HealthDay (7/10, Preidt) reports that according to a study published in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, “muscle, bone and joint injuries, as well as mental health disorders, are the main reasons why US soldiers who served in Iraq left the military.” For the study, investigators tracked some “4,100 Army soldiers, aged 18 to 52, from the start of a 15-month deployment in Iraq in 2006 until the end of four years after their return to the” US.

Researchers found that “among those who were unable to return to a military career after the deployment, 60 percent had muscle, bone or joint injuries and nearly half had mental health conditions.” The most common conditions cited for leaving included traumatic brain injuries, post-traumatic stress disorder, and low back pain.

Related Links:

— “Muscle and Bone Injuries, Mental Disorders Plagued U.S. Iraq War Vets,” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, July 9, 2014.

The AP (7/10, Tanner) reports that according to a study published July 9 in JAMA Psychiatry, adverse reactions to psychiatric medications result in some 90,000 emergency department “visits each year by US adults, with anti-anxiety medicines and sedatives among the most common culprits.” After analyzing “2009-2011 medical records from 63 hospitals that participate in a nationally representative government surveillance project,” researchers found that the majority of ED “visits were for troublesome side effects or accidental overdoses and almost 1 in 5 resulted in hospitalization.”

Related Links:

— “STUDY: PSYCH DRUG ER TRIPS APPROACH 90,000 A YEAR,” Lindsay Tanner, Associated Press, July 9, 2014.

Medscape (7/8, Brauser) reports that according to the results of a 712-patient study recently presented at the International Congress of the Royal College of Psychiatrists 2014, “excessive exercising, or so-called ‘exercise addiction,’ is a real problem and often occurs within the context of eating disorders.” The study also revealed that patients with an eating disorder “had significantly higher scores in weight control exercise, lack of enjoyment, exercise rigidity, and avoidance behaviors than those without an” eating disorder.

Related Links:

— Medscape (requires login and subscription)

The Boston Globe (7/8, Kotz) “Daily Dose” blog reports that 49 percent “of Americans experienced an earth-shattering, stressful event last year that completely altered their lives.” Approximately “half of the time, these events were related to a major health problem, either their own or a loved one’s that may have ended in death,” according to the results “a new survey [pdf] of more than 2,500 Americans released Monday by the Harvard School of Public Health, National Public Radio, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.”

The Huffington Post (7/8, Holmes) reports that other common sources of stress for people are “followed by work problems (13 percent) and life changes (9 percent),” the survey revealed. Investigators also “discovered that many who experienced large amounts of stress in the last month turned to healthy activities like spending time with loved ones, meditating and eating well in order to deal with their worries.”

Related Links:

— “Half of Americans under high stress over past year, survey says,” Deborah Kotz, The Boston Globe, July 7, 2014.

Reuters (7/8, Kelland) reports that according to a study published in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia, researchers in the UK have completed identification of 10 blood proteins predictive of the onset of Alzheimer’s disease in people who have mild cognitive impairment (MCI) with a little less than 90% accuracy.

Reuters notes that pharmaceutical companies such as Eli Lilly, Merck, and Johnson & Johnson are using different approaches to develop treatments to stop progression of the disease. However, over the past decade and a half more than 100 experimental drugs have failed in trial, which one of the authors of the study said could be attributed to conducting drug trials at too late a stage.

Related Links:

— “Study paves the way for a blood test to predict Alzheimer’s,” Kate Kelland, Reuters, July 7, 2014.

The McClatchy-Tribune News Service (7/6) reported that according to a study published recently in the journal Biological Psychiatry, researchers have “shown that chronic stress of poverty, neglect and physical abuse in early life may shrink the parts of a child’s developing brain responsible for memory, learning and processing emotion.”

The two parts of the brain involved are the hippocampus and the amygdala. The study involved 128 12-year-olds, all of whom underwent magnetic resonance imaging scans.

Related Links:

— “Researchers: Early stress from poverty hurts brain development,” McClatchy-Tribune News Service, Detroit Free Press, July 6, 2014.

USA Today (6/30, Zoroya) reports that according to the results of a US Army-funded study published online June 30 in JAMA Internal Medicine, “the rate of narcotic prescription use among US troops coming out of combat is more than three times the rate for civilians and more than 44% of service members complain of chronic pain lasting longer than three months.” The study “was based on a survey of soldiers in an Army brigade three months after returning from Afghanistan in 2011.” Of that group, “more than 45% said they had been injured in combat.”

The Los Angeles Times (6/30, Zarembo) “Science Now” blog reports that the majority of the 1,131 soldiers who reported chronic pain “were taking over-the-counter medications,” and “fewer than a quarter — or 259 —had a prescription for opioids.” Of the latter group, “most…said they had used opioids a ‘few or several days’ during the past month, while 60 soldiers had taken them nearly every day.”

Related Links:

— “Many combat veterans use prescription narcotics,” Gregg Zoroya, USA Today, July 2, 2014.

The Washington Post (7/1, Lamothe) reports a recent poll indicates “the vast majority of veterans believe their physical health care needs are being met at least ‘somewhat well’ — on par with the general public in separate surveys.” However, only 41% of those who served in Iraq or Afghanistan responded that their needs are being met “very well,” while 56% of the general public said the same.

Related Links:

— “Poll shows mixed response to military health care as scrutiny mounts,” Dan Lamothe, Washington Post, June 30, 2014.

The New York Times (7/1, A11, Lafraniere, Subscription Publication) reports that yesterday Pentagon senior health official Dr. Jonathan Woodson announced the armed forces’ hospital network had to work hard before it could restore public trust. In particular, “He called for greater attention to patient safety and more openness about problems in treatment,” stating that, “In moments like these, it can be easy to close down. We need to do the opposite. We need to become even more transparent.”

Related Links:

— “Official Seeks Restored Trust in Military Care,” Sharon LacFroniere, New York Times, June 30, 2014.

NPR (7/1, Shute) “Shots” blog reports that according to a study published online June 30 in JAMA Pediatrics, lead at low levels may cause depression in children. The study of 1,341 youngsters in Jintan, China revealed that “when the children’s behavior and cognitive abilities were tested in the last year of preschool, at age six, the children who had more lead in their blood were more likely to have emotional problems, anxiety, and pervasive developmental problems.”

Related Links:

— “Lead Exposure May Cause Depression And Anxiety In Children,” Nancy Shute, National Public Radio, June 30, 2014.