The Wall Street Journal (7/30, Beck, Subscription Publication) reports that according to a study published in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, people who are problem drinkers in mid-life may have double the likelihood of having late-life memory problems.

BBC News (7/30, Briggs) reports that the study of 6,500 Americans found that “men and women in their 50s and 60s with a history of alcohol abuse were more likely to have memory problems up to two decades later.”

Related Links:

— “Heavy Drinkers Are Prone to Memory Problems in Old Age,” Melinda Beck, Wall Street Journal, July 29, 2014.

HealthDay (7/30) reports that a new review shows that “quitting smoking is harder for people with depression.” The scientists discovered that “depression can make it more difficult to ride out the anxiety, cravings or lack of sleep that come with trying to quit cold turkey,” although “extra exercise – even just a walk – could help people quit faster, they said.” The study was published in Nicotine & Tobacco Research.

Related Links:

— “Extra Exercise Could Help Depressed Smokers Quit: Study,” Mary Elizabeth Dallas, HealthDay, July 29, 2014.

The Fox News (7/30, Kwan) website reports that according to a study published online July 29 in the journal Cerebral Cortex, “the brains of children with autism are relatively inflexible at switching from rest to task and this inflexibility is correlated with behaviors characteristic of the disorder.” The study involved 17 youngsters with autism and 17 kids who were developing normally. Both sets of children underwent “social face recognition” testing and functional magnetic resonance imaging scanning.

Related Links:

— “For children with autism, brain inflexibility may explain behavior,” Nicole Kwan, Fox News, July 30, 2014.

HealthDay (7/30, Doheny) reports that according to a study scheduled for presentation at the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior’s annual meeting, “dieting at a young age might set the stage for harmful health habits, including eating disorders.” From 1982 to 2012, researchers surveyed thousands of women of college age. The survey results also revealed an association “between early dieting and later obesity and alcohol abuse.”

Related Links:

— “Dieting at Young Age Often Backfires, Study Says,” Kathleen Doheny, HealthDay, July 29, 2014.

In a USA Today (7/29) op-ed, former congressman Patrick Kennedy warns against the recent trends of legalizing marijuana, saying that the commercialization of the drug “threatens healthy brain development and the mental health of our children.” He applauds President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder for their efforts in reforming the drug laws, to promote drug treatment and other diversion programs for nonviolent drug crimes, but says we should not replace one tragedy, “incarceration,” with another, “a public health crisis.”

Related Links:

— “Patrick Kennedy: Legalizing pot endangers children,” Patrick Kennedy, USA Today, July 28, 2014.