The AP (8/29, Tanner) reports, “Continuing to play despite a concussion doubles recovery time for teen athletes and leads to worse short-term mental function than in those immediately removed from action,” researchers reported. The findings of the 69-teen study were published online in Pediatrics.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (8/29, Bloom) points out that even though “a study published in April used medical records to study the effect of delayed reporting and removal from activity on concussion recovery, this is the first study to use clinical data to study that issue.” In addition, the findings support “‘removal from play status’ as a predictor of protracted recoveries – ones that take at least 21 days.” Removal from play “was a stronger predictor of such lengthy recoveries than previously known factors such as sex and age, according to the research.”

Related Links:

— “Study: Removing athletes from play improves post-concussion recovery,” Elizabeth Bloom, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, August 29, 2016.

Reuters (8/26, Seaman) reported, “When deaths from substance abuse are counted as self-inflicted, then deaths from self-injury in the US are tied with deaths attributed to diabetes and outnumber those from flu and pneumonia or kidney disease,” researchers found after examining “data from the CDC on deaths occurring in the US between 1999 and 2014.” The researchers “write…that self-injury deaths in the U.S. are generally underestimated because suicides by poisoning and drug overdose are often misclassified as ‘accidents’ on death certificates.” The findings were published online Aug. 24 in JAMA Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Self-injury is a ‘major killer’ in U.S,” Andrew M. Seaman, Reuters, August 26, 2016.

Crain’s New York Business (8/25, Lewis) reports that New York-based blogging site Tumblr is “encouraging everyone from the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) to [New York City] first lady Chirlane McCray, an active Tumblr user, to engage with its dedicated user base in a space set aside to talk about mental health issues.” A Tumblr spokeswoman said “advocates are posting ‘a ton of content,’ including research studies, resource links and videos on mental health issues, with the tag ‘Post It Forward.’” Crain’s explains that “Post It Forward” was launched in May 2015 and “was originally intended as a summerlong campaign, but it has evolved into a permanent page on the site.”

Related Links:

— “Tumblr tackles mental health issues,” Caroline Lewis, Crain’s New York Business, August 25, 2016.

The New York Times (8/24, Reynolds) reports in its “Well” blog that a 2014 study on mice suggested that exercise might have detrimental effects on long-term memory. Meanwhile, in a new study published in The Journal of Neuroscience “researchers decided to replicate aspects of the 2014 mouse experiment but instead use rats” because research has shown rat brains “are more similar to our brains.” The new study found that rats that exercised displayed long-term memory as good as sedentary rats and had developed “about twice as many new cells as did the brains of the sedentary animals.”

Related Links:

— “Exercise Boosts Brain Health, but Is There a Downside?,” GRETCHEN REYNOLDS, New York Times, August 24, 2016.

The Baltimore Sun (8/24, McDaniels) reports that recently, the American Academy of Pediatrics updated its “guidelines advising pediatricians how to identify and help teenagers at risk for suicide,” saying it “wants pediatricians to screen patients for suicidal thoughts and risk factors for suicide, such as bullying.” This change is meant to address an increase “in teenage depression, suicidal ideation and suicide attempts.” Data from the CDC’s Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System survey indicate “suicide is the second-leading cause of death in adolescents ages 15 to 19 and the third-leading cause of death in children ages 10 to 14.”

Related Links:

— “Pediatricians can help identify suicidal teens,” Andrea K. McDaniels, Baltimore Sun, August 24, 2016.