Health/Fitness « Weekly Gravy

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 >

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 >

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 >

Mid-life isn’t too late to make a dietary change to preserve brain health. Women who started following the diet known as DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) to lower their blood pressure were about 17% less likely to report memory loss and other signs of mental decline decades later, a new study reveals. “Subjective complaints about daily cognitive performance are early predictors of more serious neurocognitive disorders such as Alzheimer’s,” senior author Yu Chen, a professor of population health at NYU Grossman School of Medicine in New York City, said in a university news release. “With more than 30 years’ follow-up, we found that the stronger the adherence to a DASH diet in midlife, the less likely women are to report cognitive issues much later in life,” Chen added. About 6.5 million Americans over age 65 were diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2022, a number that’s expected to double by 2060. Women comprise about two-thirds of those diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, the most widespread form of dementia. Research has also shown that high blood pressure, particularly in midlife, is a risk factor for cognitive (mental) decline and dementia. The DASH diet emphasizes plant-based foods that are rich in potassium, calcium and magnesium. It limits saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium and sugar. To study the impact of eating this way, researchers analyzed data from more than 5,100 women enrolled… read on > read on >

The party drug ketamine has gotten a lot of notice for its potential to help people with severe and persistent depression who haven’t responded to other treatments. But a new study has discovered the drug’s effect may be in the heads of patients who take it. Researchers from Stanford Medicine administered either ketamine or a placebo to 40 patients with depression who were already getting anesthesia while undergoing surgery. Importantly, none of the patients or their doctors knew whether they got the drug or the placebo. What the team found came as a surprise: People in both groups reported a large improvement in depression symptoms. “What we expected was that patients who received placebo… would continue to not do much better after their procedure and their infusion and that the patients who got ketamine would do better,” said lead study author Dr. Theresa Lii, a postdoctoral scholar in the Heifets Lab at Stanford Medicine in California. “That was what we predicted. And, actually, what really surprised us is that everyone got better,” Lii said. An explanation could be that something more nebulous, maybe hope and a person’s expectations, may play a role in the drug’s success, the authors suggested. Ketamine is an anesthetic that was developed in the early 1960s. In the early 2000s, a psychiatrist started testing the drug in patients who had treatment-resistant… read on > read on >

Use of steroids among high school athletes is a continuing problem, and now new research finds these youths are also more likely to suffer a concussion while they play. The study was published Oct. 20 in the Journal of Osteopathic Medicine. “The neurobehavioral shifts of steroid use may lead to increased aggressive play and a subsequent heightened risk for concussions,” said researcher Kennedy Sherman, of Oklahoma State University College of Osteopathic Medicine at Cherokee Nation. “Moreover, athletes using steroids are likely to have higher muscle volume and increased muscle strength, amplifying the momentum and impact of head-on collisions,” Sherman added in a journal news release. “Steroid use and concussions each have numerous health consequences, and when occurring together in a person, these effects may be amplified.” Researchers used data from a Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System survey, finding that 3.7% of young athletes reported previous steroid use. About 20.7% of all athletes reported having sustained a concussion. Among those who did not use steroids, nearly 20% reported a concussion, compared to about 55% of those who did use steroids. The good news? The prevalence of steroid use among high school athletes decreased from 3.4% in 1999 to 1.9% in 2019. The highest rates were in 2001 and 2003, at 5.3% and 4.4%, respectively. Use varied across ethnic groups. The highest rate was seen in the… read on > read on >

More than 60,000 gun safes have been recalled following the death of a 12-year-old boy and dozens of reports that unauthorized people can open the Fortress Safe devices. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said a programming flaw allows unauthorized people into the biometric safe. The youth died in Nevada after he opened and allegedly accessed a gun stored inside. He suffered a “lethal gunshot wound to the head” in January 2022, according to lawsuit documents obtained by the New York Times. The boy’s father bought the safe in 2021 at a Scheels store in Nevada, the news report said. The safe uses fingerprint technology. Consumers can think they’ve set the biometric lock, allowing access only by an authorized person, but the safe remains in the “default to open” mode, the CPSC said. This allows unauthorized users, including children, to access firearms in the safe. The CPSC said there have been 39 reports of safes accessed by unpaired fingerprints. People who have these safes should immediately stop using the biometric feature, remove the batteries and only use the key, the CPSC advised. You should contact Illinois-based Fortress Safe for instructions on disabling the biometric feature. The company is also offering a free replacement safe. The recalled gun safes include portable lock boxes, personal safes, pistol vaults and gun cabinets with brand names Fortress, Cabela’s, Gettysburg… read on > read on >

MONDAY, Oct. 23, 2023 (HealthDay News) — Lots of vaccine disinformation spread during the pandemic, and doctors worried that may have given some parents pause about not only the risks of the COVID shot, but of childhood vaccines as well. Now, new research puts that worry to rest. “We did not see a significant increase in parents who are hesitant toward routine childhood vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to before,” said study author Dr. David Higgins, a research fellow at Children’s Hospital Colorado in Aurora. For the study, his team analyzed survey data from more than 3,500 parents in Colorado from April 2018 through August 2020 on many health topics, including their attitudes about vaccines. Overall, 20% of parents were “vaccine-hesitant” toward childhood vaccines, but these feelings didn’t change from the pre-pandemic to post-pandemic periods. “The bottom line is that most parents do not hesitate to vaccinate their children to protect them from life-threatening diseases,” Higgins said. Parents who are unsure about vaccines should bring their questions and concerns to their pediatrician or health care provider. There were differences in attitudes toward childhood vaccines by race, preferred language, insurance status and education level. Black and Asian parents were more likely to be hesitant, compared to white parents. The study was published online Oct. 23 in the journal Pediatrics. Noel Brewer is a professor of health behavior at… read on > read on >

Not all high school injuries happen on the football field or the basketball court. Marching band is also a physically demanding activity and participants can suffer injuries, as seen in a new study that looked at emergency room visits. Injuries ranged from issues with the knees or ankles to mild head trauma. Girls were the most commonly injured. About 70% of marching band-related injuries reported to emergency departments over a nine-year period were in high school-age females. Most were knee and ankle injuries. The research was presented Sunday at the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) annual meeting in Washington, D.C. Findings presented at medical meetings are considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal. “Like their instruments, band members must be in tune with their bodies,” Capt. Jacob Coene, a doctor in the U.S. Air Force, said in an AAP news release. “Coaches and parents should be educated on the risk of soft tissue injury and mild traumatic brain injury to help keep their band members marching to the beat of the drum.” To study the issue, researchers reviewed more than 20,000 marching band injuries reported to emergency departments between 2012 and 2021 in data provided by the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System. About 85% of marching band injuries occurred in those aged 14 to 18. About 6% of injuries were mild traumatic brain injury.… read on > read on >

As pint-size witches, ghosts and superheroes roam the streets on Halloween, it’s important for adults to keep their eyes on safety. “It’s always best for an adult to accompany young children when they trick-or-treat,” said Dr. Sadiqa Kendi, chief of pediatric emergency medicine at Boston Medical Center and a spokesperson for the American Academy of Pediatrics. “Often your town or park district will offer Halloween activities earlier in the day so you can avoid going out after dark. Older children should travel in groups and create a ‘buddy system’ to get each other home safely and prevent walking alone,” Kendi said in an academy news release. The pediatricians’ group suggests that homeowners keep pathways to the door well-lit and free of any obstacles like bicycles or garden hoses that could trip up kids. In addition: Drivers should use extra care on Oct. 31, especially between 5:30 and 9:30 p.m. Parents should make sure shoes fit, and costumes are short enough to move around without tripping. Hats and masks should fit properly so they don’t slide over eyes and block vision. Add reflective tape to costumes and trick-or-treat bags. It’s safer to stay on well-lit streets. Always use the sidewalk and crosswalks. Never cross between parked cars or out of driveways. If there is no sidewalk, stay close to the edge of the road, facing traffic.… read on > read on >