HealthDay (9/28, Preidt) reports, “People with psychopathic traits — such as callousness, manipulation, sensation-seeking and antisocial behaviors — are not able to use their sense of smell as well as other people can,” according to a study published online Sept. 18 in Chemosensory Perception. Investigators examined nearly 80 individuals to see whether or not their olfactory function was poor. Participants were also assessed for psychotic behavior and whether they possessed the ability to empathize with the feelings of others. The researchers “found that the people with the most psychopathic traits were more likely to have trouble identifying or distinguishing between smells.”

Related Links:

— “Poor Sense of Smell Linked to Personality Disorder, “Mary Elizabeth Dallas, HealthDay, September 27, 2012.

WebMD (9/28, Goodman) reports, “Seniors who take certain kinds of drugs to treat anxiety or insomnia may be more likely to develop dementia than those who do not,” according to a study published online in the BMJ.

MedPage Today (9/28, Gever) reports, “Older patients who used benzodiazepine anti-anxiety drugs were at substantially higher risk of developing dementia than nonusers,” the study found. “Among 1,063 randomly selected individuals 65 and older in southwest France who agreed to participate in a long-term observational study, the risk of new-onset dementia during follow-up was 60% greater (adjusted odds ratio 1.60, 95% CO 1.08 to 2.38) for those who had used benzodiazepines relative to never-users.” The study authors concluded, “Considering the extent to which benzodiazepines are now prescribed, physicians and regulatory agencies should consider the increasing evidence of the potential adverse effects of this drug class for the general population.”

Related Links:

— “Insomnia, Anxiety Drugs May Raise Dementia Risk, “Brenda Goodman, WebMD Health News, September 27, 2012.

HealthDay (9/28, Preidt) says that “depictions of smoking in top-grossing, youth-rated movies increased in 2011, reversing a five-year decline, a new report” published September 27 in the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention journal Preventing Chronic Disease. This finding “comes just a few months after the US Surgeon General’s office warned that seeing smoking in movies causes young people to start smoking.” According to the article, “the report found that four of the six major Hollywood studios featured more smoking in their youth-rated (G, PG and PG-13) movies in 2011.”

Related Links:

— “Smoking Scenes on Rise in Top-Grossing Youth-Rated Movies: CDC, “Robert Preidt, HealthDay, September 27, 2012.

HealthDay (9/28, Marcus) says that a new report on adoption published online Sept. 24 in the journal Pediatrics “shows that the portrait of adoptive families in the United States is changing and so are the needs of those families, said lead author Dr. Faye Jones, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Louisville.” According to the article, “Jones said the research suggests that families would benefit if their pediatricians were more aware of their unique needs — specialized counseling and emotional support, connections to other adoptive families and tutoring service recommendations, for example.” Additionally, adoption experts suggest that “educating schools and communities would help too.”

Related Links:

— “Families Who Adopt Should Use Extra Health Services, School Support: Experts, “Mary Brophy Marcus, HealthDay, September 27, 2012.

The Baltimore Sun (9/27, Cox) reports that yesterday’s mandatory suicide-prevention training that took place at Fort Meade, MD, “was part of an Army-wide initiative undertaken as the military branch is on pace to reach its highest-ever suicide rate. The number of suicides each year has nearly doubled since 2005, from 87 to 165 last year.” In addition, “the number of monthly suicides doubled from June to July — when suicides outpaced combat deaths of active-duty soldiers.” Efforts such as yesterday’s training are part of the Army’s attempts to change its culture so that soldiers who need mental healthcare experience no stigma in asking for it.

Psychiatrist: Many Troops Who Start PTSD Treatment Do Not Complete It. Medscape (9/27, Brauser) details efforts made by the Department of Defense, Congress, and even the President to stem the tide of psychiatric illnesses, including depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, in active-duty military members. However, “in a presentation at this year’s American Psychiatric Association (APA) annual meeting, Major Gary H. Wynn, MD, research psychiatrist at the Center for Military Psychiatry and Neuroscience at the Walter Reed Army Institutes of Research…said that between 20% and 50% of soldiers who begin treatment for combat-related PTSD walk away before its completion,” citing “a study published in 2011 in Military Psychology that reported key reasons for this lack of follow-through often include mistrust of mental health clinicians, a belief that these types of problems can work themselves out on their own, and an overall belief that seeking treatment should be a last resort.”

Related Links:

— “Army pauses operations for mandatory suicide prevention training, “Erin Cox, The Baltimore Sun, September 26, 2012.