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Millions of older Americans may be unaware they have memory and thinking impairments — mostly because their doctors aren’t diagnosing them, new research suggests. After analyzing Medicare data covering 40 million older Americans, researchers found that only a small percentage of expected cases of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) were actually diagnosed. The upshot was that more than 7 million cases went undetected. Mild cognitive impairment refers to problems with memory, judgment, language and other mental skills that are not disabling, but go beyond the occasional slips that are expected with age. MCI may turn up as forgotten appointments, regularly misplacing things, trouble following the plot of a book or movie, or difficulty navigating well-known places. Some older adults with MCI eventually develop Alzheimer’s — around 10% per year, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. But more often, MCI has other, often reversible causes, said Dr. Saket Saxena, a geriatrician at the Cleveland Clinic who was not involved in the new research. Those causes run the gamut, Saxena said — including medication side effects, low thyroid hormone, depression, untreated sleep apnea, uncontrolled health conditions like diabetes, mobility limitations and social isolation. “It is not a foregone conclusion that you’re going to develop dementia,” said senior study author Soeren Mattke, director of the Brain Health Observatory at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. And the fact that MCI has… read on > read on >

High triglycerides, widely known as an enemy of the aging heart, may not be as threatening to older adults’ brains, new research suggests. The study, of over 80,000 older adults, found those with triglycerides in the “high-normal” or moderately high range were less likely to develop dementia, versus their peers with lower triglyceride levels. Over six years, 3% of older folks with the highest triglyceride levels developed dementia — half the rate seen in the study group with the lowest triglycerides, at 6%. Experts stressed some important caveats around the findings, published Oct. 25 in the journal Neurology. The main one is the study doesn’t prove that triglycerides somehow shield the aging brain. “This particular study is not enough to derive recommendations and claim with certainty that changing triglyceride levels will affect future dementia risk,” said Dr. Nikolaos Scarmeas, a neurologist at Columbia University in New York City. The findings are still important, though, said Scarmeas, who cowrote an editorial published with the study. He noted that blood “lipids” — cholesterol and triglycerides — can be easily modified with diet or medication. So, if further studies show they directly affect dementia development, that would offer one way to lower the risk. Zhen Zhou, a research fellow at Monash University in Australia, led the study. She said there could be various explanations for why low triglycerides… read on > read on >

A variety of risks can make it more likely that someone develops Alzheimer’s disease or other dementias. Now you can add neighborhood environment to that list. A new study finds low income levels and a lack of green spaces are among the factors that can harm brain health. “Social determinants of health have a major impact on cognition, as well as cardiovascular and cerebrovascular health,” said lead author Lilah Besser. She’s a research assistant professor of neurology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine’s Comprehensive Center for Brain Health. “Understanding these interactions is crucial in developing interventions to improve brain health in individuals living in disadvantaged neighborhoods,” Besser explained in a university news release. Past research has shown that a type of brain damage known as white matter hyperintensities has been linked to higher risks of Alzheimer’s disease and dementias, as well as stroke. Other studies have found an increased risk of dementia in lower socioeconomic neighborhoods. This study built on that, using MRIs of 1,260 people. The participants were cognitively normal and age 65 or older. Scans were taken approximately five years apart. The researchers measured changes in white matter hyperintensities and brain ventricle size. They also assessed associations between neighborhood green space, neighborhood income and the MRI scans. “We found that white matter worsening was more likely for individuals in lower… read on > read on >

Even a little exercise can counter the harms of sitting all day, a new study suggests. Prolonged sitting raises your odds for an early death, but just 20 to 25 minutes of physical activity a day may offset that risk, researchers found. “If people, for any reason, are sedentary for most of the day, small amounts of physical activity will still lower the risk of death substantially,” said lead researcher Edvard Sagelv, from UiT The Arctic University of Norway, in Tromso. That can even include light intensity exercise like cleaning. For the study, Sagelv and his team reviewed data on nearly 12,000 older adults. They found that being sedentary for over 12 hours a day — perhaps either watching TV or sitting at a desk — raised the risk of early death, but only in those getting less than 22 minutes of moderate exercise a day. “Individuals doing more than 22 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity per day, the equivalent of the World Health Organization’s 150 minutes per week guidelines, had no increased risk of death with more sedentary time,” Sagelv said. This study, however, can’t prove that exercise alone lowered the risk of premature death, only that there appears to be an association. Still, the study “is a reaffirmation of our fundamental need to move our bodies if they are to reward us with… read on > read on >

Researchers say they have developed a simple blood test that can spot biomarkers associated with bipolar disorder, potentially easing diagnosis. For the study, British researchers used both an online psychiatric assessment and a blood test to diagnose the condition. Many patients had previously been misdiagnosed with major depressive disorder. “People with bipolar disorder will experience periods of low mood and periods of very high mood or mania,” said first author Jakub Tomasik, a senior research associate at the University of Cambridge. “But patients will often only see a doctor when they’re experiencing low mood, which is why bipolar disorder frequently gets misdiagnosed as major depressive disorder,” he said in a university news release. On its own, the blood test could diagnose up to 30% of patients, researchers said. It was even more effective when combined with a digital mental health assessment. While still a “proof of concept” study, the blood test could eventually complement existing diagnostic tools, the authors said. It could also help researchers understand the biological origins of mental health conditions. “When someone with bipolar disorder is experiencing a period of low mood, to a physician, it can look very similar to someone with major depressive disorder,” said study leader Dr. Sabine Bahn, a professor of neurotechnology at the University of Cambridge. “However, the two conditions need to be treated differently: if someone… read on > read on >

Getting a certain number of steps each day can help people improve their fitness, but new research shows it also can pay off in the operating room. The odds of complications within 90 days after hospital discharge were reduced by half if a patient was getting more than 7,500 steps a day before their procedure, the study found. These postoperative complications typically occur after a patient returns home. About 30% of patients suffer these problems, which can include infection, blood clots and wound complications. “I think it’s probably more an assessment of an individual’s overall fitness and their health generally,” said study co-author Dr. Anai Kothari, an assistant professor with a specialty in surgical oncology at the Medical College of Wisconsin. “We use a lot of information to try to decide and think through surgical risk. My hope is that this is an additional point of reference that practitioners can use.” Surgeons can already better understand a person’s risk by knowing they have certain health conditions, such as diabetes, Kothari said. Knowing how active that patient is could add information about their risks. What do the results tell doctors? “[The] first is we can actually use wearable devices to give us insight into a domain of their health and fitness that we may previously not have had an opportunity to do. This can be a… read on > read on >

Health workers are experiencing ever-increasing levels of harassment and burnout in the wake of the pandemic, a new federal survey has found. Reports of harassment on the job more than doubled during the pandemic years, and nearly half of health care workers often experience feelings of burnout, according to survey results published Oct. 24 in a new Vital Signs report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The survey is the first to describe in detail the mental health crisis among health care workers that first developed during the pandemic, federal officials said. “To label our current and longstanding challenge a crisis is an understatement,” said study senior author Dr. Casey Chosewood, director of the Office for Total Worker Health at the CDC’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). “Many of our nation’s health care systems are at their breaking point,” Chosewood continued. “Staffing crises, lack of supportive leadership, long hours of work, and excessive demands and inflexibility in our nation’s health systems all must be addressed. We’re calling on employers to take this information to heart and take immediate preventive action.” The findings came from a survey on workplace quality that’s conducted on a regular basis by NIOSH. More than 13% of health workers said they had been harassed at work in 2022, compared with 6% in 2018 — before… read on > read on >

Toos electric scooters are a fire hazard and people should stop using them, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) warned Monday. The Toos Elite 60-volt electric scooters, also marketed under the name Zooz, were sold exclusively at Toos Urban Ride stores in New York and online at the Toos website. Two people recently died in an apartment fire that local fire officials determined was caused by the lithium-ion battery in a Toos Elite 60-volt scooter, the CPSC said in a news release. One of the victims of the fire, which happened April 10 in New York City, was 7, the CPSC said. The scooter that caused that fire was being charged by a 48-volt charger also sold by Toos. The CPSC said the scooter has not been certified by an accredited laboratory to the UL safety standard. UL Solutions issued a public notice concerning these 48-volt chargers because they are marked with unauthorized UL certification. Consumers should stop using the scooters, regardless of the charger used. The business, Toos Urban Ride, has refused to recall the scooters, the CPSC said. The company has said that it disagrees with the commission’s warning, noting the wrong-volt charger, 48-volt instead of 60-volt, was used to charge the scooter. Toos asserts that the CPSC technical staff evaluated a Toos 60-volt scooter and “did not identify any apparent defects… read on > read on >

Older adults who live in distressed or disadvantaged communities are less likely to attend cardiac rehabilitation after common heart procedures, new research shows. The study looked at Medicare beneficiaries’ attendance at these medically supervised exercise and education programs after coronary revascularization between 2016 and 2018. Coronary revascularization includes procedures to improve blood flow to the heart, and can involve bypass surgery or receiving a stent to keep arteries open, according to the American College of Cardiology. The authors identified disadvantaged communities using a tool called the Distressed Community Index. It analyzes economic well-being and social determinants of health, such as educational disparities and poverty rate. In all, only 26% of patients from distressed communities use cardiac rehab, the research showed. That compared to 46% of patients from wealthier areas. No matter where they lived, any patient who attended cardiac rehab had a reduced risk of premature death, hospitalization and heart attack, the study found. “Addressing barriers to participation in cardiac rehabilitation in distressed communities may improve outcomes for these patients and reduce longstanding disparities in such outcomes,” said first author Michael Thompson, an assistant professor of cardiac surgery at the University of Michigan Medical School. “While some individuals who face geographic barriers to participation may benefit from transportation services or virtual options for cardiac rehab, there is a critical need to address socioeconomic barriers that… read on > read on >

Heated yoga classes can help some people with depression feel a lot better within a couple months — even if they practice just once a week, a small clinical trial suggests. The study, of 65 people with moderate-to-severe depression, found that those randomly assigned to heated yoga classes saw a greater symptom improvement over eight weeks than those assigned to a waitlist. Overall, 16 patients, or 59%, “responded” to the yoga classes — meaning the severity of their depression symptoms dropped by at least half. Only two patients on the waitlist (6%) saw their symptoms improve that much. Beyond that, 12 patients in the yoga group, or 44%, saw their depression go into remission. The findings, published Oct. 23 in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, add to evidence that yoga can help people deal with mental health conditions. The twist was the heat. Study participants took class in a room heated to 105 degrees and followed a traditional Bikram yoga sequence — a set of 26 postures that is the same each class. It’s not clear, though, whether the heat was the key ingredient, said lead researcher Maren Nyer, an assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and director of yoga studies at Massachusetts General Hospital. Because the comparison was a waitlist, she said, the benefits could have come from the yoga, the heat… read on > read on >

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All Sauce from Weekly Gravy:

7 Million Americans Have Mild Cognitive Impairment and Don’t Know It

High Blood Triglycerides Could Help Ward Off Dementia

Neighborhood Parks Could Help Your Aging Brain

Even a Little Physical Activity Can Offset a Day Spent Sitting

Blood Test Could Speed Diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder

7,500 Daily Steps Before Surgery and Complication Risks Plummet

Many U.S. Health Care Workers Face Harassment, Burnout

Toos E-Scooters Could Be Fire Hazard; Warning Issued After 2 Die in House Fire

Heart Patients From Poor Neighborhoods Less Likely to Get Cardiac Rehab

Heated Yoga Might Be a Natural Antidepressant