TIME (8/18, Thompson) reports that Lieut. General Nadja West, the US Army’s surgeon general, “is skeptical that the first-ever federally-approved study will show that marijuana can help US veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder [PTSD].” Proponents of marijuana treatment for PTSD, she “adds, too often emphasize the benefits without acknowledging the downsides.” General West said, “So to make [marijuana] sound as if it’s perfectly safe, the impact that it has long-term on certain areas of the brain, especially young people developing, that’s been proven: irreversible damage to the hippocampus and things like that that can really have impacts on individuals long-term.”

Related Links:

— “Top Army Doctor Leery of Treating PTSD with Marijuana,” Mark Thompson, Time, August 18, 2016.

In a nearly 1,700 word article, the New York Times (8/17, Heffernan, Wallace) reports people are at high risk for alcohol abuse, depression, and sexual assault during the first weeks of college, so parents should talk with their children about those risks before and after they begin college, according to “Robert Turrisi, professor of biobehavioral health and director of the PRO Health Lab at Penn State,” and other experts. The article highlights research by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism that has found binge-drinking among college students has declined overall, but the number of alcohol-related hospitalizations among college students has increased.

Related Links:

— “For Freshmen, Campus Life Poses New Risks,” LISA HEFFERNAN and JENNIFER BREHENY WALLACE, New York Times, August 17, 2016.

TIME (8/17, Sifferlin) reports a new study published online Aug. 17 in JAMA Psychiatry suggests that “being physically or emotionally abused as a child can increase a woman’s risk of death.” The study did not determine a causal realtion as to why childhood abuse is linked “with a higher risk for death, but the researchers speculate that abuse may heighten women’s risk for mental health issues, like depression, that can take a toll later on.”

NPR (8/17, Hobson) reports the research examined “a government-funded study that” asked roughly 6,200 men and women about their childhood experiences with physical and emotional abuse, tracking them for 20 years. Edith Chen, an author of the study, pointed out in an email that “the link to early death was with self-reported abuse, not abuse confirmed by courts or independently documented in other ways.” Researchers also said it was unclear why the association appeared in women, but not men.

Related Links:

— “Women Who Were Abused As Children Are Likely to Die Earlier,” Alexandra Sifferlin, Time, August 17, 2016.

Reuters (8/17, Seaman) reports that expectant mothers taking antipsychotics “can continue taking most of those medications without worrying the” medicines “will increase the risk of their newborns having birth defects,” researchers found in a study published online Aug. 17 in JAMA Psychiatry. Investigators arrived at the study’s conclusion after examining “data on over 1.36 million U.S. pregnant women enrolled between 2000 and 2010 in Medicaid.”

HealthDay (8/17, Preidt) reports, “The study focused on the most often used” medicines in both typical and atypical antipsychotic “classes: aripiprazole (Abilify), olanzapine (Zyprexa), quetiapine (Seroquel), risperidone (Risperdal) and ziprasidone (Geodon).” The study authors “reported birth defects in about 3.8 percent of babies born to women who had taken a typical antipsychotic and 4.45 percent whose mothers had taken atypical antipsychotics.” In comparison, “the birth defect rate of babies whose mothers had not taken an antipsychotic” were found to be “3.27 percent.”

Related Links:

— “Most antipsychotic drugs not tied to birth defects,” Andrew M. Seaman, Reuters, August 17, 2016.

HealthDay (8/16, Preidt) reports, “If your significant other is depressed, you are at increased risk for chronic pain,” researchers found after analyzing “data from more than 100,000 people in the UK.” Investigators “found that chronic pain is caused partly by genetics and partly by still-unknown risk factors shared by partners or spouses.” The findings were published online Aug. 16 in PLOS Medicine.

Related Links:

— “Study Finds Links Between Chronic Pain, Depression in Couples,” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, August , 2016.