Category: Health

Absentmindedness points to earlier warning signs of silent strokes among people at risk

Tom Patriot

Adults who notice that they frequently lose their train of thought or often become sidetracked may in fact be displaying earlier symptoms of cerebral small vessel disease, otherwise known as a “silent stroke,” suggests a recent study. Researchers uncovered that individuals with damage to the brain’s white matter, caused by silent strokes, reported poor attentiveness and being distracted more frequently on day-to-day tasks, according to a recently published paper in the journal Neurobiology of Aging. Despite these complaints, about half of the people with identified white matter damage scored within the…

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Healthy diet can ease symptoms of depression

Tom Patriot

An analysis of data from almost 46,000 people has found that weight loss, nutrient boosting and fat reduction diets can all reduce the symptoms of depression. Dr Joseph Firth, an Honorary Research fellow at The University of Manchester and Research Fellow at NICM Health Research Institute at Western Sydney University, says existing research has been unable to definitively establish if dietary improvement could benefit mental health. But in a new study published in Psychosomatic Medicine, Dr Firth and colleagues brought together all existing data from clinical trials of diets for…

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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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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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