HealthDay (3/22, Preidt) reports, “Despite beliefs to the contrary, overweight people with a serious mental illness are able to make the lifestyle changes necessary to lose weight,” according to a study simultaneously published online March 21 in the New England Journal of Medicine and presented at the American Heart Association meeting. “The study included 291 overweight or obese patients with a serious mental illness, including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or major depression.” Researchers enrolled 144 patients “in a program that provided them with simple nutrition advice, counseling and regular exercise classes.” The remaining 147 patients received no guidance for weight loss and served as the control group.

Related Links:

— “Mental Illness May Not Impede Healthy Weight Loss, Study Says, “Robert Preidt, HealthDay, March 21, 2013.

CQ (3/22, Norman, Subscription Publication) reports that with the increasing suicide rates among members of the military drawing concern, “an expert on mental health told a House subcommittee on Thursday that there are many similarities between young adult civilians and members of the armed forces who take their own lives.” Jerry Reed, “director of the National Suicide Prevention Resource Center, said suicide is a broad societal problem among young adults in the United States – not just members of the armed forces.”

HealthDay (3/22, Preidt) reports, “Media coverage of mass shootings by people with mental illnesses may heighten the stigma that already surrounds people struggling with mental disorders,” according to the results of “an online survey of nearly 1,800 American adults” appearing in the April issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association. The survey “also found that public support for policies to reduce gun violence rises after news coverage of mass shootings. Specifically, people who read a news story describing a mass shooting were more likely than those who did not read such an article to support gun restrictions for people with serious mental illness, and for a ban on large-capacity ammunition magazines,” the survey found.

Sharfstein: Gun Laws Could Have Major Impact On US Suicide Rate. Psychiatric News (3/22) reports that former American Psychiatric Association president Steven Sharfstein, MD, in a piece that appeared earlier this week in the Baltimore Sun, emphasized that “while laws aimed at keeping guns out of the hands of people with mental illness, which are being debated in Maryland, would have little effect on the homicide rate in the United States, they could have a major impact on the suicide rate.” Dr. Sharfstein “pointed out that 20,000 of the 30,000 annual gun-related deaths in this country are suicides.” According to Dr. Sharfstein, “to bring down the gun suicide rate, strong barriers to availability of guns are needed.”

Related Links:

— “News Coverage of Shootings May Boost Stigma of Mental Illness, “Robert Preidt, HealthDay, March 21, 2013.

The Arizona Republic (3/20, Sexton) reports, “Suicide among veterans and active military members is not a new problem, but the number of incidents has risen significantly in the last decade, reaching what former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta described as ‘epidemic’ levels.” The Republic adds, “Between 2000 and 2010 the number of veteran suicides rose from 20 to 22 per day, the VA reported last month. The total grew from an estimated 7,300 suicides in 2000 to an estimated 8,030 in 2010, for a difference of 730.”

Related Links:

— “As suicides rise among veterans, outreach increases, “Connie Cone Sexton, The Arizona Republic, March 19, 2013.

USA Today (3/19, Lloyd) reports, “A new report showing one in three older adults dies with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia is raising concerns about the disease’s ‘pervasive’ scope and the spiraling costs of care,” according to a report to be released March 18 by the Alzheimer’s Association. The report found that “deaths from Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia have increased 68% from 2000 to 2010.” USA Today adds, “The Alzheimer’s numbers ‘are simply staggering,’ says Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, the federal agency overseeing research for 233 areas of disease.”

The New York Daily News (3/19, Evans) reports, “Records released Tuesday by the federal Centers for Disease Control show that the degenerative brain disease was the cause of death for 83,494 people in 2010 and was listed as a contributing factor for 26,488 additional people.” Currently, “Alzheimer’s is the sixth leading cause of death in the US, and the fifth leading cause of death in people over 65.”

Related Links:

— “One in three elderly have dementia when they die, “Janice Lloyd, USA Today, March 19, 2013.