The Washington Post (11/21, Vogel) “Federal Eye” blog reports that the US Army “has launched a ‘Hire a Veteran’ education campaign aimed at debunking myths about hiring veterans” with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or traumatic brain injuries (TBI). The blog adds, “Recent research by the Society for Human Resource Management, which is partnering with the Army in the campaign, has shown some employers are concerned about the impact of PTSD and TBI on a veteran’s job performance, as well as the cost of accommodating these veterans in the workplace.” According to the blog, the “Hire a Veteran” campaign “includes a video and online employer toolkit that can be downloaded” here.

Related Links:

— “Army launches campaign to dispel myths about vets with PTSD and TBI, “Steve Vogel, The Washington Post, November 20, 2012.

Medwire (11/21, Grasmo) reports that “over half of all patients with bipolar disorder (BD) on prescribed medication show compliance issues, with most unable to attribute their deteriorating condition to this behavior,” according to a study published in the December issue of the Journal of Affective Disorders. “The 15-question survey designed to ascertain 2448 psychiatrists’ perceptions on the level and causes of non-adherence in eight European countries revealed that 57% of their BD patients had medication compliance issues.” What’s more, “one-fifth of psychiatrists estimated that most patients show, or have shown, a lack of awareness about their condition, with three in four psychiatrists reporting that most patients who deteriorated following medication discontinuation were unable to attribute this to non-compliance.”

Related Links:

— “Bipolar patients oblivious to medication non-adherence risks,”Ingrid Grasmo, MedwireNews, November 21, 2012.

The Wall Street Journal (11/20, Landro, Subscription Publication) reports in “The Informed Patient” that US medical centers are now developing programs to help better care for youngsters and adolescents who sustain concussions. Because young people’s brains are still growing, concussions may cause some serious long-term problems. The new programs are meant to inform parents, school nurses, athletic coaches and even pediatricians exactly how to care for a kid with a concussion and how to prevent further complications and damage. Researchers have also found a biomarker in the brain, which when combined with magnetic resonance imaging, may help physicians assess a patient’s long-term post-concussion prognosis. This past summer, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention put together a task force charged with developing guidelines on concussion to be shared with physicians and emergency departments in the near future.

Related Links:

— “Fresh Efforts to Improve Teens’ Concussion Care,”Laura Landro, Wall Street Journal, November 19, 2012.

USA Today (11/20, Hellmich) reports, “People who are jobless at some point during their lifetime because they were laid off, fired or quit may be at an increased risk of having a heart attack after age 50,” according to a study published online in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

The AP (11/20, Tanner) reports that investigators “analyzed data on more than 13,000 men and women aged 51 to 75 taking part in an ongoing health and retirement survey partly sponsored by the National Institute on Aging.” For the past 20 years, “participants have been interviewed every two years about their employment and health.” Altogether “there were 1,061 heart attacks during the study.”

The Los Angeles Times (11/19, Bardin) “Booster Shots” blog reports that the investigators “found that being unemployed was associated with a significantly increased risk of heart attack, with such subjects having heart attacks at 1.35 times the rate as people who were not unemployed.” The researchers also found that “each time somebody lost a job, their risk went up: People who had lost four jobs during the study had heart attacks at 1.63 times the rate of those who did not lose a job.”

Related Links:

— “Study: Unemployment may raise risk of heart attack,”Nanci Hellmich, USA Today, November 19, 2012.

The Washington Post (11/20, Kulkarni) reports that “for many of those who seek treatment for” eating disorders, “getting a full range of insurance coverage can be difficult.” Additionally, the article notes that “treatment of eating disorders is complicated because it often involves medical care, mental health services and nutritional therapy, requiring a team of specialists — often a” primary care physician, “a therapist, a psychiatrist and a dietitian.” According to the Post, “patients argue that insurers don’t adequately cover all those services, although estimates of how many patients receive coverage vary.”

Related Links:

— “Eating disorders often leave patients facing difficult insurance hurdles,”Shefali S. Kulkarni, The Washington Post, November 19, 2012.