Large waist linked to poor health even when BMI healthy
Data from 11 different cohort studies, involving more than 600,000 people from around the world, has found that:
middle-aged
New cause of high blood pressure and heart disease discovered
Two studies help explain why kidney disease increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases such as high blood pressure and vascular calcification. The mediator seems to be a hormone called FGF23, which is sensitive to the level of phosphates in the body.
Phosphate rich foods include processed cheese, Parmesan, cola, baking powder and most processed foods.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-05/uovm-nco050514.php
How stress increases your risk for stroke and heart attack
A study in which 157 healthy adult volunteers were asked to regulate their emotional reactions to unpleasant pictures, has found that those who showed greater brain activation when regulating their negative emotions also had higher blood levels of interleukin-6 (a marker for inflammation) and increased thickness of the carotid artery wall (a marker of atherosclerosis).
The finding helps explain why stress increases the risk for stroke and heart attack.
Oxidants not all bad?
A finding that free radicals promote longevity in the roundworm challenges the theory that free radicals (oxidants) are damaging and cause aging.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-05/mu-wdk050714.php
Diabetes duration and severity associated with brain atrophy
A study involving 614 patients with type 2 diabetes (mean age 62) has found that longer duration of diabetes was associated with more brain volume loss, particularly in the gray matter. Roughly, for every 10 years of diabetes, the brain was similar to that of a non-diabetic person who was two years older.
However, the study did not confirm any association of diabetes characteristics with small vessel ischemic disease.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-04/rson-dda042214.php
Gender affects cardiovascular risk in those with type 2 diabetes
Type 2 diabetes greatly increases a person's risk of developing cardiovascular disease, but a new study shows that cardiovascular risk factors such as elevated blood pressure and cholesterol levels differ significantly between men and women with diabetes.
The study, involving 680 diabetics, found that blood pressure and LDL cholesterol levels were significantly higher in women, and women were significantly less likely to have these factors under control. Some 17% of men had control of these factors, compared to 6% of women.
Gum disease bacteria may cause heart disease
A mouse study has found that introduction of oral bacteria into the bloodstream increased risk factors for atherosclerotic heart disease, including cholesterol and inflammation, suggesting that the same bacteria that cause gum disease also promotes heart disease. The findings are consistent with recent evidence that patients with gum disease are at higher risk for heart disease.
The findings were presented at the annual meeting of the American Society for Microbiology.
Early surgical menopause linked to faster cognitive decline
The issue of the effect of menopause on women’s cognition, and whether hormone therapy helps older women fight cognitive decline and dementia, has been a murky one. Increasing evidence suggests that the timing and type of therapy is critical. A new study makes clear that we also need to distinguish between women who experience early surgical menopause and those who experience natural menopause.
Why learning gets harder as we get older
A new study adds more support to the idea that the increasing difficulty in learning new information and skills that most of us experience as we age is not down to any difficulty in acquiring new information, but rests on the interference from all the old information.
Menopause forgetfulness greatest early in postmenopause
Being a woman of a certain age, I generally take notice of research into the effects of menopause on cognition. A new study adds weight, perhaps, to the idea that cognitive complaints in perimenopause and menopause are not directly a consequence of hormonal changes, but more particularly, shows that early post menopause may be the most problematic time.