Health/Fitness « Weekly Gravy

The ancient art of tai chi, plus a modern twist, may help older adults reverse mild declines in brain power, a new clinical trial reveals. Researchers found that tai chi classes helped older adults improve their subtle problems with cognition (memory and thinking skills). It also helped them with a fundamental multitasking skill: walking while your attention is elsewhere. But while tai chi was effective, a “cognitively enhanced” version that added mental challenges to the mix worked even better, the study found. Experts called the findings — published Oct. 31 in the Annals of Internal Medicine — promising. They support the concept of stimulating seniors’ minds in multiple ways, rather than one. Tai chi is a traditional Chinese practice that combines slow, graceful movement and physical postures with controlled breathing. It’s performed as a moving meditation, and studies over the years have found that it can help older people improve their balance and lower their risk of falls. There is also evidence that tai chi can help seniors sharpen their cognition, said Peter Harmer, a researcher on the new trial. His team wanted to test the effects of adding specific mental challenges to the tai chi practice — based on recent studies suggesting that physical and mental exercise together are better than either alone. Conventional tai chi classes, like most physical exercise classes, are primarily… read on > read on >

Taking the drug metformin – typically used for type 2 diabetes – can help counter weight gain in young people who are taking medication for bipolar disorder, according to a new trial. While second-generation antipsychotic medications (SGAs) that treat bipolar disorder can help improve mental health, significant side effects include higher blood pressure and blood sugar, increased appetite and weight gain. “We, the clinicians, naively justified that we’re improving your psychosis, so just deal with the weight gain,” said trial co-leader Dr. Victor Fornari, a child/adolescent psychiatrist at Northwell Health in Glen Oaks, N.Y. “But patients stopped taking their medicine because they said they didn’t want to gain weight.” A survey showed patients wanted interventions to reduce these side effects, according to Christina Klein, a University of Cincinnati research scientist. The study had broad enrollment criteria and was conducted at a wide variety of clinics, she said. It included more than 1,500 patients ages 8 to 19 who had bipolar disorder and were taking SGAs. “It was a large sample of patients to really demonstrate what’s going on,” Fornari said in a University of Cincinnati news release. “I don’t know that anybody has done a study of this magnitude.” Trial participants received recommendations for healthy eating and exercise. Half were also prescribed metformin. “If patients weren’t doing well on the metformin, they could come off… read on > read on >

Experts have long wondered whether diagnoses for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in the youngest children in a class would hold. A new study suggests that being the youngest, and possibly most immature, did not appear to make a difference. “We know the youngest children in their year group are more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD — but many believe this is because they lag behind their older classmates,” explained senior study author Dr. Samuele Cortese, a child and adolescent psychiatrist at the University of Southampton in the United Kingdom. “However, no one has ever explored if these younger children who are diagnosed with ADHD retain the diagnosis later on — until now,” Cortese said in a university news release. “Our study shows for the first time that these youngsters are no more likely to lose the diagnosis over time than older children.” More than 360 million people worldwide have been diagnosed with ADHD, according to the World Health Organization. About one-third are children and adolescents. Symptoms include impulsiveness, disorganization, poor time management skills, difficulty focusing and restlessness. This new study was led by researchers from University of Southampton and Paris Nanterre University, who collaborated with 161 scientists from around the world. They used data from more than 6,500 patients who had ADHD, who were followed for a period between the ages of 4… read on > read on >

Federal regulators are warning consumers to stop using eyedrops and gels from several major brands after finding unsanitary conditions in a manufacturing plant. Twenty-six eye care products are part of the alert. Contaminated products have the potential to cause eye infection and blindness because drugs applied to the eye can bypass some of the body’s defenses. Those concerning the U.S. Food and Drug Administration are branded CVS Health, Leader (Cardinal Health), Rugby (Cardinal Health), Rite Aid, Target Up & Up and Velocity Pharma. The FDA urged the manufacturer to recall all lots of these products. CVS, Rite Aid and Target are pulling products from shelves and websites. Although there were no reports of infection, bacterial tests were positive in critical drug product areas of the plant. The FDA’s list of eye products to avoid is here. Patients and providers should report any issues to the FDA. Consumers should discard products involved in the recall at a drug take-back site. They can also check the FDA’s flush list to see if they can be safely discarded at home, the New York Times reported. Certain products — those branded Leader, Rugby and Velocity — may still be available for purchase in stores and online. Don’t buy them, the FDA advised. Rite Aid is removing “applicable Rite Aid branded products” from store shelves, a spokeswoman said. CVS “immediately… read on > read on >

Kids with a genetic risk for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are likely to spend hours a day glued to their screens, but researchers say it doesn’t mean screen time causes ASD. The investigators also found that children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) gradually increased their screen time as they got older, even if they started out with low levels of initial screen use. “While long periods of screen time in childhood have been suggested to be a cause of ASD/ADHD, the results of this study suggest that some people may have a genetic disposition to use screens because of ASD,” said lead researcher Dr. Nagahide Takahashi. He is an associate professor of medicine at Nagoya University in Japan. “Screen time may be an early sign of ASD, rather than a cause, as children with ASD are often more attracted to objects than people,” he added in a university news release. “Physicians should know that it is not fair to conclude that prolonged screen time is a risk factor for the development of ASD,” Takahashi explained. Most people are spending more time on digital devices, including smartphones, computers, television and video game systems. The researchers said that’s especially true for kids with neurodevelopmental disorders. Joining with colleagues from Hamamatsu University, Takahashi’s team examined 6.5 million differences in the DNA of 437 children to determine genetic susceptibility to… read on > read on >

Millions of people spend hours looking at screens every day, straining their eyes. An ophthalmologist at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston offers some tips for easing both eye strain and headaches. “We focus on one object, especially an object that’s up close, like a computer screen or phone, for prolonged periods of time, and we don’t give our eye muscles time to rest,” said Dr. Masih Ahmed, an assistant professor of ophthalmology at Baylor. “If you don’t give your muscles enough time to rest, that can cause some tension of those muscles,” Ahmed explained. Dry eye can also cause eye strain, as you subconsciously blink less when reading, watching TV or working on the computer. Follow the 20-20-20 rule when working in front of a screen, Ahmed suggested. Take a 20-second break every 20 minutes to focus on something 20 feet away to give your eyes a rest. And use artificial tears if you have dry eyes. Prolonged eyestrain can give you a headache. If you wear corrective lenses, make sure you have the proper prescription, he advised. If you have an astigmatism, you won’t see as sharply. This might require more focus and energy, leading to eye strain. “You might squint more trying to get that pinhole effect for things to look clearer. Astigmatism can also make things look distorted in shape if… read on > read on >

You might be talking to a real person while on Zoom, but it’s just not the same to your brain as a face-to-face conversation. New research using sophisticated imaging tools found that the brain activity of people engaged in conversation looks different from that of two people conversing on Zoom. “In this study we find that the social systems of the human brain are more active during real live in-person encounters than on Zoom,” said senior author Joy Hirsch. She is a professor of psychiatry, comparative medicine and neuroscience at Yale University in New Haven, Conn. “Zoom appears to be an impoverished social communication system relative to in-person conditions,” she explained in a Yale news release. Zoom, of course, is a popular videoconferencing platform. Most previous research using imaging tools to track brain activity involved single individuals, rather than pairs in natural settings. The researchers noted that human brains are finely tuned to process facial cues during in-person encounters. In this study, which recorded neural system responses in the two types of conversations, increased neural signaling among participants in face-to-face conversations was associated with increased gaze time and wider pupils. This suggested increased arousal in the two brains. Participants in in-person interactions also had increased brain wave activity characteristic of enhanced face-processing ability, the study authors said. The investigators also found more coordinated neural activity… read on > read on >

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 >