USA Today (11/28, Lloyd) reports, “Depression takes a bigger toll on Parkinson’s patients than the physical problems linked to the neurological disease and often goes undiagnosed.” according to findings released yesterday from the Parkinson’s Outcome Project by the National Parkinson Foundation. “The project involves 20 research centers and 5,557 patients.” Notably, “among the 61% who reported depression in the survey, 1,192 (21%) had minor symptoms, 1,248 (22%) had mild depression, and 1,021 (18%) reported severe, major depressive disorders.”

HealthDay (11/29, Preidt) reports, “The early findings…suggest that the impact of depression on the health status of Parkinson’s patients is almost twice that of the movement problems associated with the disease.” Investigators “also noted that depression can be difficult to diagnose in Parkinson’s patients because many common disease symptoms, such as fatigue and masked facial expressions, may hide mood changes. Studies show that it is common for depression to be undiagnosed or under-treated in Parkinson’s patients.”

WebMD (11/28, Doheny) reports, “Doctors should screen people with Parkinson’s for depression at least once a year, the foundation says. Patients are encouraged to report mood changes to their doctors. Family members are also encouraged to accompany them to doctor’s visits and to discuss any changes in patients’ mood.” Researchers point out that the decline in dopamine is most likely the reason for the depression in Parkinson’s patients.

Related Links:

— “Depression is biggest hurdle for Parkinson’s patients, “Janice Lloyd, USA Today, November 28, 2012.

A new report on HIV infection rates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention received extensive online coverage. Most sources quote CDC director Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, who, along with other officials and experts, expressed concern about the infection rates, as well as the fact that many of those with HIV are unaware of their infection. The AP (11/28, Stobbe) reports that new data from the CDC indicate that “1 in 5 new HIV infections occur in a tiny segment of the population – young men who are gay or bisexual.”

CBS News (11/28, Jaslow) reports on its website, “Of the estimated 12,200 new HIV infections that occurred in 2010 in the 13-to-24 age group, 72 percent were in young men who have sex with men (MSM) and 57 percent occurred in black Americans.” Meanwhile, approximately 60 percent “of all youths infected…don’t even realize they have the disease, the new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed.” In a written statement, Frieden, said, “That so many young people become infected with HIV each year is a preventable tragedy.”

USA Today (11/27, Szabo) reports that just “13% of high school students have been tested for HIV, the report says. Frieden says doctors need to get the message that screening is essential.” Although “new HIV infections have leveled off among most groups, they are rising among young people, says Kevin Fenton, who leads the CDC’s office on AIDS. Most of that increase is being driven by new HIV infections in young black men who have sex with men, he says.”

The Los Angeles Times (11/27, Bardin) “Booster Shots” blog reports, “The infection rates among young people are particularly troubling because CDC analyses show that they are less likely to get tested, enter treatment or stay in treatment once enrolled, in part, the CDC says, because of the stigma the virus that can cause AIDS carries.”

Related Links:

— “CDC: HIV rates high among young gay men, many unaware they’re infected, “Ryan Gaslow, CBS News, November 27, 2012.

McClatchy (11/28, Doyle) reports on “a legal debate that’s consuming the Pentagon, as well as the nation’s top military appeals court.” That is whether soldiers who attempt suicide should be prosecuted under the “military law that makes ‘self-injury’ a potential criminal offense.” Senior Judge Walter T. Cox III “and the four other members of the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces sounded deeply ambivalent about the complexities involved in prosecuting members of the military who try to kill themselves,” though they “also sounded hesitant about ruling out prosecution altogether.”

Military Court Hears Appeal Of Private Convicted Of Self-Injury. The Military Times (11/28, Tilghman) reports, “The military’s highest court Tuesday hammered attorneys on both sides of a controversial case involving vexing questions about whether commanders should have authority to court-martial troops who try to commit suicide.” The case involved Marine Pvt. Lazzaric Caldwell, who “was convicted under the Uniform Code of Military Justice’s Article 134, known as the General Article, because the judge found his self-injury was prejudicial to good order and discipline and brought discredit upon the service.” The Court of Appeals for the Armed Services is now hearing oral arguments on the case.

Related Links:

— “In suicide epidemic, military wrestles with prosecuting troops who attempt it,”Michael Doyle, McClatchy Newspapers, November 27, 2012.

HealthDay (11/28, Mozes) reports, “Despite concerns to the contrary, American children do seem to be getting adequate sleep,” according to a study published online Nov. 26 in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. “The finding stems from an in-depth look at current sleep norms among infants and children, as reflected by data collected in 1997 — with follow-ups in 2002 and 2007 — by a large National Science Foundation survey that set out to assess behavioral and mental health development from birth through age 18.” The study’s lead author stated, “Our estimates are in line with the amount of sleep recommended for children by the [US] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which suggests that children in the US are getting an appropriate amount of sleep on average.”

Related Links:

— “U.S. Kids Getting Enough Sleep After All: Survey, “Alan Mozes, HealthDay, November 27, 2012.

The Time (11/26, Szalavitz) “Healthland” blog reports, “Critics have long feared that stimulants simply drug children” with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder [AD/HD] “into submission, turning youngsters into compliant robots with no will to engage in defiant behavior.” However, UK researchers “interviewed 151 American and British children aged nine to 14 who were taking medication for AD/HD between 2008 and 2010. Their conclusion? ‘On balance, children report that stimulant drugs improve their capacity for moral agency,'” the study authors wrote, “explaining that most felt the drugs allowed them to make better choices.”

Related Links:

— “ADHD Medications Improve Decision-Making, But Are They Being Over Used?, “Maia Szalavitz, TIME, November 26, 2012.

The Washington Post (11/24, Whoriskey) reported that in a review of articles published in the New England Journal of Medicine, “60 were funded by a pharmaceutical company, 50 were co-written by drug company employees and 37 had a lead author, typically an academic, who had previously accepted outside compensation from the sponsoring drug company in the form of consultant pay, grants or speaker fees.” One reason for that is that “since about the mid-1980s, research funding by pharmaceutical firms has exceeded what the National Institutes of Health spends.” The Post noted that in 2011, spending totals were $39 billion from industry and $31 billion from the NIH, and the Post adds that “over the past decade corporate interference has repeatedly muddled the nation’s drug science, sometimes with potentially lethal consequences.” As examples, the Post cites the “controversies over blockbuster drugs…erupted amid charges that the companies had shaped their research to obscure the dangerous side effects.”

Related Links:

— “As drug industry’s influence over research grows, so does the potential for bias, ” Peter Whoriskey, The Washington Post, November 24, 2012.

USA Today (11/26, Lloyd) reports that “people who burn off the most energy have healthier, younger brains compared with adults who do less,” according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America. After using magnetic resonance imaging to scan the brains of 876 seniors, researchers found that “those who burned the most calories had 5% more gray matter.”

Related Links:

— “Burning energy may bulk up your brain cells, “Janice Lloyd, USA TODAY, November 23, 2012.

Medwire (11/24, McDermid) reported that according to a study published online Nov. 22 in the journal The Lancet Neurology, “the true incidence of traumatic brain injury (TBI) is about sixfold higher than official figures state.” For the study, researchers “used sources including hospitals, brain imaging records, family doctors, prisons, traffic accident records, coroner and autopsy records, and accident records of schools and sports centers” to find that “the incidence of any TBI was 790 per 100,000 person-years, age-standardized to 811 per 100,000 person-years. From this, the team estimates that 54-60 million people worldwide have a TBI each year, with 2.2-3.6 million people having moderate or severe injury.”

Related Links:

— “Official stats underestimate brain injury, “Eleanor McDermid, Medwire News, November 23,2012.

According to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, five major US airports with designated smoking areas do not have sufficient ventilation to mitigate the risks of second-hand smoke to non-smoking passengers.

USA Today (11/20, Koch, Today) reports that the new CDC report warns that “ventilation at five major US airports with designated smoking areas does not protect passengers from the health risks of secondhand smoke.” The report finds that “pollution levels adjacent (within a meter or 39 inches) to smoking areas are five times higher than levels at airports that entirely ban smoking.” Tim McAfee, director of CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health, explains that “These are unnecessary dangers for airport employees and passengers.” The airports named in the report are: Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Washington Dulles International Airport, McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, Denver International Airport and Salt Lake City International Airport.

HealthDay (11/21) reports that “in 2011, about 15 percent of all US air travel took place at these five airports, accounting for more than 110 million passenger boardings.”

Also covering the story are Reuters (11/21, Beasley), the Salt Lake (UT) Tribune, (11/21, Davidson) the Denver Post (11/21, Raabe), and the Las Vegas Sun (11/20).

Related Links:

— “CDC: Airports that allow smoking pose health risks, “Wendy Koch, USA TODAY, November 20, 2012.

The Washington Post (11/21, Vogel) “Federal Eye” blog reports that the US Army “has launched a ‘Hire a Veteran’ education campaign aimed at debunking myths about hiring veterans” with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or traumatic brain injuries (TBI). The blog adds, “Recent research by the Society for Human Resource Management, which is partnering with the Army in the campaign, has shown some employers are concerned about the impact of PTSD and TBI on a veteran’s job performance, as well as the cost of accommodating these veterans in the workplace.” According to the blog, the “Hire a Veteran” campaign “includes a video and online employer toolkit that can be downloaded” here.

Related Links:

— “Army launches campaign to dispel myths about vets with PTSD and TBI, “Steve Vogel, The Washington Post, November 20, 2012.