On its website, ABC News (2/26, James) reports, “More than 10 million Americans have eating disorders, which have a 10 percent mortality rate, the highest of any psychiatric illness, according to the National Institute of Mental Health.” While anorexia nervosa “is rare among young children…the number of hospitalizations is on the rise. According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the rate jumped 72 percent between 1999 and 2009, the last year for which there are statistics.”

Related Links:

— “Anorexia Can Strike and Kill as Early as Kindergarten, “Susan Donaldson, abc News, February 26, 2013.

The Los Angeles Times (3/9, Murphy) reported that a nationwide review of military mental healthcare released Friday shows that soldiers returning home with problems such as PTSD “face a confusing array of programs, inconsistencies in training for mental health workers and gaps in mental health records because of uncoordinated record-keeping systems.” The Army said it is “already moving to correct some of the problems.” It is “moving behavioral health specialists into combat zones to give immediate aid to soldiers” and “reducing delays in processing for those seeking help for behavioral health problems.” The Washington Post (3/9, Vogel) “Federal Eye” blog also reported.

Related Links:

— “Army must do more to address soldiers’ mental health, review says, “Kim Murphy, Los Angeles Times, March 8, 2013.

The National Journal (3/7, Resnick, Subscription Publication) reported that in 2012, the US Army recorded 325 suicides. The Pentagon has stepped forward with suicide-prevention plans, and the Army has trained officers and other personnel how to prevent suicide. Now, a clearer picture is emerging of who is committing suicide. Deployment status and post-traumatic stress disorder do not seem to be related, according to research. Instead, “what seems to be happening is that young white men are entering the military with preexisting distress, and that distress manifests over the course of their service. And the Army isn’t addressing trouble signs at critical moments.” The Journal adds, “According to a 2012 review of Army suicide ‘knowns,’ a quarter of the people who had committed suicide had reported at least one symptom on Army health assessments,” but the report found that just five percent received a referral for counseling.

Related Links:

— “325 Members of the Army Killed Themselves Last Year. Sorting Out Why Is No Easy Task., “Brian Resnick, National Journal, March 7, 2013.

Medscape (3/8, Anderson) reports, “Atrial fibrillation (AF) is significantly associated with cognitive impairment and dementia, independent of history of clinical stroke,” according to a review published in the March 5 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine. “In a combined analysis of the 14 studies that investigated the association between AF and dementia or cognitive impairment, nine of which were prospective, AF was significantly associated with the risk for cognitive impairment (relative risk [RR], 1.40; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.19 – 1.64).”

Related Links:

— “Cognitive Impairment Associated With Atrial Fibrillation: A Meta-analysis, “Shadi Kalantarian, Annals of Internal Medicine, March 5, 2013.

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.