Health/Fitness « Weekly Gravy

The risk of seizures within the next 24 hours can be predicted by watching for abnormal brain activity patterns in people with epilepsy, a new study finds. The storm of brain activity that characterized a seizure is presaged by abnormal communication between specific areas of the brain, researchers discovered. They say they can forecast seizure risk by analyzing just 90 seconds of these aberrant brain signals, according to their report published in the journal Nature Medicine. If validated, this discovery could help improve quality of life for the 2.9 million Americans living with epilepsy, researchers said. “Until now, the changes in brain activity and the sequence of events leading up to a seizure have been largely unknown,” said lead researcher Dr. Vikram Rao, a professor of neurology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). “By identifying one of those events, we can offer patients information that can reduce one of the most stressful aspects of epilepsy: the unpredictability of seizures,” Rao added in a UCSF news release. Current methods used to predict seizures require data gathered over long periods of time, and accuracy varies widely based on the individual and the method being used. Some patients with epilepsy have implants that monitor brain activity and attempt to head off seizures with electrical stimulation, researchers said in background notes. Unfortunately, these devices sometimes respond too… read on > read on >

Daily supplements can slow loss of vision related to late-stage “dry” age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a new study finds. The rate of dry AMD progression into a key eye region slowed by about 55% over an average three years for late-stage patients who took a daily blend of antioxidants and minerals, researchers reported July 16 in the journal Ophthalmology. Prior results have shown that supplements slow the progression from intermediate to late AMD, said lead researcher Dr. Tiarnan Keenan, a staff clinician with the National Eye Institute. “Our analysis shows that taking … supplements can also slow disease progression in people with late dry AMD,” Keenan said in an institute news release. The supplements include the antioxidants vitamin C, E, beta-carotene, lutein and zeaxanthin, along with the minerals zinc and copper. Dry AMD is the most common form of macular degeneration, affecting nine out of 10 people with the eye condition, the Cleveland Clinic says. Dry AMD occurs when small yellow deposits of fatty proteins called drusen start to develop along the light-sensing retina at the back of a person’s eye, researchers explained in background notes. These deposits cause the loss of light-sensitive cells in the retina, a condition called “geographic atrophy” that slowly expands over time. As a result, people progressively lose their central vision. The new study focused on the fovea, a small… read on > read on >

It’s long been known that popping the antibiotic doxycycline within 72 hours of a risky sexual encounter can greatly reduce a person’s risk for a sexually transmitted infection (STI). In fact, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention formally recommended this type of “morning after” strategy last month. But what if folks at especially high risk for STIs simply took “doxy” daily — similar to how some people now take HIV meds as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to prevent that infection? Two small new studies suggest that this so-called “DoxyPrEP” strategy may indeed keep STIs at bay. Both reports are scheduled to be presented next week at the 25th International AIDS Conference in Munich. One study involved 52 gay or bisexual Canadian men living in Toronto and Vancouver. All of the men were living with HIV, and they also had a past history of contracting a common STI, syphilis. For 48 weeks, the men were randomly divided into two groups: One group took a 100-milligram pill of doxycycline daily, while the other took a “dummy” placebo pill. Overall, 41 of the 52 men completed the trial. In the group that got doxycycline daily, rates of new syphilis infections fell by 79%, reported study co-author Dr Troy Grennan, of the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control. Rates of two other common STIs also declined for the… read on > read on >

Alix Popham played in two rugby World Cups and won a Six Nations Grand Slam before retiring in 2011 as a professional in the rough-and-tumble game. By 2020, he had already been diagnosed with early onset dementia and probable chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a disabling brain disease long linked to repeated head trauma. Emboldened to activism by his experience, Popham helped found Head for Change, which advocates for better ways of preventing brain damage among rugby players. “This is more evidence that big changes need to happen to protect current rugby players. World Rugby need to get their heads out of the sand and in turn protect the game,” Popham said in a news release from Durham University. Similar to what’s been observed in other contact sports such as football and boxing, rugby can leave players with neurological damage long after they’ve retired. Now, a new study out of Durham suggests that certain blood biomarkers could predict those players at highest risk for CTE and other neurological issues. That might allow for earlier interventions that could minimize the damage, researchers said. Prior research has already demonstrated that retired professional rugby players have a much higher odds for depression, anxiety and irritability compared to amateur rugby players or athletes involved in non-contact sports. In the new study, Durham researchers add to what’s known about specific components… read on > read on >

Autopsies of deceased boxers and pro football players have long confirmed that repeat head injuries can lead to a devastating brain condition known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Now, research supports the notion that contact sports can also raise the odds for a Parkinson’s-like disease, called parkinsonism, in athletes already affected by CTE. In the new study, “subjects with parkinsonism were more likely to have more severe CTE-related brain cell death in a region of the brainstem important for controlling movement,” noted study lead author Dr. Thor Stein. He’s an associate professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at Boston University. The study involved postmortem examination of the brains of 481 deceased athletes. It was published July 15 in the journal JAMA Neurology. As the researchers described it, parkinsonism carries some of the hallmarks of classic Parkinson’s disease — tremor, slowed movements, abnormal stiffness in the limbs. The two conditions differ, however, in how they manifest in brain tissue. People with Parkinson’s disease typically show a buildup of proteins called Lewy bodies in their brain cells, but the new research found no such buildup in the brains of about three-quarters of people with CTE and parkinsonism. “We were surprised to find that most individuals with CTE and parkinsonism did not have Lewy body pathology,” Stein noted in a university news release. So, what’s driving the parkinsonism? According… read on > read on >

Defiance, tantrums, aggression: All signs of a condition called conduct disorder, which Mental Health America says affects up to 16% of boys and 9% of girls. Now, research is revealing real differences in the brain structure of children and youths with conduct disorder, compared to those without the condition. Specifically, the study of the brains of people ages 7 through 21 found that the brain’s outer layer, the cerebral cortex, was smaller than is typical for people with conduct disorder. “Conduct disorder has among the highest burden of any mental disorder in youth,” noted study co-author Dr. Daniel Pine. “However, it remains understudied and under-treated.” “Understanding brain differences associated with the disorder takes us one step closer to developing more effective approaches to diagnosis and treatment, with the ultimate aim of improving long-term outcomes for children and their families,” said Pine. He’s chief of the Section on Development and Affective Neuroscience at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). The new study was published July 16 in the journal Lancet Psychiatry. In their research, Pine and his colleagues used MRI scans to examine the brains of about 2,400 children and youth who’d enrolled in 15 different studies from around the world. About half of the participants had been diagnosed with conduct disorder while the other half had not. The scans looked specifically at the thickness… read on > read on >

An experimental blood test might be able to predict whether glaucoma patients will continue to lose their vision following treatment, researchers report. A biochemical called nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) tends to be lower in people with glaucoma compared to those without the eye disease, researchers found. What’s more, glaucoma patients with lower NAD levels than others tended to lose their vision more quickly, even after receiving treatment to lower fluid pressure in the eye. A clinical test based on NAD levels “would enable clinicians to predict which patients are at higher risk of continued vision loss, allowing them to be prioritized for more intensive monitoring and treatment,” said senior researcher David Garway-Heath, a professor with the University College London Institute of Ophthalmology. NAD is made from the vitamin B3 and is linked to how much oxygen is used by blood cells in the body, researchers explained. Glaucoma occurs when pressure builds up inside the eye, damaging the optic nerve that sends signals from the eye to the brain. As nerve cells die, vision diminishes until patients eventually go blind. For this study, researchers studied 139 people receiving standard treatment for glaucoma, which involves medication or surgery intended to lower the fluid pressure within the eyeball. They compared those glaucoma patients to 50 people with good eye health. The team found that people with lower levels… read on > read on >

Roughly 20% of Americans are diagnosed with skin cancer at some point in their lives, but it’s not inevitable. Skin cancer is not only the most common cancer, it’s also the most preventable. Most of the time, too much sun exposure is to blame. “When it comes to skin cancer, prevention is key,” surgical oncologist Dr. Jeffrey Farma said in a news release. “My goal is to ensure patients can enjoy their lives, including time in the sun, while being mindful that even a small skin lesion can quickly escalate into a very serious issue.” Even if you don’t burn easily, whether you’re young or old, you can still get skin cancer, Farma emphasized. Since 2011, rates of the most malignant skin cancer — melanoma — have risen roughly 7% a year, and skin cancer rates have held steady among young people. “We have seen young patients in their 20s who tan a lot and use tanning salons and are unfortunately diagnosed with skin cancer. That diagnosis can completely change their life,” said Farma, co-director of the Melanoma and Skin Cancer Program at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia. He is also state chairman of the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer. To protect yourself while enjoying time outdoors, Farma offers these tips: Use sunscreen properly: Wear a broad-spectrum sunscreen with an SPF of… read on > read on >

Nearly half of cancer deaths and 4 of 10 cases of cancer are linked to a person’s lifestyle, a new study says. Cigarette smoking remains the biggest cancer risk, contributing to 30% of cancer deaths and 20% of cancer cases, results show. But excess body weight, drinking, lack of exercise, diet and skipping cancer-preventing vaccinations also increase a person’s risk of developing or dying from cancer, researchers said. For the study, researchers analyzed nationwide data on cancer for 2019 and its risk factors to estimate the number of cases and deaths attributable to lifestyle risk factors. Cigarette smoking contributes to 56% of all potentially preventable cancers in men and 40% of those in women, results show. “The number of lung cancer deaths attributable to cigarette smoking in the United States is alarming,” given that smoking has greatly declined during the past few decades, lead researcher Dr. Farhad Islami, senior scientific director of cancer disparity research at the American Cancer Society, said in a news release. “This finding underscores the importance of implementing comprehensive tobacco control policies in each state to promote smoking cessation, as well as heightened efforts to increase screening for early detection of lung cancer, when treatment could be more effective,” Islami added. Excess body weight contributed to about 8% of potentially preventable cancers, alcohol consumption to about 5%, exposure to the sun’s… read on > read on >

Three of four patients stop taking Ozempic or Wegovy two years after being prescribed the blockbuster drugs for weight loss, a new analysis shows. Conducted by Prime Therapeutics and Magellan Rx Management (MRx), the review sifted through pharmacy and medical claims data for 3,364 people with insurance plans that cover the GLP-1 drugs. Patients had received new prescriptions between January and December 2021, and all were diagnosed with obesity. Importantly, the analysis excluded patients using the drugs for type 2 diabetes, for which GLP-1 medicines were originally developed. While the report did not delve into why patients quit, it does offer a sobering view of the real-world experiences of people taking the drugs. “GLP-1s are unlikely to deliver therapeutic value when so many individuals stop treatment after two years, but the findings also illustrate the need for obesity care management programs to improve adherence,” David Lassen, chief clinical officer at Prime/MRx, said in a news release. Wegovy and similar GLP-1 medicines can cost more than $1,000 a month and extended use is required for meaningful health benefits. “GLP-1s for all isn’t cost-effective,” Dr. Rekha Kumar, an obesity specialist at New York Presbyterian-Weill Cornell Medical Center, told Reuters. “People want to provide obesity care to their employees, but they want to do it in a way that doesn’t bankrupt them.” For patients, it may just be… read on > read on >