AFP (7/11) reports that research published in Stroke suggests that “feeling cynical and hostile toward others may double the risk of having a stroke in middle-aged and older adults.” The study also indicated that “depression and high stress increased stroke risk.” The study included “more than 6,700 adults aged 45 to 84” who “answered questionnaires about their state of mind and behavior.” Participants were followed for eight to 11 years.

Related Links:

— “Hostile people more likely to suffer a stroke,” Yahoo News, July 10, 2014.

The Wall Street Journal (7/16, Esterl, Mehrotra, Bauerlein, Subscription Publication) reports that the US has fewer smokers than ever before. But, even though the rate of smoking is now less than 20 percent, some 40 million people still smoke in this country. The article goes on to explore current trends in the tobacco industry, such as concentrated growth in the menthol and e-cigarette sectors and the targeting of marketing campaigns toward the LGBT community.

Related Links:

— “America’s Smokers: Still 40 Million Strong,” Mike Esterl, Karishma Mehrotra and Valerie Bauerlein, Wall Street Journal, July 16, 2014.

Medscape (7/16, Brooks) reports that according to yearly rankings published online July 15 in US News & World Report, the “Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston is the best hospital for psychiatry” in the US. The full list of top-ranked hospitals for psychiatry can be seen at http://health.usnews.com/best-hospitals/rankings/psychiatry .

Related Links:

— Medscape (requires login and subscription)

NBC News (7/16, Fox) reports that despite the many warnings that “Obamacare was going to create a crush of pent-up medical demand,” a new study shows that visits to physicians actually “appear to be down slightly over 2013.” A research team at Athenahealth found that “Most specialty types did not see higher new patient visit rates for the first five months of 2014 than they did in the same period in 2013. Indeed, with the exception of pediatrics, all specialties are seeing lower new patient visit rates in 2014 compared to 2013.”

Related Links:

— “The Obamacare Surge? No Sign of Pent-Up Doctor Demand Yet,” Maggie Fox, NBC News, July 15, 2014.

The AP (7/16, Marchione) reports that the dementia rate “is falling in the United States and some other rich countries.” What’s more, the onset of dementia, including Alzheimer’s, appears to be happening later in life. Investigators came to both conclusions after analyzing data from the “federally funded Framingham study” that “tracked new dementia cases among several thousand people 60 and older in five-year periods starting in 1978, 1989, 1996 and 2006.”

Dallas Anderson, chief of epidemiology at the National Institute on Aging, said, “For those who get the disease, it may come later in life, which is a good thing.”

Related Links:

— “,” Marilynn Marchione, Associated Press, July 15, 2014.

HealthDay (7/15, Doheny) reports that research presented at an international meeting of the Alzheimer’s Association suggests that “for certain seniors, widowhood may…delay dementia.” The study started with approximately “3,800 married men and women starting to show some brain decline.” Investigators found that participants “who were widowed progressed to dementia at age 92 roughly, while those who didn’t lose a spouse were demented by age 83 – nearly a 10-year difference.”

Related Links:

— “Widowhood May Delay Dementia in Some Seniors, Study Finds,” Kathleen Doheny, HealthDay, July 14, 2014.

In continuing coverage, the New York Times (7/2, Reynolds) “Well” blog reports that according to a study (7/2) published in the May issue of the journal Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, “exercise may help to keep the brain robust in people who have an increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.” For the study, researchers from the Cleveland Clinic “recruited almost 100 older men and women, aged 65 to 89, many of whom had a family history of Alzheimer’s disease.”

All participants underwent brain scans before and after the study. Researchers found that “the brains of physically active volunteers at high risk for Alzheimer’s disease looked just like the brains of people at much lower risk for the disease.”

Related Links:

— “Can Exercise Reduce Alzheimer’s Risk?,” Gretchen Reynolds, New York Times, July 2, 2014.

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)