HealthDay (12/14, Haelle) reports, “Increased stress could be a risk factor for the kind of thinking difficulties that can lead to Alzheimer’s disease,” a study published online Dec. 11 in the journal Alzheimer Disease and Associated Disorders suggests. In research involving some “500 adults, aged 70 and older,” researchers found that “adults who perceived themselves to be under the most stress had a 30 percent greater risk of early cognitive impairment.” Medical Daily (12/14, Baulkman) also covers the study.

Related Links:

— “Stress May Boost Risk for Alzheimer’s-Linked Thinking Problems,” Tara Haelle, HealthDay, December 11, 2015.

The New York Times (12/14, A22, Subscription Publication) editorializes, “As Americans debate how the country should respond to gun violence, they should not lose sight of the biggest category of firearm deaths: suicides.” Although “no policy or education campaign is going to prevent every suicide,” the Times argues that “that is no excuse for failing to save as many people as we can by improving gun safety and by protecting” those “who are a danger to themselves.”

Related Links:

— “To Reduce Suicides, Keep the Guns Away,” New York Times, December 14, 2015.

Congressional Quarterly (12/11, Zanona, Subscription Publication) reported that HR 4153 “would establish a three-year pilot program providing grants for middle schools to screen students for conditions such as anorexia and bulimia nervosa, as well as educate teachers, counselors, nurses and parents about identifying risk factors and symptoms.” The aim of the legislation “is to test the effects of early intervention – an issue about which bill supporters contend there is insufficient data.”

Related Links:

— Congressional Quarterly (requires login and subscription)

In an investigatory piece conducted in conjunction with Reuters, NBC Nightly News (12/13, story 7, 4:20, Snow) reported that the number of infants born with neonatal abstinence syndrome “has risen five-fold over the last dozen years.” Under a Federal law, “hospitals are supposed to report” such newborns “to protective services.” But, “despite the federal law, Reuters and NBC identified over 100 cases in the last five years when” babies of mothers who “used opioids…died preventable deaths after being sent home.”

Former Pennsylvania Congressman Jim Greenwood, who “sponsored the law to protect” such infants, placed the onus of enforcement on “the Secretary of Health and Human Services.” NBC News correspondent Cynthia McFadden said, “The Secretary of Health and Human Services declined our repeated request for an interview.”

Related Links:

— “Newborns Die After Going Home With Moms Fighting Drug Addiction,” Duff Wilson and John Schiffman, NBC Nightly News, December 7, 2015.

The Washington Post (12/11, Ingraham) “Wonkblog” reports that data released this week from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reveal that “America’s teenagers and young adults are much less likely to drive drunk than they used to be.” According to the CDC, between 2002 and 2014 “the prevalence of driving under the influence of alcohol alone and alcohol and marijuana combined significantly declined among persons aged 16–20 years and 21–25 years.” Specifically, “among 16- to 20-year-olds, the drunk driving rate fell 59 percent” and “among the 21 to 25 set, the rate fell by 38 percent.”

Related Links:

— “Good news, America! There are fewer drunk teens on the road today.,” Christopher Ingraham, , December 10, 2015.