On its website, CBS News (3/14, Welch) reports in “Science Now” that a study found quitting “cold turkey” is the most effective way to stop smoking. The findings of the 697-participant study were published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

The Los Angeles Times (3/14, Healy) describes the methodology of the study in which one group of smokers was instructed to quit immediately, or “cold turkey,” and the other group was instructed to gradually reduce how much they smoked over a period of two weeks. The study found that after six months, 22% of the group that was instructed to quit immediately had stopped smoking, but only 15.5% of the group that was instructed to slowly reduce their smoking had stopped smoking.

Related Links:

— “Trying to quit smoking? Here’s the most effective strategy,” Ashley Welch, CBS News, March 14, 2016.

In a 2,700-word article on the front of its Science Times section, the New York Times (3/15, D1, Goode, Subscription Publication) reports that the programs and residential care centers aimed at patients with eating disorders “have proliferated in recent years, with some” for-profit companies “expanding across the country.” There are currently over 75 centers, compared to 22 a decade ago. The industry growth is attributed to the Affordable Care Act and other changes in health insurance laws “that have increased coverage for mental disorders, as well as by investments from private equity firms.”

Related Links:

— “Centers to Treat Eating Disorders Are Growing, and Raising Concerns,” Erica Goode, New York Times, March 14, 2016.

HealthDay (3/11, Preidt) reported that research suggests “major surgery and general anesthesia” do not “cause long-term mental decline in older adults.” The research involved “nearly 4,300 twins younger than 70 and about 4,200 twins aged 70 and older in Denmark who were given tests to assess their thinking and memory abilities.” Investigators found “no significant link between major surgery, general anesthesia and long-term mental decline.”

Related Links:

— “Anesthesia Not Linked to Long-Term Mental Decline, Study Finds,” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, March 11, 2016.

In a 1,200-word article on its front page, the Boston Globe (3/14, A1, Kowalczyk) reports that “there is a growing realization that many” patients treated in intensive care units “are left emotionally troubled by” their experience in the ICU, “which can be marred by hallucinations, poor communication, lack of respect for privacy, and, later, post-traumatic stress syndrome.” According to the Globe, “Now, a group of leading hospitals…is working to make the ICU less terrifying and more humane, using innovative tools such as iPad applications that feature patient biographies and journals kept by nurses.”

Related Links:

— “Hospitals working to make intensive care less terrifying,” Liz Kowalczyk, Boston Globe, March 14, 2016.

In “To Your Health,” the Washington Post (3/11, Izadi) reported that “social support may end up discouraging some men from seeking out professional help” for depression, the findings of a study published in the April issue of the journal General Hospital Psychiatry suggest. After analyzing “data from 1,379 adults with depression symptoms who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey,” researchers found that “depressed men who said they had inadequate social support were more likely to get that professional help.” This dynamic “doesn’t appear to play out for depressed women, the study found.”

Related Links:

— “What everyone should know about men and depression,” Elahe Izadi, Washington Post, March 11, 2016.