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Specific nutrients could play a pivotal role in the healthy aging of your brain, a new study finds. What’s more, those nutrients correlate closely with those found in the Mediterranean diet, an eating pattern already associated with healthy brain aging, researchers report. The identified nutrients “align with the extensive body of research in the field demonstrating the positive health effects of the Mediterranean Diet, which emphasizes foods rich in these beneficial nutrients,” said senior researcher Aron Barbey, director of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s Center for Brain, Biology and Behavior. For the study, researchers took blood samples and performed brain function tests and MRI scans on 100 cognitively healthy people ages 65 to 75. Analysis revealed two different types of brain aging among the participants, accelerated and slower than expected. Those with slower brain aging had a distinct nutrient profile in their blood samples, results show. The beneficial nutrient blood biomarkers included a combination of: Fatty acids (vaccenic, gondoic, alpha linolenic, elcosapentaenoic, eicosadienoic and lignoceric acids). Antioxidants and carotenoids including cis-lutein, trans-lutein and zeaxanthin Two forms of vitamin E. Choline, an essential nutrient. This profile correlates closely with that of the Mediterranean diet, researchers noted. These nutrient patterns “are promising and have favorable associations with measures of cognitive performance and brain health,” Barbey said in a university news release. Previous research on nutrition and brain aging… read on > read on >

Experts are expecting this Memorial Day weekend to be the busiest yet, with nearly 44 million Americans projected to travel between Thursday and Monday. A fair number of those travelers will have a companion suffering from Alzheimer’s disease or another dementia-related illness, according to the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America (AFA). “Taking a trip during Memorial Day Weekend can be a fun way to kick off the summer season for someone affected by dementia if caregivers make the proper preparations and adaptations,” said Jennifer Reeder, the AFA’s director of educational and social services. “Whether traveling by car or mass transit, there are a few steps caregivers can follow to make traveling more comfortable, less stressful and more enjoyable for their loved ones and themselves,” Reeder added in an AFA news release. Some of these steps include: Making sure travel is advisable at all. People early in dementia might still enjoy traveling, but those in the later stages might find it an overwhelming experience. Check with their doctor to make sure they are okay to travel the distance you’ve planned for your trip. Plan around the person’s abilities and routine. Small or unfamiliar changes can sometimes be too much for a person with dementia. Choose a mode of travel and a schedule that causes the least amount of anxiety and stress by taking into account the person’s… read on > read on >

The number of American teens and young adults who’ve been prescribed one of the new GLP-1 weight-loss drugs soared nearly seven-fold between 2020 and 2023, a new report finds. That’s compared to an overall decline of about 3% in young Americans’ use of other types of prescription meds. But how safe are drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro and Zepbound for young users? That remains unclear, said a team led by Dr. Joyce Lee, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor. “Evaluation of the long-term safety, efficacy and cost- effectiveness of GLP-1RAs in adolescents and young adults is needed,” her team wrote. The findings were published May 22 in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The new study used a major U.S. prescription drug database to calculate the medication use of adolescents (ages 12 to 17) and young adults (ages 18 to 25) for the years 2020 through 2023. Besides the four drugs mentioned above, the GLP-1 meds that were tracked included dulaglutide (Trulicity), exenatide (Byetta) and liraglutide (Saxenda). Lee’s team found that over the three years of the study, GLP-1 prescriptions among people ages 12 to 25 jumped by more than 594% (equivalent to a nearly sevenfold rise). In sheer numbers, that means that while 8,722 Americans in this age group took a GLP-1 in 2020, 60,567… read on > read on >

Folks regularly taking fish oil supplements might not be helping their health as much as they might think, a new study suggests. Regular use of fish oil supplements could increase the risk of first-time heart disease and stroke among those with good heart health, new research suggests. However, the long-term study also found that fish oil can help those whose hearts are already in trouble, potentially slowing the progression of heart problems and lowering the risk of death. Healthy people taking fish oil supplements had a 13% increased risk of developing atrial fibrillation, a heart rhythm problem that increases the risk of heart attack and stroke, researchers found. They also had a 5% increased risk of stroke, results show. “Our findings suggest caution in the use of fish oil supplements for primary prevention because of the uncertain cardiovascular benefits and adverse effects,” wrote the research team led by Dr. Hualiang Lin, an epidemiologist with Sun Yat-Sen University in Guangzhou, China. But in those with existing heart disease, regular use of fish oil lowered risk of a heart attack due to atrial fibrillation by 15%, and the risk of heart failure leading to death by 9%. “Regular use of fish oil supplements might have different roles in the progression of cardiovascular disease,” based on whether someone already has heart problems, the researchers suggested. “Overall, I would… read on > read on >

Doctors have long known that excessive marijuana use can trigger psychosis, especially in the young. But new research suggests the link is stronger that ever imagined before. Teens who use cannabis face 11 times the odds for a psychotic episode compared to teens who abstain from the drug, new Canadian research contends. The teen years may be an especially vulnerable time in this regard, the researchers noted. “We found a very strong association between cannabis use and risk of psychotic disorder in adolescence. Surprisingly, we didn’t find evidence of association in young adulthood,” said lead author André McDonald, who led the study as part of his PhD work at the University of Toronto. The findings were published May 22 in the journal Psychological Medicine. McDonald finished the research while at the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES). Psychotic episodes involve a dangerous psychiatric state in which people lose their connection with reality. These episodes can get so out of control that people may need hospitalization. It’s long been known that marijuana use can help trigger psychosis, and the potency of cannabis is much stronger now than in decades past, the Toronto investigators noted. They estimate that the average THC potency of cannabis in Canada rose from roughly 1% in 1980 to 20% in 2018. So how is all that super-strong weed affecting the developing brains… read on > read on >

Many people have been caught by surprise when an electric-powered car has smoothly and silently crept up on them as they walked. But such an accident can pose a very serious risk to life and limb, and pedestrians might be twice as likely to be hit by an electric or hybrid car than a gas-powered vehicle, researchers reported May 21 in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health. It’s even more risky in urban areas, with people there more than three times as likely to be hit by an electric car compared to a gas-powered model, researchers found. “Drivers of electric or hybrid-electric cars must be cautious of pedestrians who may not hear them approaching and may step into the road thinking it is safe to do so, particularly in towns and cities,” said the team led by Phil Edwards, an epidemiologist with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. “The greater risk to pedestrian safety posed by electric or hybrid-electric cars needs to be mitigated as governments proceed to phase out petrol and diesel cars,” the researchers wrote. Traffic injuries are the leading cause of death for children and young people, researchers said, adding that pedestrians represent 1 in 4 traffic deaths. To study the potential added risk from electric vehicles, researchers analyzed UK data from 2013 to 2017 on pedestrian deaths and… read on > read on >

Improved inhalers are now available to help control asthma and treat sudden attacks, but a new study shows that hardly anyone’s using them. The new inhalers combine inflammation-fighting corticosteroids with a long-acting drug called formoterol that opens up the airways, researchers report. These combo inhalers are used twice a day to treat moderate to severe asthma, and they can also be used as a rescue inhaler during an asthma attack. Guidelines from both the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program and the Global Initiative for Asthma now recommend the use of what are called “SMART” inhalers. But fewer than 1 in 6 adults with moderate or severe asthma have been prescribed a SMART inhaler, and more than 2 of 5 lung and allergy specialists haven’t adopted the combo therapy, researchers found. “Our findings suggest current asthma management guidelines are not being routinely implemented or adopted by clinicians,” said senior study author Dr. Sandra Zaeh, a pulmonary and critical care medicine physician at Yale University School of Medicine. Previous guidelines have recommended the use of maintenance inhalers twice a day, in addition to a short-acting rescue inhaler containing a drug like albuterol that opens airways, researchers said. By 2021, U.S. guidelines had been updated to recommend Single combination corticosteroid and formoterol inhaler for both Maintenance And Relief Therapy (SMART). SMART inhalers available in the United States… read on > read on >

Matcha green tea has the potential to keep gum disease at bay, a new study finds. Lab experiments show that matcha can inhibit the growth of Porphyromonas gingivalis, one of the main bacterial culprits behind gum disease. Among a small group of 45 people with gum disease, those who used matcha mouthwash wound up with significantly lower levels of P. gingivalis, results show. “Matcha may have clinical applicability for prevention and treatment of periodontitis [gum disease],” researchers from the Nihon University School of Dentistry at Matsudo in Japan noted in their paper published May 21 in the journal Microbiology Spectrum. Matcha is a highly concentrated and vibrantly green tea that is also available in a powdered form. It’s used in traditional tea ceremonies, and for flavoring in beverages and sweets, researchers said. The green tea plant has long been studied for its potential to fight bacteria, fungi and viruses, researchers noted. To test matcha’s potential, researchers applied a matcha solution to 16 mouth bacteria species in the lab, including three strains of P. gingivalis. Within two hours, nearly all the P. gingivalis cells had been killed by the matcha extract, and after four hours all the cells were dead, researchers found. Researchers then proceeded to a small human trial, randomly assigning patients with gum disease into one of three groups. One group received matcha mouthwash,… read on > read on >

You’ve watched others shed pounds in a matter of weeks after taking one of the new blockbuster weight-loss drugs, so you decide to try one of the medications yourself, only to discover the needle on your bathroom scale barely budges. Why? New research presented Monday at the Digestive Disease Week conference in Washington, D.C., suggests genes might be at play. Some patients will lose 20% or more of their body weight, but one study found that roughly 1 in 7 people who used the GLP-1 agonist semaglutide for more than a year didn’t lose at least 5% of their starting weight. Now, research shows that a new test that assigns a genetic risk score to patients may be able to spot who is likely to be successful on injected weight-loss medications. The test, MyPhenome, was developed by researchers at the Mayo Clinic and licensed last year by a company they founded called Phenomix Sciences. It costs $350 and must be ordered by a health care provider, CNN reported. “Our data support that obesity has a strong genetic and biological basis that varies within patients living with obesity,” lead investigator Dr. Maria Daniela Hurtado Andrade said in a company news release. “Furthermore, our results underscore the potential of individualizing therapy to improve outcomes that will ultimately translate into improved health.” “We think that the test will be… read on > read on >

Fetal exposure to fluoride from a mom-to-be’s drinking water might raise the odds for physical and mental health issues in toddlers, new research suggests. The study, which was funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health, wasn’t designed to prove cause-and-effect. However, researchers believe the findings are worth investigating further. “This is the first U.S.-based study to examine this association. Our findings are noteworthy, given that the women in this study were exposed to pretty low levels of fluoride — levels that are typical of those living in fluoridated regions within North America,” said study lead author Ashley Malin, an assistant professor of epidemiology at the University of Florida. She conducted the research in part as a postdoctoral scholar at the Keck School of Medicine in Los Angeles. No one is saying fluoridation needs to stop, however. “I don’t think we’re at the point where we are saying that water should not be fluoridated. It’s generally considered one of the biggest public health wins, certainly for the dental community,” study co-author Tracy Bastain told NBC News. “But our results do give me pause. Pregnant individuals should probably be drinking filtered water,” added Bastain, an associate professor of clinical population and public health sciences at the Keck School of Medicine. U.S. municipalities started adding fluoride to water supplies back in the 1940s, due to its proven… read on > read on >

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All Sauce from Weekly Gravy:

Science Pinpoints Nutrients Crucial to Brain Health

Tips for Traveling With a Loved One With Alzheimer’s

Use of GLP-1 Meds Have Risen 7-Fold Among Young Americans

Do Fish Oil Supplements Help or Harm the Heart?

Teen Cannabis Users’ Risk for Psychosis May Be Stronger Than Thought: Study

Pedestrians Twice as Likely to Be Hit by Electric Cars Versus Gas-Powered Ones

Too Few Asthma Patients Are Using Updated Inhalers

A Matcha Mouthwash Might Fight Gum Disease

‘Hungry Gut’ Gene Test Shows Who’ll Benefit Most From Wegovy

For Pregnant Women, Fluoridated Drinking Water Might Raise Risks for Baby: Study