Author: Tom Patriot

Study links psoriasis treatment and improvement in heart artery disease

Tom Patriot

Researchers have found that treating psoriasis, a chronic inflammatory skin disease, with biologic drugs that target immune system activity can reduce the early plaque buildup that clogs arteries, restricts blood flow, and leads to heart attacks and stroke. The findings highlight how immunotherapies that treat inflammatory conditions might play a role in the reduction of cardiovascular disease risks. The study, funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), part of the National Institutes of Health, appears online today in the journal Cardiovascular Research. “Classically a heart attack is caused…

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Heavy drinking in teens causes lasting changes in emotional center of brain

Tom Patriot

Binge drinking in adolescence has been shown to have lasting effects on the wiring of the brain and is associated with increased risk for psychological problems and alcohol use disorder later in life. Now, researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago Center for Alcohol Research in Epigenetics have shown that some of these lasting changes are the result of epigenetic changes that alter the expression of a protein crucial for the formation and maintenance of neural connections in the amygdala — the part of the brain involved in emotion,…

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Brooklyn Decker Stands Up to Her Body Shamer: ‘Children Sucked the Life Out of My Body’

Tom Patriot

Brooklyn Decker is tired of dealing with post-pregnancy body shamers. The Grace and Frankie star, 31, constantly hears from people who think she looks unhealthy now that she’s a mom of two, and she’s over it. Decker responded on Twitter after one person said that they’re “confused” because she “looked so good” in her 2011 movie Just Go With It and now “looks gangly.” “For the umpteenth time — because people love to comment on my body (or lack thereof) my children sucked the life out of my body and left behind a bag of bones,”…

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Researchers are worried that people with chronic disease are not being active enough

Tom Patriot

The George Institute for Global Health at the University of Oxford measured the duration and intensity of physical activity levels over seven days and compared those participants with, and those without, chronic disease. They found that those with chronic disease, even those conditions that don’t directly limit capacity for exercise, spent less time active. Around 15 million people in England suffer from chronic disease [1]. Major types include cardiovascular disease (e.g. heart attacks and stroke), respiratory disease (e.g. asthma), and mental health conditions (e.g. depression). Chronic conditions are not passed…

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