Bariatric Surgery Tied to Long-Term Cognitive Benefits
Gastric bypass surgery in people with severe obesity was associated with sustained improvements in cognitive function, inflammation, and comorbidities, according to results of a cohort study in the Netherlands. At 2 years post-surgery, neuropsychological tests showed improvements of 20% or higher in global cognition (43% of patients), ability to shift attention (40%), episodic memory (32%), […]
Erectile Dysfunction Drugs Tied to Less Alzheimer’s Risk
Erectile dysfunction drugs were associated with reduced risk of Alzheimer’s disease, electronic health record (EHR) data from 270,000 men in the U.K. suggested. Over a median follow-up of about 5 years, men who started taking phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE5) inhibitors were less likely to have an Alzheimer’s diagnosis than nonusers (adjusted HR 0.82, 95% CI […]
What We Know About King Charles III’s Health History
The announcement Monday that King Charles III has been diagnosed with cancer has come as a shock to many in Britain, largely because the 75-year-old monarch has generally enjoyed good health through the years. Palace officials did not specify what kind of cancer the king has, or how serious his condition is. They only said […]
Gun Violence Exposure Associated With Suicidal Behavior Among Black Americans
For Black adults, exposure to gun violence — including being threatened with a gun or knowing someone who had been shot — was linked with suicidal outcomes, a cross-sectional study found. Exposure to one type of gun violence was significantly associated with lifetime suicidal ideation (OR 1.69, 95% CI 1.19-2.39, P=0.003), according to Daniel Semenza, […]
King Charles III Has Cancer
Britain’s King Charles III has been diagnosed with cancer and has begun treatment, Buckingham Palace said Monday. Less than 18 months into his reign, the 75-year-old monarch will suspend public engagements but will continue with state business, and won’t be handing over his constitutional roles as head of state. The palace didn’t disclose what form […]
Even With Alzheimer’s Pathology, Healthy Lifestyles May Preserve Cognition
Cognitive function was better for older adults with healthy lifestyles even if they had Alzheimer’s or other dementia-related pathologies, autopsy data showed. A 1-point increase in a healthy lifestyle score was associated with better cognitive performance proximate to death (β=0.216, P<0.001), reported Klodian Dhana, MD, PhD, of Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, and co-authors. […]
Suicide Risk 8-Fold Higher After Common Reproductive Disorder Diagnosis
Suicidality was substantially higher among women diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), according to a Taiwanese population-based cohort study. PCOS-diagnosed patients had an 8.47-fold (95% CI 7.54-9.51) higher risk of attempted suicide compared with women without PCOS, Mu-Hong Chen, MD, PhD, of Taipei Veterans General Hospital in Taiwan, and colleagues found. Incidence of suicide attempts […]
Cognitive Slowing May Be a Hallmark of Long COVID
Pronounced cognitive slowing distinguished people with long COVID from others, a cross-sectional study showed. On a 30-second task measuring simple reaction time, moderate-to-severe cognitive slowing was evident among long COVID patients compared with age-matched healthy individuals who had previous symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection and recovered, reported Sijia Zhao, PhD, at the University of Oxford in England, […]
Polycystic Ovary Syndrome Tied to Lower Midlife Cognitive Test Scores
Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) was linked with lower cognitive test scores in middle age, a cohort study suggested. After 30 years of follow-up, women who were diagnosed as having PCOS in young adulthood performed lower on a composite of five cognitive function tests (ß coefficient for mean z scores difference -0.190, 95% CI -0.327 to […]
Potentially Protective Agent Shows Benefit in Niemann-Pick Type C
Patients with Niemann-Pick disease type C who received N-acetyl-L-leucine (NALL), an agent that potentially ameliorates lysosomal and metabolic dysfunction, showed reduced neurologic signs and symptoms after 3 months, a phase III crossover trial found. After 12 weeks of treatment, the mean change from baseline in scores on the Scale for the Assessment and Rating of […]