Medscape (4/24) reports that according to a review published online April 14 in the journal Pediatrics, “exposure to childhood sexual abuse (CSA) may increase the odds of later suicidal behavior, including suicide attempts.” After reviewing data from nine studies involving nearly 9,000 participants, researchers found that “those who experienced CSA before the age of 16 to 18 years were more than twice as likely to attempt or complete suicides.”

Related Links:

— Medscape (requires login and subscription)

ABC World News (4/22, story 7, 2:40, Sawyer) reported that over the past 10 years, the number of children hospitalized with eating disorders has increased 72%. Such conditions can begin affecting children at the age of five. Therapy has shown a 50-60% recovery rate among patients, however, and the report urged parents to listen to children’s complaints. A blog on the ABC News (4/23, Besser) website also covers the story.

Related Links:

— “Deciphering the Signs of Anorexia in the Very Young,” Margaret Aro, ABC News, April 22, 2014.

The Washington Times (4/23, A1, Ybarra) reports that the Department of Defense “has reported an uptick in the number of military officers who…are seeking help to cope” with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). While the military “has been criticized for being slow to acknowledge and respond to the disorder,” Congressional Research Service data show that “diagnoses of the disorder among active-duty personnel across all branches of the US military have increased from about 5,700 10 years ago to more than 15,000 last year.” In addition, the number of individuals seeking treatment is up more than 20% since FY2010, according to Army Lt. Col. Cathy Wilkinson.

Related Links:

— “Less silent suffering: Veterans’ post-traumatic stress taken seriously,” Maggie Ybarra, Washington Times, April 22, 2014.

ProPublica (4/22, Beckett) reports on the political battle over gun violence research. Whereas the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) spent $2.7 million in 1995 on the topic, funding withered to “barely $100,000” by 2012 and $0 in 2014 under political pressure. Last year, several medical groups signed a letter “urging Congress to fund gun violence prevention research.” Unlike CDC, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has expressed interest in supporting research in this field, though it is unclear how many projects it is currently funding.

Related Links:

— “Republicans Say No to CDC Gun Violence Research,” Lois Beckett, ProPublica, April 21, 2014.

The Los Angeles Times (4/22, Kaplan) “Science Now” blog reports that in a studypublished in JAMA Internal Medicine, investigators “examined data from a large clinical trial of digital mammography and concluded that false-positives produced a ‘significant increase in anxiety,’ though it was only temporary.”

Reuters (4/22, Seaman) reports that the researchers compared 534 women whose mammograms first suggested that they may have breast cancer to nearly 500 women whose mammograms showed no signs of breast cancer from the beginning.

Related Links:

— “Anxiety from a false-positive mammogram is real but temporary, study says,” Karen Kaplan, Los Angeles Times, April 21, 2014.