Health News

Stress can impair memory, reduce brain size in middle age

Adults in their 40s and 50s with higher levels of cortisol — a hormone linked to stress — performed worse on memory and other cognitive tasks than peers of the same age with average cortisol levels, research found. Higher cortisol in the blood also was associated with smaller brain volumes, according to the study, published […]

Health News

Losing control of gene activity in Alzheimer’s disease

Pioneering research into the mechanisms controlling gene activity in the brain could hold the key to understanding Alzheimer’s disease and might help identify effective treatments in the future. An international research team led by scientists at the University of Exeter and the University of Essex have uncovered a link between indicators of gene activity and […]

Health News

Increased mortality in children with inflammatory bowel disease

Children who develop inflammatory bowel disease (ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s disease) have an increased risk of death, both in childhood and later in life, a study from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden published in the journal Gastroenterology reports. It is therefore important that patients who are diagnosed as children are carefully monitored, argue the researchers behind […]

Health News

Modifiable dementia risk factor in older adults identified

For older adults, it may seem as though the die is already cast regarding their odds of developing dementia, but new research from the University of Pittsburgh has identified a dementia risk factor among older adults that should be modifiable even well into old age. The study, which draws on data collected from following hundreds […]

Health News

Shifting focus from life extension to ‘healthspan’ extension: Disparities in longevity should be addressed, expert urges

Clinicians, scientists and public health professionals should proudly “declare victory” in their efforts to extend the human lifespan to its very limits, according to University of Illinois at Chicago epidemiologist S. Jay Olshansky. In an article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, Olshansky writes that the focus should shift to compressing the […]

Health News

Widespread use of statins in healthy older people to prevent heart disease not recommended in new study: Any protective effect was limited to those with type 2 diabetes aged between 75 and 84

Statins are not associated with a reduction in cardiovascular disease (conditions affecting the heart and blood vessels) or death in healthy people aged over 75, finds a study published by The BMJ today. However, in those with type 2 diabetes, statins were related to a reduction in cardiovascular disease and death from any cause up […]

Health News

Dementia symptoms peak in winter and spring, study finds

Adults both with and without Alzheimer’s disease have better cognition skills in the late summer and early fall than in the winter and spring, according to a new study published this week in PLOS Medicine by Andrew Lim of Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and the University of Toronto, Canada, and colleagues. There have been few […]

Health News

Study provides 10-year risk estimates for dementia, which may help with prevention in high-risk individuals who potentially could benefit from early targeted prevention

A Danish study provides 10-year absolute risk estimates for dementia specific to age, sex and common variation in the APOE gene, which may help identify high-risk individuals who potentially could benefit from early targeted prevention. The study is published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). Dementia is a major cause of disability in older adults […]