‘Young folk don’t write in cursive anymore’ is a common complaint of older folks in this keyboard-obsessed age. Now, new research suggests that kids who ignore handwriting are, in fact, missing out: By the time they reach college, their brain “connectivity” may be weaker than folks who write regularly. In a study of 36 university students, “we show that when writing by hand, brain connectivity patterns are far more elaborate than when typewriting on a keyboard,” said study co-author Audrey van der Meer, a brain researcher and professor of psychology at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Better neural connectivity has myriad brain benefits, she added. “Such widespread brain connectivity is known to be crucial for memory formation and for encoding new information and, therefore, is beneficial for learning,” van der Meer explained in a university news release. Her team published its findings Jan. 26 in the journal Frontiers in Psychology. In the study, the Norwegian team tracked electroencephalogram (EEG) data from the group of students who were repeatedly asked to write or type a word they saw on a screen. EEG records electrical activity in the brain. The study had the students use a digital pen to write the word in cursive on a touchscreen and a single finger to type out the word on a keyboard. EEGs recorded brain activity every five…  read on >  read on >

SATURDAY, Jan. 27, 2024 9HealthDay News) — When should you worry about a rash? Rashes may look alike, but while over-the-counter medications can treat some rashes, others can signal a more serious condition, the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) says. “It is important to watch your symptoms closely at the onset of a new rash,” said Dr. Mallory Abate, a board-certified dermatologist in Baton Rouge, La. “Making note of any changes or new developments are instrumental to determining the severity of the medical condition and if immediate assistance is needed.” One key sign of bigger trouble is if you have a rash that is infected. Evidence of infection might include pus, yellow or golden crusts, pain, swelling, warmth or an unpleasant smell. The skin around an infection might look red, purple or brown, you might feel very hot or cold, have swollen lymph nodes, or a fever. “If you have a rash and your symptoms are not improving, make an appointment to see a board-certified dermatologist,” Abate said in an AAD news release. Abate and the AAD recommend people with rashes uses these clues to know when to seek medical attention: A rash over most of your body. A rash that blisters or turns into open sores or raw skin Fever or illness with a rash A rash that spreads rapidly A painful rash A…  read on >  read on >

The old saying “feed a cold, starve a fever” is baloney, doctors say. People fighting off a seasonal respiratory virus need adequate nutrition, regardless of their symptoms, according to advice from the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. Fever is just one of the many defense mechanisms the human body uses to stave off any infection, said Dr. Pedro Piedra, a professor of molecular virology, microbiology and pediatrics at Baylor. All the body’s immune responses require energy gained by eating a well-balanced diet, Piedra said. That’s why sick-friendly foods like chicken noodle soup are commonly recommended. Feeling awful from an infection might put a dent in a person’s appetite, but Piedra said folks should resist that malaise and pick up a spoon or fork. Cold weather tends to increase people’s risk of catching the flu, the common cold and COVID-19, Piedra said. That’s because people tend to huddle together indoors when it’s cold outside. “Colder temperatures also allow for viruses to survive on surfaces longer, and the humidity we experience here in Houston also contributes to these viruses being able to survive outside of a host,” Piedra added in a Baylor news release. “There is also a saying that if your hair is wet and you are in a cold environment, you will get sick. That is partly true,” Piedra added. “You won’t contract a…  read on >  read on >

If you ever find yourself losing weight, even though you’re not dieting or upping your exercise, go see a doctor. It can be a sign of cancer, researchers report. “Unexpected weight loss can come from cancer or many other conditions,” said study senior author Dr. Brian Wolpin. He directs the Gastrointestinal Cancer Center at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. “Sometimes weight loss is due to more exercise or a healthier diet, and this can be beneficial to people’s health,” he said in a Dana-Farber news release. “However, when a patient experiences unintentional weight loss not due to healthier behaviors, seeing your primary care doctor is appropriate, so they can determine whether additional evaluation is necessary for other causes of weight loss, including cancer.” In the new study, Wolpin’s team tracked the health and health habits of over 157,000 participants in the ongoing  Nurses’ Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study. These studies began in the 1970s and 1980s and followed adult participants until 2016. Participants were asked a variety of questions, including their current weight and any intentional weight-loss behaviors such as dieting and exercise. “We wanted to differentiate healthy weight loss from unhealthy weight loss,” explained study first author Dr. Qiaoli Wang, a research fellow at Dana-Farber. “Healthy weight loss can come from dietary changes or increased exercise. But unhealthy weight loss…  read on >  read on >

Factors like sleep, energy levels and stress can predict the onset of a migraine headache, a new study finds. Those factors differed from the morning to the afternoon and evening, however. Poor perceived sleep quality, lower-than-usual quality of sleep and lower-than-usual energy levels are associated with a morning migraine, according to the report published online Jan. 24 in the journal Neurology. Conversely, afternoon and evening migraines are tied to increased stress levels or higher-than-usual energy levels the day before. “These different patterns of predictors of morning and later-day headaches highlight the role of the circadian rhythms in headache,” said study author Kathleen Merikangas, chief of the Genetic Epidemiology Research Branch of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). “The findings may give us insight into the processes underlying migraine and help us improve treatment and prevention.” For the study, researchers tracked potential predictors of a migraine among 477 people ages 7 through 84. Nearly half the participants had a history of migraines, and about three out of five had at least one morning migraine during the study. The participants rated their mood, energy, stress and headaches four times a day for two weeks, using a mobile app. They also rated their sleep quality once a day, and wore activity monitors to track their sleep and physical activity. Results showed that poor perceived sleep quality came…  read on >  read on >

Strange visual disturbances occur early in about 10% of Alzheimer’s cases, and when this happens it almost always signals the impending arrival of the disease, a new study finds. The condition is called posterior cortical atrophy (PCA). It involves a sudden difficulty in performing vision-related tasks — for example writing, judging whether an object is moving or stationary, or easily picking up a dropped item. Everyday tasks like these become difficult despite the fact that a person’s eye exam comes out fine. “We need more awareness of PCA, so that it can be flagged by clinicians,” said study co-lead author Marianne Chapleau, of the University of California, San Francisco’s department of neurology. “Most patients see their optometrist when they start experiencing visual symptoms and may be referred to an ophthalmologist who may also fail to recognize PCA,” she said in a UCSF news release. “We need better tools in clinical settings to identify these patients early on and get them treatment.”  To determine just how predictive of dementia PCA might be, Chapleau’s team analyzed data on over 1,000 patients at 36 sites in 16 countries. PCA tended to emerge at a fairly young age — 59, on average. Patients with PCA often failed to accurately copy simple diagrams, had trouble gauging an object’s location or had difficulty visually perceiving more than one object at a…  read on >  read on >

Two new strategies using deep brain stimulation can improve symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, Duke University researchers have found. Doctors can efficiently improve symptoms of Parkinson’s by simultaneously targeting to key brain structures using a newly developed self-adjusting device, researchers recently reported in the journal Brain. For the past two decades, doctors have used deep brain stimulation (DBS) to treat symptoms of advanced Parkinson’s, which can include tremors, stiffness, and involuntary writhing movements. The technique involves electrodes inserted into a targeted area of the brain. The electrodes act similarly to a heart pacemaker, delivering electrical pulses that help quell symptoms. The two key brain regions targeted by deep brain stimulation are the subthalamic nucleus and the globus pallidus, “which are two structures in the brain closely associated with movement,” said senior author Dr. Dennis Turner, professor of neurosurgery, neurobiology, and biomedical engineering at the Duke University School of Medicine in Durham, N.C. “There are benefits to both locations on their own depending on the patient’s symptoms,” Turner said in a Duke news release, “but we believed placing the electrodes at both locations could be complementary and help reduce medication doses and side effects, as well as implement a completely new approach to adaptive DBS.” Beside targeting both regions at once, researchers also decided to include a technique called “adaptive DBS.” Traditional DBS involves a doctor setting…  read on >  read on >

Black people are five times as likely as others to develop glaucoma and up to 15 times more likely to be blinded by the degenerative eye disease. Now, a new study reports that genetics appears to be at least one factor contributing to this increased risk. Researchers have identified three gene variants that could be fueling Black people’s higher glaucoma risk, according to findings published Jan. 18 in the journal Cell. “Our work is an important step toward defining subgroups of glaucoma, providing the capability for early screening and discovering targetable pathways for personalized therapeutic interventions,” said study co-author Rebecca Salowe, a research project manager with the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Genetics of Complex Disease in Philadelphia. Glaucoma occurs when fluid pressure starts to increase inside a person’s eye, gradually damaging the optic nerve. For the study, researchers analyzed the genetics of more than 11,200 people of African ancestry. They discovered two gene variants linked to primary open-angle glaucoma, which is the most common form of the disease. Open-angle glaucoma affects as many as nine out of 10 Americans who have glaucoma, according to the Cleveland Clinic. It occurs when resistance builds up in the canals that typically drain excess fluid from the eye. They also found a third variant associated with cup-to-disc ratio, which is a measure of glaucoma severity based on the…  read on >  read on >