Alzheimer’s Can Be Slowed By Healthy Diet, Exercise: Study
Early-stage Alzheimer's disease patients in a group who made intensive lifestyle changes saw their dementia symptoms stabilize, a study found. Meanwhile, other researchers found higher rates of drug-resistant organisms in areas with more economic deprivation.
A healthy diet and consistent exercise may slow decline in some early-stage Alzheimer鈥檚 disease patients, according to research published Friday.聽The study, published in the journal Alzheimer鈥檚 Research and Therapy, found that patients in a group who implemented 鈥渋ntensive鈥 lifestyle changes 鈥 like eating whole foods, exercising moderately and performing stress management techniques 鈥 saw their dementia symptoms stabilize. (Timotija, 6/7)
A聽study in Texas found higher rates of antimicrobial-resistant (AMR) organisms in areas with higher levels of economic deprivation, researchers reported today in Clinical Infectious Diseases. Using electronic health records from two large healthcare systems in the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area, a team led by researchers from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center collected select patient bacterial culture results from 2015 to 2020. (Dall, 6/7)
The American Cancer Society has begun an ambitious, far-reaching study focusing on a population that has long been overlooked, despite high rates of cancer and cancer-related deaths: Black women. The initiative, called VOICES of Black Women, is believed to be the first long-term population study of its size to zero in specifically on the factors driving cancer prevalence and deaths among Black women. (Caryn Rabin, 6/7)
Sexual harassment, bullying and workplace discrimination are commonly encountered by doctors and other clinicians in the field of obstetrics and gynecology, a recent literature review suggests. The analysis, published in JAMA Network Open, shows that although the field is increasingly female-dominated, medical students, residents, fellows and attending physicians in obstetrics and gynecology regularly experience sexual harassment and gender bias on the job. (Blakemore, 6/9)
Disease-specific cells developed by the Allen Institute for Cell Science offer a new window into the world's most common genetic heart condition. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) 鈥 which affects an estimated 600,000 to 1.5 million Americans or 1 in 500 people 鈥 involves mutations that can cause heart muscle to thicken and other changes to the heart's mitral valves and cells. (Snyder, 6/9)
In covid-related research news 鈥
A 15-day course of Pfizer's COVID-19 antiviral treatment Paxlovid did not relieve symptoms of long COVID, according a study by Stanford University researchers. Currently, there are no proven treatments specifically for long COVID in which a host of symptoms can last for many months after initial coronavirus infection. Scientists and patients had hoped that Pfizer's two-drug oral treatment would ease symptoms of long COVID after anecdotal reports of patients who said Paxlovid helped them. (Erman, 6/7)
A new study from Yale researchers in Obstetrics and Gynecology shows no link between stillbirth and COVID-19 vaccines. Moreover, pregnant women who had received COVID-19 vaccines in pregnancy were at a decreased risk of preterm birth. The authors say the findings should offer further reassurance that COVID-19 vaccination is safe and useful in pregnancy. (Soucheray, 6/7)
Two studies highlight new respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) findings, with one estimating that the monoclonal antibody nirsevimab was 80% effective against hospitalization in French pediatric intensive care units (PICUs) and the other showing that more hospitalizations occurred during the atypical 2021 and 2022 RSV seasons despite similar disease severity to previous seasons. RSV is the No. 1 cause of the hospitalization of US infants, leading to聽an estimated annual 58,000 to 80,000 hospitalizations and 100 to 300 deaths in children younger than 5 years old. (Van Beusekom, 6/7)
Also 鈥
John Goodson practiced medicine for almost 50 years at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. As a primary care physician, he saw thousands of patients and ailments, so when he struggled to raise the front of his foot in 2021, he felt a knowing dread. (Broderick, 6/10)
Olympians including Dutch marathon runner Abdi Nageeye are using a new tool they hope will boost their medal chances this summer: tiny monitors that attach to the skin to track blood glucose levels. Continuous glucose monitors or CGMs, were developed for use by diabetes patients but their makers, led by Abbott (ABT.N) and Dexcom (DXCM.O), also spy opportunities in sports and wellness. The Paris Olympics, which start on July 26, are an opportunity to showcase the technology - even though there is as yet no proof it can boost athletic performance. (Burger, 6/10)
Donald Dorff could hear the crowd roaring as he snatched the quarterback鈥檚 pitch from the air and sprinted toward the goal line. 鈥淭here was a 280-pound tackle waiting for me, so I decided to give him my shoulder,鈥 the 67-year-old told National Geographic magazine in 1987. 鈥淲hen I came to, I was on the floor in my bedroom,鈥 Dorff said. 鈥淚 had smashed into the dresser and knocked everything off it and broke the mirror and just made one heck of a mess. It was 1:30 a.m.鈥 (LaMotte, 6/8)