Category: Brain and Nervous System
Health News Headlines
Measles in Oregon and Georgia – Obesity drug cuts diabetes risk 93% – Playstation is good for you
Self-adjusting brain pacemaker may help reduce Parkinson’s disease symptoms
Implanted device responds to changes in brain biomarkers of Parkinson’s symptoms by adjusting stimulation, allowing the treatment to be tailored to a patient’s needs in real time.
Health News Headlines
Needleless treatment for severe allergic reactions – US fertility rate at record low – Hunt for Adderall is On
Health News Headlines
Medicare drug discounts – Dementia risk – Urban birds and antibiotic resistance
HIIT workouts linked with better brain health, research finds – even five years later
A recent study has now revealed that one particular type of workout may be better than others when it comes to boosting brain health. The researchers found a link between high-intensity interval training (HIIT) workouts with better memory and brain volume in older adults. And, these brain benefits even lasted up to five years after the study was completed.
Health News Headlines
Fewer than half of US adults under 50 can readily afford or access healthcare – Misdiagnosis Is A Big Problem For Older Adults – Drugs Used For Weight Loss Help People Stop Smoking – Most Antibiotic Prescriptions For Kids’ Ear Infections Are Too Long – Blood tests for Alzheimer’s diagnosis were 91% accurate in new study
What’s the difference between Alzheimer’s and dementia?
Dementia is an umbrella term used to describe a range of syndromes that result in changes in memory, thinking and/or behaviour due to degeneration in the brain.
To meet the criteria for dementia these changes must be sufficiently pronounced to interfere with usual activities and are present in at least two different aspects of thinking or memory.
Nightmares could be an early warning sign of an autoimmune disease flare-up – new study
Many patients could describe nightmares that happened just before their flares. Although patterns varied between different people, they were often similar in each person’s flare-ups. Patients often knew which symptoms were a sign that their disease was about to get worse.
Binge drinking is a growing public health crisis − a neurobiologist explains new research on alcohol use disorder
Since Amy Winehouse’s death in 2011, professionals have learned a great deal more about alcohol use disorder
X-chromosome inactivation may reduce autism risk, UW study finds
In mice, the pattern of X-chromosome inactivation in female brains altered the effect of a mutation linked to the disorder.
Hospice care for those with dementia falls far short of meeting people’s needs at the end of life
Strikingly, only 12% of Americans with dementia ever enroll in hospice. Among those who do, one-third are near death. This is in stark contrast to the cancer population: Patients over 60 with cancer enroll in hospice 70% of the time. In my experience caring for dementia patients, the underuse of hospice by dementia patients has more to do with how hospice is structured and paid for in the U.S. than it does patient preference or differences between cancer and dementia.
The autistic brain is different. It comes with limitations, but it also has its strengths.
Several companies are testing brain implants – why is there so much attention swirling around Neuralink? Two professors unpack the ethical issues
Putting a computer inside someone’s brain used to feel like the edge of science fiction. Today, it’s a reality. Academic and commercial groups are testing “brain-computer interface” devices to enable people with disabilities to function more independently. Two two scholars at the University of Washington School of Medicine – Nancy Jecker, a bioethicst, and Andrew Ko, a neurosurgeon who implants brain chip devices – discuss the ethics of this new horizon in neuroscience.
More than a third of people with dementia don’t know they have it – what to do if you suspect your partner has the condition
Dementia can present very differently in each person, so it’s about knowing what’s normal for your loved one. A person who has always been conscientious and organised starting to unravel is very different from a scatterbrained person just being slightly more scatterbrained.
Lifestyle changes can reduce dementia risk by maintaining brain plasticity — but the time to act is now
There are several new drugs making their way to the market for Alzheimer’s disease (one of the most common forms of dementia). However, they are still far from a cure and are currently only effective for early-stage Alzheimer’s patients. So lifestyle changes may be our best hope of delaying dementia or not developing dementia at all.