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Locking Down Blood Pressure Protects Brain Health

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Maintaining tight control over blood pressure for even a short while can provide lasting benefits for seniors’ brain health, a new clinical trial says. People had lower risk of mild cognitive impairment or dementia after keeping their blood pressure around 120 systolic for three and a half years, according to results published recently in the journal Neurology. (Systolic pressure, the top number in a blood pressure reading, measures the pressure in arteries when the heart pumps blood.) What’s more, this reduced risk stayed with seniors long after they stopped such intense blood pressure treatment. “Our study shows that intensive blood pressure control is an important strategy in the prevention of cognitive impairment, a major cause of loss of independence in older adults,” said senior researcher Dr. Jeff Williamson, a professor of gerontology and geriatric medicine at Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, N.C. “Lowering your blood pressure to more aggressive targets can improve the quality of life and extend active life for individuals with hypertension,” Williamson added in a news release. The new study is the latest from a landmark clinical trial which, in 2015, reported that intensive blood pressure management reduced risk of heart disease and death by 30% to 40% in people with high blood pressure. The trial — called the Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial, or SPRINT — compared the…  read on >  read on >

Highway Exhaust Linked to Depression in Women

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That busy highway could be contributing to depression, and not just because you’re snarled in a traffic jam. Air pollution from traffic appears to increase risk of depression among women, according to a new study published Jan. 21 in the journal Menopause. Further, researchers think this air pollution might be raising depression risk by affecting women’s menstrual cycles. “Traffic-related air pollution exposure was significantly related to having a longer menstrual cycle length, and having a longer menstrual cycle length was significantly related to higher depression,” wrote the research team led by Anwesha Pan, a graduate student at the University of Washington in Seattle. These effects could be more pronounced among minority and poor women, whose neighborhoods are often located nearer to high-traffic areas. Thus, air pollution could be “potentially setting the stage for a clustering of risk factors for poor psychological health in vulnerable individuals,” the researchers wrote. For the study, researchers tracked the health of nearly 700 healthy women of reproductive age living in Northern California. Their exposure to vehicle exhaust was calculated by comparing their home address to state traffic data. Results showed that the more traffic-related air pollution a woman faced, the greater her symptoms of depression. “Women with greater traffic-related air pollution exposure were significantly more likely to experience depression according to self-reports on an established questionnaire measure of depressive symptoms,”…  read on >  read on >

Food Assistance Ensures Healthy Pregnancies

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Food stamps and food banks can be key to healthy pregnancies. Food assistance programs are effective in helping hungry women avoid pregnancy complications, researchers say in a new study published Jan. 23 in JAMA Network Open. Food insecurity in pregnancy is associated with a higher risk of gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, preterm birth and newborn admission to a neonatal intensive care unit. However, risk of those complications disappears if women receive food assistance through state or federal welfare programs or local food banks, according to the findings. “Food insecurity in pregnancy was associated with a higher risk of perinatal complications, and these associations were overall attenuated to the null among individuals who received food assistance in pregnancy,” the research team led by senior investigator Yeyi Zhu, a research scientist with Kaiser Permanente Northern California, concluded. Food insecurity refers to when people don’t have enough to eat and don’t know where their next meal will come from. “Pregnancy is a critical period during which exposure to food insecurity can have magnified detrimental effects on the pregnant individual and their developing fetuses,” the researchers said in background notes. More than 8% of households in the U.S. have low food security, and another 5% have very low food security, according to 2023 data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. That means about 18 million families were food insecure at…  read on >  read on >

AI Virtual Therapists Could Improve Mental Health Care, Studies Find

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Could a virtual avatar be the future of mental health care?   New research shows that artificial intelligence (AI) and virtual reality (VR) goggles could revolutionize therapy — helping patients overcome addiction and receive unbiased care. A recent study in the Journal of Medical Extended Reality focused on patients with alcohol-associated cirrhosis, a serious liver condition linked to long-term alcohol use. Using a VR app developed at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, patients had counseling sessions with AI-powered avatars programmed for motivational interviewing and cognitive behavioral therapy. After 30-minute sessions, 85% of participants said they found the experience to be helpful, and 90% expressed interest in doing it again.  “For individuals awaiting liver transplants for cirrhosis, alcohol addiction remains a high-risk factor,” corresponding author Dr. Brennan Spiegel, a professor of medicine and director of health services research at Cedars-Sinai, said in a news release. “We see VR as a way to augment traditional interventions, which often fall short due to a shortage of mental health professionals, societal stigmatizing of alcoholism and other factors.” A second study, published earlier this month in the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, explored whether AI-driven virtual therapists could provide care to a varied selection of patients. Researchers simulated more than 400 conversations between AI-powered therapists and virtual patients, assigning each patient a unique profile based on characteristics such as race,…  read on >  read on >

How To Fight Common Wintertime Respiratory Viruses

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In the throes of winter’s yearly round of respiratory virus outbreaks, it pays to remember what Grandma told you. Wash your hands often, cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you sneeze or cough and stay away from folks who may be infected. And, of course, wearing a mask won’t hurt. Respiratory viruses that cause the common cold, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), COVID-19 and flu peak at this time of year. Vaccines can help head off RSV, COVID and flu, but there’s no vaccine to protect against the common cold. While Grandma’s advice on prevention is still sound, experts at Johns Hopkins Medicine dismiss some old-school misconceptions about these diseases.  For example, colds are not caused by exposure to cold weather or getting wet in winter. Having COVID once does not provide lifetime immunity. The flu vaccine won’t give you flu. And the RSV virus only affects young kids.  Most important, Johns Hopkins doctors advise, if you do get sick, see your doctor for a diagnosis and, if appropriate, treatment for your particular illness. Getting plenty of rest, keeping warm, increasing fluid intake and using over-the-counter medications for congestion, sinus woes and aches and pains can help.  Here’s what else Johns Hopkins doctors want you to know: Common cold: It’s caused by one of more than 200 viruses and spread through coughing, sneezing…  read on >  read on >

Does Sleep Apnea Contribute to Car Crashes?

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Many major maladies have been linked to disturbed slumber caused by sleep apnea, high blood pressure, heart problems and diabetes. Add car wrecks to that list, a study published Jan. 21 in the journal Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery, says. People with untreated sleep apnea are more likely to wind up in a vehicle crash, researchers reported. “Our findings underscore the profound impact that inadequately managed obstructive sleep apnea can have on individual health and public safety,” lead researcher Elliott Sina, a student at the Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, said in a news release. Sleep apnea occurs when a person’s breathing repeatedly stops and starts during the night, causing them to wake again and again. It’s most commonly caused by throat muscles relaxing during sleep and blocking the flow of air into the lungs. This form of sleep apnea can be treated using a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine, which maintains enough air pressure to keep upper airway passages open. Surgery to remove or shrink the tissue that’s sagging into the airways, or to reposition the jaw, can also effectively treat sleep apnea. Another surgical method involves inserting an implant to stimulate the hypoglossal nerve, which controls tongue movement. For the new study, researchers analyzed data on more than 2.8 million people with sleep apnea, including more than 700,000…  read on >  read on >

Eating Right, Exercising Before Surgery Improves Outcomes

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Patients can improve their odds for a successful surgery by actively preparing for the procedure through diet and exercise, a tactic called “prehabilitation,” a new evidence review shows. Surgical patients who prehabbed had fewer complications and shorter hospital stays, also recovered better and had a higher quality of life, researchers reported Jan. 22 in The BMJ. “If you are going to be having surgery, it is always a good idea to ask about prehabilitation,” said lead researcher Dr. Daniel McIsaac, an anesthesiologist and senior scientist at The Ottawa Hospital and clinical research chair in perioperative innovation at the University of Ottawa in Canada. “If you are willing and able to regularly increase your activity levels and protein intake for a few weeks before surgery, you are likely to experience a noticeably shorter recovery time after surgery,” he added in a news release. The term “prehabilitation” dates to World War II and the British Army’s efforts to improve the general health and fitness of military recruits, researchers said in background notes. The medical community later adopted the term, making prehabilitation a major area of research for the past three decades, researchers said. “We know that people who are more physically fit tend to recover faster from surgery and suffer fewer complications,” McIsaac said. “While many patients, with encouragement from their doctors, want to improve their fitness…  read on >  read on >

Adults With ADHD Linked To Shorter Life Expectancy, Study Shows

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Adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, otherwise known as ADHD, may face a shorter life expectancy than their peers. On average, men with ADHD died seven years earlier than men without it, while women with ADHD died nine years earlier than their counterparts, according to a study of more than 30,000 people published Thursday in The British Journal of Psychiatry.  “It’s a big number, and it is worrying,” Joshua Stott, lead study author and professor of aging and clinical psychology at University College London, told The New York Times.  The study didn’t identify specific causes of death, but found that people with ADHD were more likely to smoke, abuse alcohol and have other health issues like depression, self-harm or personality disorders. ADHD is often associated with impulsive behaviors and difficulty managing time or health, which can lead to riskier choices, Stott explained. These challenges can lead to higher rates of accidents and chronic health conditions, The Times reported. Previous research supports these findings. A 2022 meta-analysis found that people with ADHD were nearly three times more likely to die from unnatural causes, such as accidents or suicides.  What’s more, a 2019 study linked ADHD to reduced life expectancy due to smoking, alcohol use, poor sleep and lower income. Russell Barkley, lead author of that study, said the data made it clear that ADHD should not…  read on >  read on >

Why Sparkling Water May (Or May Not) Help You Lose Weight

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Chalk up a partial win for health influencers who tout the slimming benefits of sparkling waters. New research out of Japan affirms that carbonated water may, indeed, promote weight loss by lowering blood sugar levels, allowing cells to burn fat between meals for energy more efficiently. But don’t buy a smaller wardrobe just yet. The findings suggest that any benefit is small.  Blood sugar levels dropped only temporarily, and study author Dr. Akira Takahashi said the carbonated water would have only a small impact on calorie consumption. “Carbonated water is not a standalone solution for weight loss,” he wrote in the study, which was published Jan. 20 in the journal BMJ Nutrition, Prevention & Health. Seltzers and sparkling or carbonated waters have gained a following among health buffs for their purported effects on body mass.  Some point to a small 2017 study that found carbonated drinks stimulated appetite by increasing levels of the hunger hormone, ghrelin. But findings of that study, which involved only 20 people and male rats, have never been replicated. Takahashi’s new research, expands on a 2004 investigation of hemodialysis by his team at Tesseikai Neurosurgical Hospital in Shijonawate, Japan. He is a physician in the hospital’s kidney dialysis center. Hemodialysis is a process that occurs during kidney dialysis, when CO2 enters the blood, just as it would when carbonated water is…  read on >  read on >