Bloomberg BusinessWeek (3/7, Tullis) reports, “According to a study published today in PLoS One, college football players who sustain hits to the head may experience long-term brain damage even if they aren’t concussed.” Researchers at the Cleveland Clinic found that of 67 college football players who didn’t experience concussion, “the 40 players who absorbed the hardest hits had elevated levels of an antibody linked to brain damage,” and their brain scans, when analyzed in a double-blind process, had “abnormalities that were predicted by the presence of the antibody.” The study “suggests that the risks may be far more widespread than previously acknowledged.”

The Cleveland Plain Dealer (3/7, Mangels) reports, “The research also suggests – though without ironclad proof – that repeated ‘sub-concussive’ blows may trigger the body’s immune system to inadvertently attack the brain,” and if that response persists, “it may play a role in the mental decline and dementia that plague some football players years after they’ve left the game.”

HealthDay (3/7, Gordon) reports the researchers “found that blows to the head that don’t cause concussions may cause a break in the protective blood-brain barrier, allowing substances to leak from the brain into the body,” and that, as those substances “aren’t normally found in the body, the immune system sees them as foreign and attacks them.” Still, study co-author Dr. Jeffrey Bazarian, an associate professor of emergency medicine at the University of Rochester Medical Center in New York, noted “that the researchers only know for sure that there’s an immune response,” not “whether it’s a damaging response or even a protective one at this point.

Related Links:

— “New Research Points to Brain Injuries in College Football, “Paul Tullis, Bloomberg Businessweek, March 6, 2013.

Politico (3/6, Gibson) reports that Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ), along with Sen. Mark Begich (D-AK) and Sen. Mark Pryor (D-AR), “introduced NRA-endorsed legislation Wednesday that would bar more people from buying guns due to mental illness.” The measure “would add people who plead not guilty by reason of insanity to the electronic background check system that determines if someone can purchase a gun. It adds a list of additional disqualifiers.”

Related Links:

— “Lindsey Graham gun bill targets mentally ill, “Ginger Gibson, Politico, March 6, 2013.

The Military Times (3/6, Maze) reported, “More than 31,000 discharges for service members diagnosed with personality or adjustment disorders would be reviewed to see if those troops actually suffered from post-traumatic stress, under” HR 975, “legislation introduced Tuesday by Rep. Tim Walz, D-Minn.” The measure, called the “Servicemembers Mental Health Review Act of 2013, would require a review of discharges for personality and adjustment disorders for anyone separated from Sept. 11, 2001, through Dec. 31, 2014, when unfitness for duty was the cause.” Service members “discharged would be allowed to present evidence to the review board, including from at least one licensed psychologist and one licensed psychiatrist who have either never worked for the Defense Department or have not worked for DoD since at least Dec. 31, 2001.”

Related Links:

— “Bill would review discharges for possible PTSD, “Rick Maze, Military Times, March 6, 2013.

Politico (3/6, Cheney) reports that yesterday at a Politico Pro Deep Dive event, mental-health expert C. Edward Coffey, CEO of behavioral health services for the Henry Ford Health System, said that “it would take a ‘total redesign’ of the country’s health care delivery system to prevent suicide and combat mental illness.” Meanwhile, James Scully, MD, CEO of the American Psychiatric Association (APA), “argued that the problem is so severe that it calls for a ‘presidential commission.'”

Psychiatric News (3/6) reports, “The push to improve America’s mental health policy is facing plenty of obstacles on Capitol Hill, despite the recent clamor about the need for new mental health legislation in the wake of gun-law debates, members of a panel organized by Politico newspaper agreed in a public discussion (3/6)” on Tuesday. In addition to Dr. Scully and Dr. Coffey, “the panel consisted of… Philip Wang, MD, deputy director of the National Institute of Mental Health; and two members of Congress,” psychiatrist “Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.) and Rep. Phil Roe (R-Tenn.),” also a physician. Dr. Scully emphasized that “despite a well-documented need, access to high-quality, integrated care is lacking for many Americans.”

Related Links:

— “Experts see ‘fragmented’ mental health system, “Kyle Cheney, Politico, March 5, 2013.

The CBS Evening News (3/5, story 8, 3:15, Pelley) reported, “With a shortage of mental facilities jails have become the new asylums.” CBS correspondent John Miller explained, “The Department of Justice says up to 64% of inmates at local jails have some mental health problem. Using that DOJ statistic, the two largest jails in the United States, Cook County and LA County, would become two of the largest mental institutions in the country de facto.”