The New York Times (11/15, B4, Tugend, Subscription Publication) reported that some 43.7 million US adults “suffer from a mental, behavioral or emotional disorder, according to the National Institute of Mental Health.” Many are in the workplace and may have a difficult time because of their disorder. Although “the Americans with Disabilities Act forbids companies from firing people with mental health conditions as long as they can do the ‘essential functions’ of the job as determined by the employer, people may not feel safe” disclosing a mental health disorder to their supervisors for fear of losing their jobs. Bosses may be unaware of ADA requirements or of company policies requiring schedule flexibility. The Times adds that “the Partnership for Workplace Mental Health, part of the American Psychiatric Association… posts on its website case studies of companies that have introduced programs to address the issue.”

Related Links:

— “Deciding Whether to Disclose Mental Disorders to the Boss,” Alina Tugend, New York Times, November 14, 2014.

In The Hill (11/15) Congress Blog, former Surgeon General and Director of the CDC David Satcher, MD, wrote that people should be more frightened by Alzheimer’s disease than by Ebola. “While there is virtually no chance of contracting Ebola in the US right now, the likelihood of developing Alzheimer’s or needing to care for someone with Alzheimer’s is staggering.” But, according to Dr. Satcher, “progress on Alzheimer’s is being held back by limited funding,” as evidenced by the fact that “for every $26,500 Medicare and Medicaid spend on Alzheimer’s care, the NIH spends only $100 on research.” Earlier this year in testimony before Congress, NIH Director Francis Collins, MD, said that Alzheimer’s research is “unfortunately limited by resources.”

Related Links:

— “Alzheimer’s is greater public health crisis than Ebola,” David Satcher, MD, The Hill, November 14, 2014.

Major newspapers, wire sources, Internet and consumer medical outlets cover the findings from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Youth Tobacco Survey revealing that 22.9 percent of high school students are currently using a tobacco product. The survey, published Nov. 13 in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, also found that 4.5 percent of high school students used e-cigarettes in the previous month in 2013, up from 2.8 percent in 2012 and 1.5 percent in 2011.

USA Today (11/14, Szabo) reports that nearly “12% of high-school kids and 3% of middle schoolers had tried” e-cigarettes “at least once.” USA Today explains that children “are experimenting with a variety of tobacco products beyond cigarettes — from cigars to hookahs, chewing tobacco and pipes.” In fact, almost 23 percent “of high-school students use some sort of tobacco product, according to the CDC.” For instance, nearly 12 percent of high-school students smoke cigars, up slightly from 2011, the paper adds.

Related Links:

— “E-cigarette use triples among high schoolers,” Liz Szabo, USA Today, November 13, 2014.

Roll Call (11/14, Jenks) reports the National Institute of Mental Health “has decided to update its strategic plan.” With the last plan having been formulated in 2008, “the institute has decided that there has been substantial advances in mental health care since then and a new plan is in order. The public can comment on the new draft, which sets research priorities for the next five years.”

Related Links:

— “NIH Forges a Mental Health Research Plan,” Paul Jenks, Roll Call, November 13, 2014.

The New York Times (11/14, Bakalar) “Well” blog reports that according to a study published Nov. 13 in the Journal of Critical Sleep Medicine, “37 percent of” 7,000 firefighters tested “screened positive for at least one sleep disorder, most for obstructive sleep apnea.” After controlling for confounding factors, investigators “found that compared with sound sleepers, those with a sleep disorder were about twice as likely to have a motor vehicle crash, to nod off while driving, and to have cardiovascular disease or diabetes.” In addition, the firefighters faced a threefold higher risk of having anxiety and depression.

Related Links:

— “Firefighter Accidents Are Linked to Sleep Problems,” Nicholas Bakalar, New York Times, November 13, 2014.