The Los Angeles Times (9/7, MacVean) reports in its “Booster Shots” blog on a study published in the Journal of Adolescent Health, which found that “popular kids are more likely to smoke cigarettes.” The piece notes, “The researchers found that students’ perceptions of their peers’ behavior mattered as much as whether or not they actually smoked.”

HealthDay (9/7, Gray) quotes study author Thomas Valente, a professor of preventive medicine at the University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine, who said, “Popularity is a strong predictor of smoking. We haven’t done enough to make it cool not to smoke.”

Related Links:

— “Popular kids more likely to smoke, research says, “Mary MacVean, Los Angeles Times, September 06, 2012.

The NBC News (9/7, Huus) website reports, “The Department of Veterans Affairs will cover the costs of service dogs to help veterans with impaired vision, hearing or mobility, but will not cover canines assigned for mental disabilities, according to regulations published on Wednesday in the Federal Register.” The agency “said that despite many individual veterans’ testimonials that mental health service dogs provide relief from the symptoms of combat-related disabilities, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), it lacked research substantiating the efficacy of mental health service dogs.”

Related Links:

— “VA won’t cover costs of service dogs assigned for PTSD treatment, “Kari Huus, NBC News, September 06, 2012.

HealthDay (9/7, Preidt) reports, “The stress of readjusting to civilian life is a major reason some US. soldiers seek treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder,” according to a study published in the September issue of the journal Psychiatric Services. After surveying “National Guard soldiers with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) three months after they returned from Iraq,” researchers found that “for older soldiers with family and job responsibilities, readjustment issues related to their marriage, finances or family were associated with seeking help for PTSD more than actual symptoms of the disorder or depression.”

Related Links:

— “Vets’ Readjustment Issues May Spur PTSD Treatment, “Robert Preidt, HealthDay, September 06, 2012.

Research on a link between playing in the NFL and dying from certain degenerative brain diseases received extensive coverage in print, online, and on the national broadcast news.

ABC World News (9/5, story 7, 1:50, Muir) reported, “Now, with football season here, a troubling new report tonight, we’ve long heard about the link between football and head injuries, concussions and tonight a new study finds the risks are even greater than we imagined — Alzheimer’s, Lou Gehrig’s Disease — a startling new reality check just as the season kicks off.”

The CBS Evening News (9/5, story 6, 2:45, Pelley) reported that the research, published “in the medical journal ‘Neurology,’ looks at what a career of collisions can do to the brain.”

USA Today (9/6, Lloyd, Mihoces) reports that the “study finds retired football players are three to four times more likely to die from diseases of the brain compared with the general population.” USA Today points out, “The NFL, which on Wednesday announced it had pledged $30 million for medical research to the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health, points to the steps it has taken in response to concerns about head injuries.”

The AP (9/6) reports, “NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said the research could benefit athletes and potential areas of study may include CTE, concussion management and treatment and disorders from later in life such as Alzheimer’s.”

The New York Times (9/6, Tierney) “The Fifth Down” blog reports, “The findings were based on a review of death certificates by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.” Researchers found that, “of the 334 player deaths prior to 2008 that were inspected, Alzheimer’s was an underlying or contributing factor in seven and Lou Gehrig’s disease, also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, in seven others. The rate for the general population is two in each category.”

Related Links:

— “Study Finds Increased Risks for N.F.L. Players, “Mike Tierney, The New York Times, September 6, 2012.

USA Today (9/6, Zoroya) reports there “is emerging evidence that” American’s newest combat veterans “appear to be growing old before their time,” with former troops in their 20s and 30s showing “early signs of heart disease and diabetes, slowed metabolisms and obesity — maladies more common to middle age or later.” If this is early aging, scientists say it won’t be proven “until they can study these veterans over the next few years.” Still, “scientists with the Department of Veterans Affairs are rushing to understand” the research, which suggests the condition is “most common to those with both blast-related concussion and PTSD.” Scientists suggest that “early aging might stem from the nature of the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars, where troops served long and repeated deployments at an unprecedented rate.”

Related Links:

— “War might be making young bodies old, “Gregg Zoroya, USA Today, September 6, 2012.