Smoking can’t explain why women are more at risk for COPD, a new study says. Women are about 50% more likely than men to develop COPD even though they are less likely to smoke, researchers reported May 8 in the journal BMJ Open Respiratory Research. Smoking tobacco is the main cause of COPD, the umbrella term for chronic breathing problems like emphysema and bronchitis, researchers say. But the COPD rate is higher among women than men, even though women don’t smoke as much as men, results show. The results refute the notion that women are more vulnerable to tobacco smoke than men, which had previously been floated to explain why more women suffer COPD, researchers said. “The higher risk of COPD in women was not explained by higher susceptibility to cigarette smoke as measured by either smoking status or pack-year exposure,” wrote a team led by Dr. Alexander Steinberg, an assistant professor of clinical practice at the University of Washington in Seattle. “In fact, women had a nearly identical increase in risk of COPD for every 10 pack-years of cigarette use when compared with men,” researchers wrote. Pack-years measure how much a person has smoked by multiplying the packs smoked per day by the number of years a person has smoked. “This then begs the important question of what is driving high rates of COPD…  read on >  read on >

Knowing your risk for Alzheimer’s disease can provide peace of mind, but also might contribute to complacency regarding your overall health, a new study says. People who underwent brain scans to learn their Alzheimer’s risk experienced less anxiety, even if the results showed higher risk, researchers reported May 7 in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia. However, people’s motivation to maintain lifestyle changes like exercise and eating a healthy diet also declined after they learned their Alzheimer’s risk, whether or not the results indicated higher or lower risk, researchers said. “The results highlight how easily people lose motivation to make lifestyle changes aimed at maintaining cognitive health,” lead researcher Sapir Golan Shekhtman, a doctoral student at the Joseph Sagol Neuroscience Center at the Sheba Medical Center in Israel, said in a news release. “Strategies to sustain these healthy behaviors are crucial.” The new study comes on the heels of an Alzheimer’s Association’s annual report, which found that 4 of 5 Americans want to know in advance if they will develop Alzheimer’s, through easy, rapid testing. For this study, researchers followed nearly 200 healthy adults who underwent imaging scans to check their brain levels of amyloid beta. Toxic amyloid plaques are a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease. Prior to the scans, participants completed surveys measuring their anxiety, depression, memory concerns and motivation to improve their lifestyle habits. People…  read on >  read on >

Knowing your risk for Alzheimer’s disease can provide peace of mind, but also might contribute to complacency regarding your overall health, a new study says. People who underwent brain scans to learn their Alzheimer’s risk experienced less anxiety, even if the results showed higher risk, researchers reported May 7 in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia. However, people’s motivation to maintain lifestyle changes like exercise and eating a healthy diet also declined after they learned their Alzheimer’s risk, whether or not the results indicated higher or lower risk, researchers said. “The results highlight how easily people lose motivation to make lifestyle changes aimed at maintaining cognitive health,” lead researcher Sapir Golan Shekhtman, a doctoral student at the Joseph Sagol Neuroscience Center at the Sheba Medical Center in Israel, said in a news release. “Strategies to sustain these healthy behaviors are crucial.” The new study comes on the heels of an Alzheimer’s Association’s annual report, which found that 4 of 5 Americans want to know in advance if they will develop Alzheimer’s, through easy, rapid testing. For this study, researchers followed nearly 200 healthy adults who underwent imaging scans to check their brain levels of amyloid beta. Toxic amyloid plaques are a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease. Prior to the scans, participants completed surveys measuring their anxiety, depression, memory concerns and motivation to improve their lifestyle habits. People…  read on >  read on >

Significantly larger increase seen in prevalence of depressive symptoms in adults aged 20 to 44 years versus those aged 65 years or older  read on >

Stress can make it even worse for people to deal with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, a new study says. High levels of perceived stress are associated with a quadrupled risk of moderate or severe COPD flare-ups (excerbations), researchers reported recently in the Journal of the COPD Foundation. “There is increased evidence that psychosocial factors, including perceived stress, are associated with worsened respiratory symptoms for people with COPD,” lead researcher Dr. Obiageli Lynda Offor, a pulmonary and critical care fellow at Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore, said in a news release. For the study researchers tracked 99 former smokers with COPD for six months, comparing their reported stress levels to their risk for episodes of worsening breathing problems. COPD is an inflammatory lung disease that includes under its umbrella conditions like chronic bronchitis and emphysema. The disease affects more than 30 million Americans and is the fourth-leading cause of death worldwide, researchers said in background notes. COPD exacerbations cause patients’ breathing to become worse than usual, with increased coughing, shortness of breath, or mucus, the COPD Foundation says. These episodes can be very serious, sending patients to the ER or landing them in the hospital for several days. In addition to an increased risk of these episodes, higher levels of stress also were associated with biological processes linked to COPD, researchers added. These included…  read on >  read on >

Stress can make it even worse for people to deal with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, a new study says. High levels of perceived stress are associated with a quadrupled risk of moderate or severe COPD flare-ups (excerbations), researchers reported recently in the Journal of the COPD Foundation. “There is increased evidence that psychosocial factors, including perceived stress, are associated with worsened respiratory symptoms for people with COPD,” lead researcher Dr. Obiageli Lynda Offor, a pulmonary and critical care fellow at Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore, said in a news release. For the study researchers tracked 99 former smokers with COPD for six months, comparing their reported stress levels to their risk for episodes of worsening breathing problems. COPD is an inflammatory lung disease that includes under its umbrella conditions like chronic bronchitis and emphysema. The disease affects more than 30 million Americans and is the fourth-leading cause of death worldwide, researchers said in background notes. COPD exacerbations cause patients’ breathing to become worse than usual, with increased coughing, shortness of breath, or mucus, the COPD Foundation says. These episodes can be very serious, sending patients to the ER or landing them in the hospital for several days. In addition to an increased risk of these episodes, higher levels of stress also were associated with biological processes linked to COPD, researchers added. These included…  read on >  read on >

Asthma attacks caused emergency room surges during the 2023 Canadian wildfires, with smoke-filled air sending hundreds to the hospital daily, a new study says. Daily asthma-related visits to Ontario hospitals increased nearly 24% during an early-June 2023 wildfire that blanketed the area with smoke, researchers reported today in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. “The unprecedented wildfires of 2023 are a wake-up call that wildfires — a persistent feature of Canada’s landscape — are becoming more intense and prolonged in a changing climate, affecting millions of people,” concluded the research team led by Hong Chen, an assistant professor with the University of Toronto Dalla Lana School of Public Health. However, a second wave of wildfire smoke that descended on Ontario later that same month did not result in an increase in asthma-related ER visits, researchers found. It’s likely that asthma patients caught unprepared for the first smoke event had taken precautions to help them get through future episodes, researchers speculated. “Ontario’s population was unaccustomed to heavy wildfire smoke episodes and was therefore unlikely to have adopted anticipatory measures or behaviors” prior to the first episode, researchers wrote. The second time around, they likely had access to asthma medications and had taken steps to avoid the smoky air, such as staying indoors and using air filters, researchers said. For the study, researchers analyzed data on ER visits…  read on >  read on >

Asthma attacks caused emergency room surges during the 2023 Canadian wildfires, with smoke-filled air sending hundreds to the hospital daily, a new study says. Daily asthma-related visits to Ontario hospitals increased nearly 24% during an early-June 2023 wildfire that blanketed the area with smoke, researchers reported today in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. “The unprecedented wildfires of 2023 are a wake-up call that wildfires — a persistent feature of Canada’s landscape — are becoming more intense and prolonged in a changing climate, affecting millions of people,” concluded the research team led by Hong Chen, an assistant professor with the University of Toronto Dalla Lana School of Public Health. However, a second wave of wildfire smoke that descended on Ontario later that same month did not result in an increase in asthma-related ER visits, researchers found. It’s likely that asthma patients caught unprepared for the first smoke event had taken precautions to help them get through future episodes, researchers speculated. “Ontario’s population was unaccustomed to heavy wildfire smoke episodes and was therefore unlikely to have adopted anticipatory measures or behaviors” prior to the first episode, researchers wrote. The second time around, they likely had access to asthma medications and had taken steps to avoid the smoky air, such as staying indoors and using air filters, researchers said. For the study, researchers analyzed data on ER visits…  read on >  read on >

A cancer patient’s bond with their partner can be a key factor in helping them ward off chemotherapy-related “brain fog,” a new study says Patients in a satisfying intimate relationship were more likely to resist chemo brain, the cognitive impairment that can occur during or after chemotherapy treatment, researchers report. Couples therapy aimed at enhancing a patient’s relationship quality might help folks better handle chemo’s effects on thinking and memory, researchers concluded. “Before this study, we didn’t understand that bolstering the intimate partnership before the patient undergoes chemo might attenuate their cognitive side effects,” senior researcher Leah Pyter, director of the Institute for Behavioral Medicine Research at Ohio State University, said in a news release. For the study, researchers tracked 48 breast cancer patients participating in a study examining links between chemo and disruptions of the gut microbiome and brain function. The patients all completed tests assessing verbal skills, attention levels and short-term memory. They also completed questionnaires reporting changes to their concentration, memory, word retrieval and mental clarity. “It was nice to be able to test these patients before they had chemo and then again after, because people can be affected by chemo and still be within normal ranges – but for them, it’s not normal,” Pyter said. Researchers also asked patients to assess their relationship satisfaction with their partners, as well as the…  read on >  read on >

A cancer patient’s bond with their partner can be a key factor in helping them ward off chemotherapy-related “brain fog,” a new study says Patients in a satisfying intimate relationship were more likely to resist chemo brain, the cognitive impairment that can occur during or after chemotherapy treatment, researchers report. Couples therapy aimed at enhancing a patient’s relationship quality might help folks better handle chemo’s effects on thinking and memory, researchers concluded. “Before this study, we didn’t understand that bolstering the intimate partnership before the patient undergoes chemo might attenuate their cognitive side effects,” senior researcher Leah Pyter, director of the Institute for Behavioral Medicine Research at Ohio State University, said in a news release. For the study, researchers tracked 48 breast cancer patients participating in a study examining links between chemo and disruptions of the gut microbiome and brain function. The patients all completed tests assessing verbal skills, attention levels and short-term memory. They also completed questionnaires reporting changes to their concentration, memory, word retrieval and mental clarity. “It was nice to be able to test these patients before they had chemo and then again after, because people can be affected by chemo and still be within normal ranges – but for them, it’s not normal,” Pyter said. Researchers also asked patients to assess their relationship satisfaction with their partners, as well as the…  read on >  read on >