The NBC News (8/7, Fox) reports that approximately 4.2 million “US adults admit they drink and drive at least sometimes,” according to survey results published Aug. 7 in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. This is most likely “an underestimate,” because “people might not confess to drinking and driving, they might not admit it to themselves, and the study didn’t cover teenage drivers under the age of 18.” Amy Jewett, MPH, of the CDC, and colleagues wrote, “Alcohol-impaired driving crashes account for approximately one third of all crash fatalities in the United States.”

Related Links:

— “More Than 4 Million Adults Admit They Drink and Drive,” Maggie Fox, NBC News, August 6, 2015.

According to the Washington Post (8/7, Deane), a study published in the journal Surgical Neurology International suggests that “people are developing dementia a decade before they were 20 years ago.” After comparing “21 Western countries between the years 1989 and 2010,” researchers “found that the disease is now being regularly diagnosed in people in their late 40s and that death rates are soaring.” The study authors theorize that environmental factors, such as air pollution and increased use of insecticides, may be the reason.

Related Links:

— “People are developing dementia earlier and dying of it more, a study shows,” Daniela Deane, Washington Post, August 6, 2015.

The New York Times (8/7, A20, Stewart, Subscription Publication) reports that as part of the $22 million NYC Safe mental health initiative announced yesterday by New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, experts in the mental health field “will fan out to New York City’s homeless shelters, into the streets and to other places to treat mentally ill people who exhibit violent behavior.” In addition, city agencies, “including the Department of Homeless Services and the New York Police Department, will share information with one another about those people to make sure they are being treated, city officials said.” Monitoring the treatment received will be a team from the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

Related Links:

— “New York City Initiative Aims to Help Mentally Ill People Who Get Violent,” Nikita Stewart, New York Times, August 6, 2015.

The Chicago Tribune (8/6, Bowen) reports in a 1,700-word article that there are “many women who suffer depression and anxiety while pregnant.” According to the Tribune, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) “estimates one in seven women experience depression during pregnancy or within 12 months of delivery.” However, “fewer than 20 percent of women diagnosed during postpartum had self-reported symptoms, according to” ACOG. In a May report, ACOG “advised that women be gauged for depression at least once.”

Related Links:

— “Depression Doesn’t Always Wait Until the Baby Comes,” Bowen, Chicago Tribune, August 6, 2015.

The AP (8/6, Fram) reports that yesterday, Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) “proposed a National Rifle Association-backed bill…that he said would make the federal background check system for gun buyers more effective and bolster programs for treating people with mental illness.” Under the proposed legislation, state and local government would be given “more flexibility to use federal funds to screen for prisoners’ mental problems and improve training for law enforcement officers and others on handling emergencies involving” people with mental illnesses. In addition, the measure “would let civil judges order outpatient treatment for people with mental problems short of committing them to institutions.”

National Journal (8/6, Owens, Subscription Publication) points out that currently, there are “several mental-health-reform measures vying for attention.” Sen. Cornyn’s measure “has joined a comprehensive reform bill from GOP Sen. Bill Cassidy and Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy, and a narrower Senate bill from GOP Sen. Lamar Alexander and Democratic Sen. Patty Murray, as well as Republican Rep. Tim Murphy’s reform bill in the House.” According to National Journal, “It seems that mental-health reform is a uniting topic, one that might actually create momentum in a slow-moving Congress.”

Related Links:

— “LEADING GOP SENATOR OFFERS BILL ON GUNS, MENTAL HEALTH,” Alan Fram, Associated Press, August 5, 2015.