for suicide, but high cigarette taxes and smoking restrictions in public places lower that risk.” After analyzing “suicide rates across the United States between 1990 and 2004,” researchers found that “states that introduced higher taxes on cigarettes and stricter rules to limit smoking in public places saw suicide rates decline up to 15 percent, relative to the national average.”

Related Links:

— “Smoking may increase suicide risk, study says,” Monte Morin, Los Angeles Times, July 16, 2014.

On its “Morning Edition” program and in its “The Salt” blog, NPR (7/15, Aubrey) reports on the complex connection between food and mood. Researcher Joe Hibbeln, of the National Institutes of Health, said, “I think there’s a very strong connection between what you eat and your mood.”

Hibbeln pointed to “studies showing that omega-3s can help protect neurons against the damage that can be done by chronic stress” and to other studies “that have found that omega-3s may help control depressive symptoms.”

Related Links:

— “Food-Mood Connection: How You Eat Can Amp Up Or Tamp Down Stress,” Allison Aubrey, National Public Radio, July 14, 2014.

HealthDay (7/15, Mozes) reports that research presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference 2014 suggests that high blood pressure “might help to stave off mental decline among the extreme elderly.”

MedPage Today (7/15, Gever) reports, “With mean follow-up 2.8 years (range up to 10 years), the age- and education-adjusted relative risk of incident dementia in 625 prospectively followed individuals was 0.45 (P<0.01) for those with onset of hypertension in their 90s, compared with similarly aged participants remaining hypertension-free.” Related Links:

— “High Blood Pressure May Protect the Very Old From Dementia,” Alan Mozes, HealthDay, July 14, 2014.

FOX News Latino (7/11, del Castillo) reported that according to the American Psychiatric Association, “lack of access to mental health services is one of the most serious health problems in the Hispanic community.” Previous research “released by the APA in 2001 reported that as few as one in 11 Hispanics with mental health issues seek professional care.” Annelle Primm, MD, deputy medical director and director of the APA’s Division of Diversity and Health Equity, tied the lack of access partly to “a lack of insurance.”

Related Links:

— “Mental Illness An Epidemic Among U.S. Latinos: Only 1 In 11 Seek Treatment,” Nicole del Castillo, Fox News Latino, July 11, 2014.

The NPR (7/12, Aschwanden) “Shots” blog reported, “In 2012, 11.5 million people in the US seriously considered suicide, 4.8 million made a suicide plan, and 2.5 million made a suicide attempt.” While most “people who survive a suicidal crisis don’t go on to kill themselves…they are isolated by a culture of silence, according to DeQuincy Lezine, 37, a clinical psychologist, and suicide attempt survivor” who “helped craft a plan issued Monday by the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention that calls for evidence-based support and treatment for people who have had (or are having) suicidal thoughts.” Figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicate that suicide ranks among the top 10 causes of death in the US.

Related Links:

— “Suicide Attempt Survivors Seek A Voice In Helping Others At Risk,” Christie Aschwanden, National Public Radio, July 11, 2014.