“Havana Syndrome” appears to cause real and severe symptoms among federal employees suffering from the mystery illness, but there’s no evidence of brain injury or biological abnormalities among them, a new report shows. Researchers evaluated 81 U.S. diplomats and other federal employees, mostly stationed abroad, who had complained of hearing noise and feeling head pressure just before experiencing headache, dizziness, trouble thinking and other symptoms. These symptoms have been described as “Havana Syndrome” because U.S. government personnel stationed in Havana, Cuba, first reported such cases in 2016. Since then, hundreds of American personnel in stations in many different countries have reported similar symptoms. After nearly five years of research, investigators from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) found that MRI brain scans of Havana Syndrome patients did not appear significantly different than those taken of healthy patients in a control group. A battery of other medical tests also found no differences between Havana Syndrome patients and healthy controls that would explain their symptoms. These included blood panels, hearing tests, balance tests, vision screening and psychological evaluation. However, researchers hastened to add that these symptoms are genuine, even if a cause isn’t apparent. “While we did not identify significant differences in participants with [Havana Syndrome], it’s important to acknowledge that these symptoms are very real, cause significant disruption in the lives of those affected and can…  read on >  read on >

As millions of Americans prepare to travel abroad this summer and measles outbreaks increase worldwide, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has tightened its guidance on how travelers should handle the potential health threat. Americans planning to fly to other countries should consult their doctors at least six weeks before they leave, if they are unsure about whether they are up to date on their measles vaccines, the guidance now says. That’s two weeks earlier than the one month advance notice the CDC said in November would be needed in order to have enough time to get vaccinated. Russia and Malaysia have also been added to the CDC’s map of 46 countries now facing large measles outbreaks. However, the agency warns that the global rise in measles cases remains a threat in other parts of the world. “Measles spreads rapidly and may become a risk to travelers in places not included on the list above. CDC recommends all travelers are fully vaccinated against measles when traveling to any international destination,” the agency stressed in its guidance. In recent weeks, health authorities have ramped up their plea for Americans to get vaccinated before traveling this year.  Officials have cited recent outbreaks linked to travelers who were infected abroad and had been eligible to be vaccinated, CBS News reported.  Those include a cluster of cases reported over the winter in Philadelphia linked…  read on >  read on >

In people with type 1 diabetes, fluctuations in blood sugar levels can affect thinking skills in various ways, new research shows. Researchers looked specifically at what’s known as cognitive processing speed (how fast people process incoming information) and attention. “Our results demonstrate that people can differ a lot from one another in how their brains are impacted by glucose,” said study co-senior author Laura Germine. “We found that minimizing glucose fluctuations in daily life is important for optimizing processing speed, and this is especially true for people who are older or have other diabetes-related health conditions,” Germine said. She directs McLean Hospital’s Laboratory for Brain and Cognitive Health Technology, in Boston. According to the researchers, it’s long been known that big dips or spikes in blood sugar levels can impair thinking in people with type 1 diabetes. But to what extent does this happen, and does it differ between people? To find out, they used wearable digital glucose sensors and smartphone-based cognitive tests to collect data on 200 people with type 1 diabetes as they went through their day. Over the course of 15 days, data on each person’s blood sugar levels was collected via the sensors every five minutes. Participants completed the cognitive tests three times per day. As expected, cognitive skills declined when blood sugar levels were either very low or very high,…  read on >  read on >

After a car crash, women are more likely to go into shock than men, even when their injuries are less severe, new research shows. “Women are arriving to the trauma bay with signs of shock more often than men, regardless of injury severity,” said study leader Susan Cronn, a researcher at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. “We need to look further into how and why this is happening.” For the study, her team looked at clinical injury data from more than 56,000 car crash victims — half men, half women.  Even though men had more injuries overall, women suffered more injuries to the pelvis and liver, they found. More importantly, women surpassed a shock index greater than 1.0 more often than men. This was true even for those with fewer, less severe injuries.  Healthy adults have a normal shock index between 0.5 and 0.7.  Higher numbers may be a warning sign of a life-threatening condition called hemorrhagic shock, in which blood pressure, heart rate and body temperature plummet. Often caused by heavy blood loss, it can be a predictor of premature death. “Our findings might mean that women’s bodies have less capacity to function when physiological changes occur, that some injuries might have more impact on female bodies, or that female bodies handle blood loss differently than male bodies,” Cronn said. “It might…  read on >  read on >

Astronauts who have never had headaches may develop migraines and other tension-type headaches for the first time when they go into space. A side effect of zero gravity, these headaches start with motion sickness as astronauts adapt to long-haul space flight, according to new research published March 13 in the journal Neurology.  “Changes in gravity caused by space flight affect the function of many parts of the body, including the brain,” said researcher Willebrordus P.J. van Oosterhout, of Leiden University Medical Center in The Netherlands. “The vestibular system, which affects balance and posture, has to adapt to the conflict between the signals it is expecting to receive and the actual signals it receives in the absence of normal gravity.” His team studied 24 astronauts from the United States, Japan and Europe who were deployed to the International Space Station between 2011 and 2018. The astronauts spent a combined total of of 3,596 days in space. Before the study, none reported a history of recurrent headaches or had ever had a migraine, though three said they had had a headache in the previous year that interfered with their daily activities. Nine astronauts said they had never had an headache. Each completed a headache history questionnaire before their space deployment, a daily questionnaire for the first week of their mission and weekly questionnaires after that. In all,…  read on >  read on >

Specialized brain scans may accurately predict whether a psychotic patient will go on to develop treatment-resistant schizophrenia, Dutch researchers report. The scan — called a neuromelanin-sensitive MRI, or NM-MRI for short — zeroes in on a brain pigment called neuromelanin. This pigment can provide visual evidence of healthy dopamine function. Dopamine is a hormone that is part of the brain’s reward system. Too much dopamine may lead to the aggression and poor impulse control associated with psychosis. Led by Marieke van der Plijm, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Amsterdam in The Netherlands, the study authors suggest NM-MRI could be a game-changer. “[T]here is an urgent need for markers to identify treatment non-responders in schizophrenia at an early stage and facilitate timely initiation of clozapine, the only antipsychotic with proven efficacy in non-responders,” they wrote in the March 13 issue of The American Journal of Psychiatry. Unlike patients who respond to treatment, those with treatment-resistant schizophrenia show no increase in dopamine function. Researchers said that suggests that neuromelanin levels — a benchmark of dopamine function — may be an early marker for treatment resistance. The study included 62 patients between the ages of 18 and 35 who had their first psychotic episode. All were diagnosed on the schizophrenia spectrum. These patients were compared with a control group of 20 healthy volunteers. All patients had…  read on >  read on >

Combat veterans who suffered traumatic brain injuries due to explosive blasts may have markers in their spinal fluid similar to those of Alzheimer’s disease, new research finds. “Previous research has shown that moderate to severe traumatic brain injuries may increase a person’s risk of Alzheimer’s disease,” said senior study author Dr. Elaine Peskind, of the VA Puget Sound Health Care System and the University of Washington School of Medicine. “What is lesser known is whether mild traumatic brain injuries from military training and combat may also increase a person’s risk. Our study found that these concussions may indeed increase a person’s risk of Alzheimer’s disease.” Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is caused by a bump, blow or jolt to the head, an injury as in a motor vehicle crash, or in service personnel, blast and impact injuries. In a mild TBI, also known as a concussion, person may lose consciousness for up to 30 minutes. The new study — published online March 13 in the journal Neurology — included 51 military veterans who suffered concussions from at least one war zone blast or a combination of blast and impact injuries. They were compared to 85 vets and civilians who had not experienced a TBI. On average, those in the concussion group had experienced 20 blast concussions and two impact concussions.  Participants took thinking and memory tests…  read on >  read on >

The blockbuster weight-loss medication Zepbound (tirzepatide) appears to help folks quickly shed pounds regardless of how overweight they are, or how long they’ve lived being overweight or obese. Those are the findings of two separate analyses of a major trial of the injected drug that was funded by maker Eli Lilly. “Regardless of baseline BMI, tirzepatide consistently reduced body weight versus placebo in people with obesity,” said study co-lead author Dr. Louis Aronne. He directs the Comprehensive Weight Control Center at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York City. Aronne spoke in a news release from the European Congress on Obesity, which will be held in Venice, Italy, in May. The Congress is releasing the research ahead of the meeting. The findings stem from a large study of hundreds of overweight or obese people, with or without a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes. “Overweight” was defined as a BMI between 27 and 30, and “obesity” as a BMI of 30 or above. After undergoing a three-month “intensive lifestyle intervention” focused on diet and exercise, patients were randomized to receive either Zepbound or a placebo injection for 18 months. According to Aronne and colleagues, Zepbound far surpassed placebo in terms of weight loss, regardless of how overweight patients were at the start of the trial. For example, while nearly all patients taking the drug lost at least…  read on >  read on >

College students who use drugs like Adderall to help them focus on their studies may be setting themselves up for trouble. Researchers asked 700 undergraduates across the United States about drugs commonly used by students — including ADHD medications like Adderall, cannabis, nicotine, alcohol, MDMA and ecstasy. They also asked about students’ academic performance and physical and mental distress. They found that using one substance appears to prime the brain for using others. Lead author Lina Begdache, an associate professor of health and wellness studies at Binghamton University, State University of New York, said the finding is important because many students use these so-called “study drugs” without understanding how they affect the brain. Adderall is a medication prescribed to help people with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) focus. “Since these are prescribed medications to promote focus in individuals who actually have ADHD, students may think that they are safe to use and that the drug may give them an academic edge,” she said in a university news release. Instead of an edge, students may find one substance leads to another, Begdache warned.  Researchers linked use of one substance to generally poorer mental health and lower ability to fight off stress. And less frequent use led to mental distress — potentially promoting continued use. The findings were published recently in the International Journal of Psychological and Behavioral…  read on >  read on >

Nurses who specialize in anesthesia have issued new guidelines to reduce the risk that patients taking weight-loss drugs like Ozempic or Wegovy throw up during surgery. “These medications have exploded in popularity,” said Micah Walden, of the American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology (AANA) Practice Committee. “This means additional preparation for patients, anesthesia providers and the surgical team to help minimize risks of complications during a procedure.” Because general anesthesia can cause nausea, patients are usually asked to fast before surgery. But a study published last week in the journal JAMA Surgery found these weight-loss drugs — called GLP-1 receptor agonists — slow digestion, so it takes longer for food to leave the stomach. That increases a patient’s risk of vomiting or aspiration while under anesthesia. GLP-1 agonists like Ozempic, Wegovy (semaglutide), Saxenda (liraglutide) or Zepbound (tirzepatide) were originally designed to manage type 2 diabetes, but they have become a popular way to lose weight. They make patients feel full sooner, so they eat less. As a precaution, the AANA committee said providers may need to do extra screenings such as an ultrasound of the patient’s stomach before surgery. If the examination indicates that the stomach is not empty or the imaging is inconclusive, the surgical team may consider delaying an elective surgery or proceeding as “full stomach” to reduce the risk of vomiting and aspiration while…  read on >  read on >