Ultra-processed food may pave the way for Parkinson's
A new study suggests that regular consumption of ultra-processed foods may increase the risk of developing early signs of Parkinson's disease.
Ultra-processed foods include mass-produced bread, crisps, cereals, and fizzy drinks, which contain preservatives, artificial colours and flavours, and additives like emulsifiers.
The study, published in the journal Neurology, tracked 43,000 people over 26 years, monitoring their health status and dietary habits through questionnaires and medical exams.
Participants who consumed 11 or more servings of ultra-processed food per day had a 2.5-fold higher chance of showing early signs of Parkinson's disease compared to those consuming fewer than three servings.
An author of the study, Xiang Gao from Fudan University in China, said reducing the intake of processed foods and increasing the consumption of whole, nutritious foods could be beneficial for maintaining brain health.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Sun
an hour ago
- The Sun
At-home ‘brain quiz' reveals your risk of heart disease, stroke, dementia and 3 types of cancer
AN at-home 'brain quiz' can reveal your risk of dementia, as well stroke, heart disease and three common types of cancer. It suggests that taking better care of your brain could boost your overall health, researchers said. Developed at Mass General Brigham - a hospital affiliated with Harvard Medical School - the McCance Brain Care Score (BCS) is a tool designed to assess modifiable risk factors that influence brain health. The quiz's 21 questions evaluate someone's physical health, lifestyle, as well as social and emotional factors. All together, these can pain a picture of someone's risk of brain diseases that come on with age. But researchers found the quiz could also shed light someone's risk of non-brain related diseases, such as heart disease or cancer. That's because neurological diseases such as stroke, dementia, and late-life depression, as well as cardiovascular diseases —including ischaemic heart disease, stroke, and heart failure —and cancers are often driven by the same risk factors. These include things like unhealthy diet, lack of exercise, smoking, excessive drinking, high blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar. Psycho-social factors like stress and social isolation are also drivers of disease. In fact, at least 80 per cent of cardiovascular disease cases and 50 per cent of cancer cases can be linked to these factors, researchers claimed. Senior author Sanjula Singh, of the McCance Center for Brain Health at Massachusetts General Hospital, said: "While the McCance Brain Care Score was originally developed to address modifiable risk factors for brain diseases, we have also found it's associated with the incidence of cardiovascular disease and common cancers." 'These findings reinforce the idea that brain disease, heart disease, and cancer share common risk factors and that by taking better care of your brain, you may also be supporting the health of your heart and body as a whole simultaneously.' 10 second one leg stand test The quiz will generate a score of 0 to 21 - the higher your score, the more brain-healthy habits you practice. Researchers used data from the UK Biobank to analyse health outcomes in 416,370 people aged 40 to 69 years using the test. They found that a 5-point higher BCS score at baseline was associated with a 43 per cent lower risk of developing cardiovascular disease - including ischaemic heart disease, stroke, and heart failure - over 12 and a half years. For cancer, a 5-point increase in BCS was associated with a 31 per cent lower rate of lung, bowel and breast cancer. How to do the quiz Before you take the test, you'll need some information from your health records, such as your latest blood pressure reading, you haemoglobin A1c score, your cholesterol levels and BMI. The test - available on the Mass General Brigham website - starts off by asking people about their blood pressure, cholesterol levels and BMI, as well as smoking, exercise and sleep habits. It also asks patients about social relationships - whether they're close to anyone outside of spouses and children - and if they feel that their "life has meaning". Once you've answered the questions, the quiz will generate a score between 0 and 21, and ways to improve your brain health. The aim is to achieve the highest score possible. The score will be made up of three categories – physical, lifestyle, and social-emotional health – and it measures what you are already doing to protect your brain and prolong your brain health. This can include exercise, sleep, social interactions, lowering blood pressure and more. "Your McCance Brian Care score is a tool you can use to measure and improve how well you care for your brain throughout your life," according to Mass General Brigham. "Small adjustments, like finding some time to walk more in your day or making it a priority to call your best friend, can have a major improvement on your overall score and brain health over time. "Achieving your highest score and keeping your highest score month after month, year after year, will ensure you are taking the best care of your brain as you grow and thrive." Study authors said that previous research suggests that some individual components of the BCS quiz - such as smoking, lack of exercise and high blood pressure - can raise the risk of dementia or heart disease. But they said that their study can't prove that the BSC components can cause disease - only that they are strongly linked. Researchers also noted that the quiz can't be used to predict whether someone will get a specific disease. Instead, it can serve as a framework to help people identify achievable lifestyle changes that support the health of their brain, as well as the rest of their body. Lead author Jasper Senff said: 'The goal of the McCance Brain Care Score is to empower individuals to take small, meaningful steps toward better brain health. 'Taking better care of your brain by making progress on your Brain Care Score may also be linked to broader health benefits, including a lower likelihood of heart disease and cancer. 'Primary care providers around the world are under growing pressure to manage complex health needs within limited time," he went on. 'A simple, easy-to-use tool like the McCance Brain Care Score holds enormous promise - not only for supporting brain health, but also for helping to address modifiable risk factors for a broader range of chronic diseases in a practical, time-efficient way.'
The Independent
6 hours ago
- The Independent
This common prescription drug could reduce deaths by sepsis, study finds
Critically ill patients with sepsis who are given statins may be more likely to survive, new research suggests. Researchers set out to explore whether the cholesterol-busting drugs may bring additional benefits for patients. The new study examined information on sepsis patients who received statins during a stint in intensive care and compared it with patients in a similar situation who did not receive statins. Some 14.3 per cent of 6,000 sepsis patients who were given statins died within 28 days. This is compared with 23.4 per cent of 6,000 patients who did not receive statin therapy. The research team from China said that this equates to a 39 per cent reduced risk of death within a month. The research, based on data from thousands of patients at a hospital in Israel between 2008 and 2019, also found that 7.4 per cent of statin patients died while in the intensive care unit compared with 13.6 per cent of those who did not receive statins. And during their overall hospital stay, some 11.5 per cent of sepsis patients who were given statins died, compared with 19.1 per cent of sepsis patients who did not take statins. However, it appeared that those who were not prescribed statins had a slightly shorter hospital stay compared with those who did receive them – an average of eight days compared with almost 10 days. 'We found that statin users exhibited decreased 28-day all-cause mortality,' the authors wrote in the journal Frontiers in Immunology. Sepsis is a life-threatening reaction to an infection that occurs when the immune system overreacts and starts to damage the body's tissues and organs. In the UK, 245,000 people are affected by sepsis every year. UK sepsis experts said that 'anything which might reduce the burden of a condition which claims one in five lives worldwide needs to be rigorously explored' as they called for larger trials to confirm the findings. Statins are known as cholesterol-busting drugs because they can help lower the level of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol in the blood. But experts said that they also have other benefits, including reducing inflammation and antibacterial effects. The research team called for larger trials to confirm their findings. 'Our large, matched cohort study found that treatment with statins was associated with a 39 per cent lower death rate for critically ill patients with sepsis, when measured over 28 days after hospital admission,' said Dr Caifeng Li, the study's corresponding author and an associate professor at Tianjin Medical University General Hospital in China. 'These results strongly suggest that statins may provide a protective effect and improve clinical outcomes for patients with sepsis.' Commenting on the study, Dr Ron Daniels, founder and chief executive of the UK Sepsis Trust, said: 'It has been known for some time that the anti-inflammatory properties of statins confer a survival benefit on those who take them if they develop sepsis. 'Whilst previous studies have failed to show a similar survival benefit in treating people with sepsis with statins, this new study supports calls for a large, multi-country, randomised control trial. 'Anything which might reduce the burden of a condition which claims one in five lives worldwide needs to be rigorously explored.'
BreakingNews.ie
6 hours ago
- BreakingNews.ie
Statins can reduce sepsis deaths, study suggests
People who are critically ill with sepsis may be more likely to survive if they are given statins, a new study suggests. Researchers wanted to explore whether the cholesterol-busting drugs may bring additional benefits for patients. Advertisement The new study examined information on sepsis patients who received statins during a stint in intensive care and compared it with patients in a similar situation who did not receive statins. Some 14.3 per cent of 6,000 sepsis patients who were given statins died within 28 days. This is compared with 23.4 per cent of 6,000 patients who did not receive statin therapy. The research team from China said that this equates to a 39 per cent reduced risk of death within a month. Advertisement The research, based on data from thousands of patients at a hospital in Israel between 2008 and 2019, also found that 7.4 per cent of statin patients died while in the intensive care unit compared with 13.6 per cent of those who did not receive statins. And during their overall hospital stay, some 11.5 per cent of sepsis patients who were given statins died, compared with 19.1 per cent of sepsis patients who did not take statins. However, it appeared that those who were not prescribed statins had a slightly shorter hospital stay compared with those who did receive them – an average of eight days compared with almost 10 days. 'We found that statin users exhibited decreased 28-day all-cause mortality,' the authors wrote in the journal Frontiers in Immunology. Advertisement Sepsis is a life-threatening reaction to an infection that occurs when the immune system overreacts and starts to damage the body's tissues and organs. In Ireland, about 12,000 people are affected by sepsis every year, according to the HSE. Sepsis experts said that 'anything which might reduce the burden of a condition which claims one in five lives worldwide needs to be rigorously explored' as they called for larger trials to confirm the findings. Statins are known as cholesterol-busting drugs because they can help lower the level of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol in the blood. Advertisement But experts said that they also have other benefits, including reducing inflammation and antibacterial effects. The research team called for larger trials to confirm their findings. 'Our large, matched cohort study found that treatment with statins was associated with a 39 per cent lower death rate for critically ill patients with sepsis, when measured over 28 days after hospital admission,' said Dr Caifeng Li, the study's corresponding author and an associate professor at Tianjin Medical University General Hospital in China. 'These results strongly suggest that statins may provide a protective effect and improve clinical outcomes for patients with sepsis.' Advertisement Ireland Sepsis: Doctors launch awareness campaign about le... Read More Commenting on the study, Dr Ron Daniels, founder and chief executive of the Sepsis Trust, said: 'It has been known for some time that the anti-inflammatory properties of statins confer a survival benefit on those who take them if they develop sepsis. 'Whilst previous studies have failed to show a similar survival benefit in treating people with sepsis with statins, this new study supports calls for a large, multi-country, randomised control trial. 'Anything which might reduce the burden of a condition which claims one in five lives worldwide needs to be rigorously explored.'
