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From the first reports of RDX contamination on American soil, the Pentagon has either ignored or actively sought to discount RDX’s threat to public health and the environment, according to ProPublica’s review of thousands of pages of EPA and Pentagon documents and the accounts of more than 23 current and former officials and lawmakers. (Lustgarten, 12/18)

Taking time off from college for mental health problems is a loss. It’s a loss of independence, of routine, of friends, of a place, a purpose, and a clear-cut goal. NITEO fills that gap. It gives the students a peer group and a place to go three days a week. It gives them assignments, accountability, and a personal coach to cheer them on. It gives them a path forward. It also gives students an explanation for their absence from campus. It’s not easy to tell friends they’re home for the semester due to a mental health issue. Instead, they can say, “I’m taking classes at Boston University this semester.” And it’s true. (Thielking, 12/19)

Loneliness can tank your mood, but can it affect your health, too? All signs point to yes. It turns out that feeling lonely can do more than make you sad: It can predict the way your body will respond to and bounce back from various health challenges. Lonely people are more likely to get sick, and researchers want to know why. (Blakemore, 12/18)

What's proven to prevent the development of dementia after the age of 80? Not brain training, not medication, not regular exercise, not a healthier diet and not a busy social calendar, according to a series of reports published Monday. But ask the question a bit differently, and the answer is not quite as discouraging: What should you be doing anyway right now that might delay or prevent the development of dementia late in life? (Healy, 12/18)

Last July, an international commission optimistically concluded that one-third of dementia may be preventable.With an aging population headed into the period of prime risk for developing Alzheimer’s and related forms of dementia, that seemed like good news. But a comprehensive set of papers published Monday in the Annals of Internal Medicine reached a seemingly opposite conclusion: There is no proven intervention for preventing late-life dementia. (Fauber, 12/18)

Picture this: While reaching for the cookie jar — or cigarette or bottle of booze or other temptation — a sudden slap denies your outstretched hand. When the urge returns, out comes another slap. Now imagine those "slaps" occurring inside the brain, protecting you in moments of weakness. (Landhuis, 12/18)