Dementia warning for rugby players as quarter show red flag signs
Levels of the protein – common in people with diseases like Alzheimer's – were significantly increased in 46 (23 per cent) of the player group. MRI scans also revealed former players had reduced brain volume in some areas, compared with the control group.
None of the participants were found to have dementia at the time of the study, which is ongoing and being conducted by researchers at Imperial College London, University College London and the UK Dementia Research Institute. Dr Jacqui Hanley, head of research at Alzheimer's Research UK, said: 'Although none of the rugby players developed young-onset dementia during the study, they did show changes known to be linked to dementia.
READ MORE: Jessie J says she has chosen to stop taking some meds in cancer battle
READ MORE: Foster care grandma killed trying to stop boy, 12, taking her car
'These include smaller brain volumes and higher levels of p-tau217 protein in the blood, which is common in people with diseases like Alzheimer's. It is too early to say whether these players will go on to develop dementia and whether the physical brain changes observed will predict cognitive difficulties later in their lives.
'There are also key limitations to bear in mind, such as the reliance on self-reporting and interview to determine traumatic brain injury history. However, as the study continues for another four years it should provide some insight into whether these markers in the blood and brain continue to change and how this could impact the rugby players' memory and thinking abilities.'
Previous studies have suggested a link between playing rugby and football and an increased risk of developing neurodegenerative disease, such as the FIELD Study in football, which found footballers were three-and-a-half times more likely to die of neurodegenerative disease than age-matched members of the population.
There are ongoing legal cases in rugby league, rugby union and football involving former players who claim the sporting authorities failed to adequately protect them from exposure to head injuries.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Yahoo
Dementia warning for rugby players as quarter show red flag signs
A new study suggests former rugby players show a higher prevalence of brain changes linked to dementia than matched members of the general population. Levels of a protein called p-tau217, a potential sign of dementia, were higher overall (17.6 per cent) in a group of 200 retired male and female players who said they had suffered significant previous head impact exposure in their careers, compared to 33 matched controls with no exposure to head injuries. Levels of the protein – common in people with diseases like Alzheimer's – were significantly increased in 46 (23 per cent) of the player group. MRI scans also revealed former players had reduced brain volume in some areas, compared with the control group. None of the participants were found to have dementia at the time of the study, which is ongoing and being conducted by researchers at Imperial College London, University College London and the UK Dementia Research Institute. Dr Jacqui Hanley, head of research at Alzheimer's Research UK, said: 'Although none of the rugby players developed young-onset dementia during the study, they did show changes known to be linked to dementia. READ MORE: Jessie J says she has chosen to stop taking some meds in cancer battle READ MORE: Foster care grandma killed trying to stop boy, 12, taking her car 'These include smaller brain volumes and higher levels of p-tau217 protein in the blood, which is common in people with diseases like Alzheimer's. It is too early to say whether these players will go on to develop dementia and whether the physical brain changes observed will predict cognitive difficulties later in their lives. 'There are also key limitations to bear in mind, such as the reliance on self-reporting and interview to determine traumatic brain injury history. However, as the study continues for another four years it should provide some insight into whether these markers in the blood and brain continue to change and how this could impact the rugby players' memory and thinking abilities.' Previous studies have suggested a link between playing rugby and football and an increased risk of developing neurodegenerative disease, such as the FIELD Study in football, which found footballers were three-and-a-half times more likely to die of neurodegenerative disease than age-matched members of the population. There are ongoing legal cases in rugby league, rugby union and football involving former players who claim the sporting authorities failed to adequately protect them from exposure to head injuries.
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Yahoo
Four habits to boost your immune system and increase your lifespan, according to a scientist
We know what our immune system is about. It's what fends off bugs and determines how long it takes us to recover from illnesses. We may have attempted to boost it by popping a multivitamin, eating an orange or even trying an overpriced ginger shot when we feel a cold brewing. But this narrow view barely scratches the surface of its wide-ranging impact not only on our health but also our longevity, says immunologist Dr Jenna Macciochi. 'Our immune system is the single greatest arbiter of both how long we live and the quality of those years,' she writes in her new book Immune to Age: The Game-Changing Science of Lifetime Health. At a time when longevity has become the latest obsession of millionaire tech bros (Bryan Johnson spends up to $2 million a year to extend his life expectancy through hit 40-a-day supplement habit, morning oxygen therapy and regular plasma transfusions from his teenage son), Dr Macciochi's focus is on improving the simple things – mainly our diet and exercise levels – to harness the power of our immune system to keep us in better health for the 80 years we're likely to live for. 'The longevity space has become dominated by male voices, 'hack your way to the perfect protocol', '20 things to do before you leave your house in the morning',' she says. 'I wanted to be the anti-Bryan Johnson.' There's no evidence that living this way will extend your lifespan or make your latter years any healthier, Dr Macciochi notes. And she would know – she's a bona fide scientist. After growing up on a farm in rural Scotland, which kickstarted her fascination with health and disease, she studied immunology at the University of Glasgow before securing her PhD at Imperial College London. She went on to work for biotech companies and research institutes before lecturing at the University of Sussex. She is now a consultant and author based in Brighton, where she lives with her two children. 'Most people will be able to tell you where their digestive system is, where the brain is, where their lungs are,' Dr Macciochi notes. The immune system, meanwhile, is a harder concept to grasp. It's made up of hundreds of different types of cells and signalling molecules, controlled by around 8,000 genes – making it the second-most complicated system in our body, after our brains. Rather than being in one place, it's located throughout our bodies. Around 70 per cent of the immune system is found in our digestive tract while the rest ranges from the skin's surface to our bone marrow, as well as from brain to big toe. 'It's a testament to how important it is,' she says. 'I'm trying to get people to stop just thinking about their immune system for colds and flus,' Dr Macciochi says. Protecting us from bugs is one of its key roles, however. It's why immune cells line the entry points to our bodies – the eyes, nose and mouth – which are coated in a defensive mucus that aims to catch viruses and bacteria before they can travel deeper into our bodies. 'We've always looked at the immune system through the lens of infection, which became less relevant in a country like the UK in the last 50 years because we have antibiotics, we have vaccines and we have public health measures that means we're not dying from antibiotics, diphtheria and measles,' Dr Macciochi notes. However, our immune system is also working in other ways to keep us well, Dr Macciochi notes. It monitors and eliminates potential cancer cells, protects against autoimmune disorders and manages our response to allergens. It even plays a role in chronic diseases, as inflammation, which is triggered by the immune system, is thought to be a driving force in heart disease, diabetes, cancer and dementia, she notes. The immune system is what has kept the human species alive for hundreds of thousands of years by triggering an inflammatory response when we become infected with a virus or bacteria. 'It makes the body a hostile environment for a germ, so you can kill the germ and get rid of it,' Dr Macciochi explains. However, this inflammatory response is being triggered too often as a result of our modern lifestyles that typically consists of a poor quality diet, frequent exposure to pollutants and mental stress, she says. 'It's sending danger signals to our immune system but the danger isn't a real danger and it's not acute, it's like constant, tiny hits,' Dr Macciochi says. The result is 'inflammageing' which is the low-level, unwanted inflammation that builds up over time. 'It's like rust on a car' and fuels the onset of non-communicable diseases. 'Inflammation will happen anyway – there'll be a gradual increase with age, just like everything wears out with time,' she notes. 'I don't think we can make ourselves invincible to that but we can definitely push back on this slow burn of chronic inflammation.' Research into the hallmarks of ageing has shown that inflammation accelerates them all, Dr Macciochi says. 'The telomeres on the end of our chromosomes, which are protective tips, inflammation accelerates wearing that down. The mitochondria in our cells, which are these little energy battery packs, the inflammation makes them less efficient.' It also contributes to DNA damage, which can drive the growth of cancer, she says. 'In all of these systems, inflammation puts this extra burden on top of them, so they have to work harder and then over time you get the wear and tear effect.' 'In the UK, we live on average to 80, which is amazing, compared to 150 years ago when you'd be lucky to get to 50,' Dr Macciochi says. 'We've had an amazing longevity revolution already.' However, the average Brit has a health span of 60, meaning there are '20 years where, medically, we can keep you alive and functioning but your quality of life might not be very good', she says. 'You might be on multiple medications and then medications to treat the side effects of those medications.' While our body's system will decline with age, unhealthy lifestyles preclude us from engaging in the activities that keep us young, she says. Setting up good habits that support our immune system now can elongate the number of years we spend free from illness – these are the habits Dr Macciochi recommends. It's not news that exercise is good for us but its ability to improve immune health and life expectancy really are second to none, according to Dr Macciochi. One study found that regular exercisers live up to seven years longer but also have more years in good health. 'There are very few, if any, things medicine can offer that come anywhere close to that magnitude of benefit,' she notes. Surprisingly, the benefits of exercise stems from the fact that it triggers inflammation – but the good kind. 'I liken it to a dirty kitchen table,' Dr Macciochi says. 'If I spill some coffee on it, and then I clean it, I'm going to end up with a table that's cleaner than it was before I spilled the coffee. That's how exercise works as an anti-inflammatory.' 'You exercise and get a rise in inflammation, but in a very controlled way that then gives this super rise in anti-inflammatory kind of clean-up, which doesn't just clean up the muscles that you've been working in the gym but works across the whole body,' she says. 'It's one of the best anti-inflammatory tools we have.' Exercise also keeps the thymus gland healthier for longer. This is located in our necks and produces T cells, which are the master controllers of the immune system, but its performance declines with age and it has deteriorated significantly by the age of 70, which is why older adults become more vulnerable to infections like pneumonia and shingles, Dr Macciochi says. 'There's some lovely research showing that physical activity offsets that decline,' she says. 'It's not going to stop it, it will still have this change but it's going to be happening much slower.' Ideally, we should all be doing some cardiovascular exercise and resistance-based exercise, Dr Macciochi says but most people will benefit simply from breaking up long periods of sitting, she says. 'Don't defer until the perfect week when you can get to the gym five times,' she says. 'Take your baseline activity level and make an increment, make it sustainable and then build it up again.' 'As a nation, we are eating almost all the time,' Dr Macciochi says. Research shows that people are in a 'fed state' for 18 hours a day. 'Our digestion was never designed to cope with this,' she says. In the time after eating a meal, our bodies need a break to digest the food and return postprandial (post-eating) inflammation to baseline levels, she explains. 'If you're snacking from 7am to 9pm, your body is never getting that nice rhythm,' Dr Macciochi says. Unwanted inflammation will build up and contribute to inflammageing, she says. Meanwhile, studies have shown that eating less – reducing calories by 20 to 30 per cent while still meeting all nutritional needs – reduces inflammatory markers and inflammageing, she notes. While this approach may be recommended for younger people, especially below the age of 40, Dr Macciochi advises older groups against calorie restriction, so that they don't lose muscle mass. However, people should focus on consolidating their food into three meals, she says. 'Make those meals really nourishing to prevent grazing all the time because we know that's really not helpful for inflammation.' Olive oil is one of the most-researched anti-inflammatory food, Dr Macciochi says. 'It contains oleocanthal which has a molecular structure similar to the well-known anti-inflammatory ibuprofen,' she notes. 'It's thought that people in the Mediterranean are living so long and so well because they're getting this tiny anti-inflammatory effect every day through the olive oil that they use,' Dr Macciochi says. 'If people want to invest in a longevity supplement, I would say start with olive oil.' The wider Mediterranean diet is made up of minimally processed grains, legumes, nuts, seeds, fresh seasonal produce, olive oil and oily fish, she notes. 'These dietary patterns don't just prevent chronic disease – they actively mitigate the mechanisms driving inflammageing,' according to Dr Macciochi. Research also shows that adopting the MIND diet, made up of antioxidant-rich leafy greens, berries, wholegrain, nuts beans and fish, will reduce inflammation and protect against Alzheimer's. 'It has been designed to take elements that are good for brain health,' Dr Macciochi explains. 'It's high in polyphenols, antioxidants and it's good for the gut and it's anti-inflammatory.' 'People don't make the link between cognitive function and inflammation but that's a growing area,' she says. 'If we have raised inflammation in the body, that will be affecting what happens in the brain. We have immune cells in the brain called microglia and when they sense danger, they start spitting out inflammation which we know is then linked to cognitive decline.' 'Around 70 per cent of our immune cells are located along the digestive tract,' Dr Macciochi notes. 'The main reason for that is because the digestive tract is an obvious route for infection. We also have a collection of microbes that live in there and make up the microbiome.' Our microbiome is essential for producing immune-modulating cells, such as T cells which prevent the immune system from overreacting to harmless substances or underperforming when we do encounter a bug, she explains. Fibre is the forgotten key for good gut health and good immune health. 'When your microbes break it down, they produce short-chain fatty acids which are anti-inflammatory,' Dr Macciochi says. 'They keep the gut barrier really tight. They help seal up postprandial gut leakiness. Vegetables, fruit and legumes are all rich sources of fibre but it's important to increase how many you're eating slowly to reduce the risk of uncomfortable bloating, she adds. Immune to Age: The Game-Changing Science of Lifetime Health is out now. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Yahoo
"My Mom Almost Died From It": 21 Common Medical Conditions That Can Be Much, Much More Serious Than You Think
When it comes to our health, sometimes seemingly small things can have big consequences. Recently, on Reddit, people shared common medical conditions that can be much more serious than people realize, and it was really eye-opening. Here are some of the top comments: 1."Sleep apnea." —SwiftBilly "I was diagnosed 12ish years ago, but couldn't stand the CPAP they gave me, so I pretty much ignored it. About eight months ago, I was diagnosed with seizures. Turns out they're a secondary condition of untreated sleep apnea. I got an updated CPAP about four months ago, and it works so much better than my first one." —epicenter69 Related: 2."High blood pressure. We don't call it 'the silent killer' for nothing." —JoMoBloMo "Oof, for real! I left my hypertension undiagnosed and untreated for numerous years. No one thought it was true for me because I was 'so young to have high blood pressure' in my early and mid-20s. But heart problems run in my family, and I had all the high-risk behavior. When I got on meds, it was a game changer, and I feel so much better." —Secure-Persimmon-421 3."Autoimmune disease. It's painful, silent, and not easy to diagnose." —Teeeeeeeenie "It takes, ON AVERAGE, years to get diagnosed after the onset of symptoms. In the meantime, doctors are completely dismissive of your symptoms. You are tired because you are 'depressed.' Your hair is falling out because of 'stress.' Meanwhile, you feel like you're going crazy." —johnstonb "It took 11 years for me to get diagnosed with Hashimoto's disease. I also have vitiligo. I honestly feel like if the vitiligo hadn't shown up, I would still be fighting for a diagnosis. Once I had an autoimmune disorder that showed on my skin and couldn't be ignored, doctors started taking me more seriously." —Opening-Interest747 "I lost six years of my life, was put on every anti-depressant/anti-psychotic medication, was diagnosed as Bipolar, and was eventually locked up in a mental institution. All because it never occurred to my doctors to check my thyroid." —ChefCarolina 4."Migraines. They can be totally debilitating and increase the likelihood of other serious neurological disorders." —Quickhurryupslowdown "I had to take FMLA seven years ago for a migraine that lasted day and night for 2.5 months straight. MRI showed I had suffered four mini strokes on my left temporal lobe. That was miserable. Wake up, light and sound hurt, and pass out from pain. I ate once every other day at best." —ozzies09tc "My husband has had chronic, almost daily migraines for almost 20 years. It's debilitating! His life revolves around how his head feels. It's the worst during the summer months, he spends days to weeks in our bedroom with blackout curtains drawn and an eye mask on. I feel so horrible that I can't help him. He's tried numerous medications, injections, supplements, diet changes, etc, and nothing helps. He's seen all different types of doctors to try to nail down the cause, but no one can figure it out. I can't imagine being in the amount of pain he is in most days, but he is still the nicest, most positive person I know." —takethepain-igniteit 5."Dehydration. It can impair brain function and cause organ failure and death. It's also easier than you think to become dehydrated." —notade50 "After a bout of gastro managed to get dehydrated. Couldn't remember certain details, such as where I was and what day and date it was. Couldn't remember a special holiday and whether it had happened or was about to happen. Scary, and yet nobody thought I should get to the ER. I've said to those close to me that if that happens again, get me an ambulance. Really sucks not to have the same concern shown to me that I show to others." —CEO_of_my_life "Had kidney stones twice and was hospitalized for dehydration twice. Drink lots of water, my friends." —Without_Portfolio 6."Having chronic pain. People just can't imagine never having a break from being stuck with pain, and how it affects basically anything in daily life. Directly and indirectly. From systemic sleep deprivation to a full-blown depression and all sorts of other health risks." —Ortofun "Agreed, never-ending pain, daily... and as you mentioned, all the depression, hopelessness, and more creep in over time. I have had severe Rheumatoid Arthritis since I was 12 years old and have had it for almost 30 years. The older you get, the more difficult it becomes to keep up with life as a whole. Can't even tie my own shoelaces. Keep strong and all the best." —PampoenKoekie "It affects everything: sleep, diet, daily routines, mental health. Because I am in pain, I don't want to move. Because I don't move, I get more pain. Activity means more pain. Inactivity means more pain. There is no winning. Chronic pain causes severe fatigue. Fatigue means less exercise. We don't get better from fatigue if we don't exercise. But too much exercise can also give us more fatigue. Getting food means pain. Eating and digesting mean more fatigue. Food is as important as exercise. So, eating well is a must, if only we had the energy for it. It is a battle with no end. Depending on the reason for the pain, we can add some lovely side dishes like migraines, food intolerances, allergies, sensitivities, temperature dysregulation, sleep disorders, emotional dysregulation, social isolation, depression, anxiety, grief, and whatever else. When we consider the side effects of the medications... well... May the odds be ever in your favor." —StrikeExcellent2970 Related: 7."Diabetes." —dee-three "I was diagnosed type 1 when I was 22, I'm coming up on my 10-year diaversary… I can't tell you how many times I was hospitalized in the beginning. Even now with an insulin pump and continuous glucose monitor, I struggle some days. It can be very unpredictable. The worst so far for me has been slow healing and ridiculous wounds. I currently have no skin on my heels, all because I got a blister. It'll be a year tomorrow since I was first hospitalized for that." —mvachino67 8."Heartburn." —DoubleSunPossum "Yep. My mom had GERD, then Barrett's Esophagus, then malignant neoplasm of the esophagus. She's alive still, but I think only because they caught it early and could actually see damage." —Puzzleheaded-Diet-46 9."Epilepsy. People think my life isn't being impacted just because I'm not currently having a seizure. That's not the only symptom. It's so common, yet people generally know nothing about it." —LadyPickleLegs "Not to mention injuries, SUDEP [Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy], and status epilepticus, people can get brain damage, and some can even die from a seizure. I never knew that there were all different types of epilepsy or how dangerous some types can be before my daughter had her first (which was clusters for 30 minutes before paramedics arrived). Also, side effects from medicine affect day-to-day life and require extra caution with activities like swimming." —ScreenSignificant596 10."Changes in bowel habits — don't delay investigations." —sprinklywinks "Seriously! And if your doctor doesn't take you seriously, find someone else. I nearly died from fecal impaction throughout my entire large intestine, and even into my small intestine. My doctor actually had a go at me for 'complaining about symptoms that were just annoying but not serious' for YEARS before referring me to a GI specialist. I would have saved myself a lot of pain and malnutrition if I'd just gotten a second opinion earlier." —ImpactFlimsy5376 Related: 11."HPV can cause cervical, uterine, ovarian, and esophageal cancer. But it's commonly looked at as 'most people get it at some point in their life, it'll go away on its own in a few years.' And HSV (herpes/cold sores) can be deadly for babies." —Ask4Answers_ "Agreed. It's such a silent thing in your body. I was 33 when the regular smear test turned out to be a CIN III, the stage before it became cervical cancer. I had a review appointment with a hospital, not knowing they would do a treatment to remove a certain amount of my cervix right away. I was shocked how close I was to getting cancer there." —Common-Extension8892 12."Pediatric asthma. We've been to the PICU twice, and she's only 3. It's scary how rhinovirus can trigger respiratory distress. " —External-Ad-5642 "I was one of those kids, way back before the treatments and meds we have now. I was hospitalized 16 times between the ages of 5 and 16 with pneumonia. Had a collapsed lung once. Missing so much school alone had a profound effect on my life. I'm so lucky we have inhaled steroids and rescue inhalers now. I can't imagine how it was for my parents, watching their child gasp for air like a fish out of water. If I caught a cold, it almost always ended in pneumonia. I feel for you and your child, but know we're in a much better position to treat this disease now. Hang in there." —DarthFoofer 13."Endometriosis." —flaminhotcheetah "I battled endometriosis for years; it was debilitating. I felt like I got no freaking break from it, I was hurting before, during, and after period, and it started all over gain next month. I couldn't do it any longer and finally had a partial hysterectomy at the age of 27." —Successful-Love6146 14."Sepsis. Many think it's just a bad infection, but it's a life-threatening response to infection that can lead to organ failure and death if not treated quickly. Early signs like confusion, rapid breathing, or extreme chills should never be ignored." —ColdAntique291 "My mom nearly died from sepsis. She got a UTI and had zero symptoms until she developed the symptoms you describe. If my dad didn't notice her confusion, she might not have gone to the hospital in time. She now has to regularly take home UTI tests because she continues to get asymptomatic UTIs." —justlkin "Spent weeks in the hospital this past fall with sepsis. I'm positive that the only reason I survived it is because I wasn't septic until AFTER I checked in. I arrived with four different severe infections, and they flagged me as a high sepsis risk. Lo and behold, about 12 hours after I got into my room, my skin felt like it was on fire, and I started projectile vomiting every 5 minutes, and I shivered so hard I cracked two ribs." —ready_set_cry 15."Alcoholism. In A LOT of circles, getting completely hammered every single night of the week is seen as commonplace and even amusing. The physical health aspect alone is disastrous, not to mention the mental health piece is completely nightmarish. I got out of it before things got too bad for me, but I was easily heading down a road you don't want to be on. Quitting drinking 100% saved my life in more ways than one." —eggflip1020 "I'm watching one of my daughter's friends slowly drink herself to death as we speak. She's 22. She's been in multiple car accidents she doesn't remember, she's urinated on herself while sleeping, she's bloated, and she HAS to drink every day at this point or she starts going through withdrawal. She realized she needed to change when she was blacking out every time she was drinking- turns out, she's reasoned that this 'change' was that she needed to stop drinking hard liquor. Her parents are quite literally drinking themselves to death as we speak, so it's no wonder she's on the path she is. I wish I could do something to help." —Yabbos77 16."Pregnancy." —nomcormz "It seems like people forget that women still regularly die while pregnant and during childbirth." —creepyging923 Related: 17."Anemia. Not only are there very serious types, like sickle cell, that can be extremely painful and life-threatening. But even plain old iron deficiency anemia can be extremely debilitating and difficult to treat." "I have regular old iron deficiency anemia. It's caused by extremely heavy and constant menstruation from a combination of uterine fibroids and bilateral ovarian masses that are quite literally the size of small melons. I am scheduled for surgery in September, but I need to manage as best I can until then. The fatigue and tiredness I feel are beyond description. Some days, I can barely even make myself get up to go to the bathroom. Most days, I can only muster up enough energy to be functional for a couple of hours. I can't drive long distances anymore. I'm worried it's not safe. I'm always cold, my hair is falling out, and my skin is dry and itchy. I also get sores in my mouth and bruises that never heal. I take supplements, eat an iron-rich diet, and have infusions, but it's slow going to actually see improvement. The anemia and the treatments I've undergone to help fix it have caused a cascade of other vitamin and mineral deficiencies that have their own side effects. I can't be out in the sun, or I break out in hives. Some of my issues have been caused by the bleeding itself, like dehydration and hypovolemia. People, even some doctors, don't understand that severe cases of anemia can be debilitating. My whole life is more or less on pause right now because of these issues." —kmill0202 18."PCOS. While it's not disabling, the symptoms have dominated my life since puberty and into my 30s and foreseeable future. It's not just irregular periods and intense pain when it comes. It's been nearly two decades of battling with acne that is more than 'you need to wash your face and use topicals.' It's endless frustration being told that to get rid of it, I must lose weight. Not understanding why the same diet and exercise regimens weren't working for me as for my friends, only to learn at 30 that PCOS gives me insulin resistance and I have to eat less and completely differently." "A battle to look normal. And I don't even have the infertility struggles and hair growth issues that other PCOS sufferers have to endure." —Majestic_Frosting316 "Most doctors only give a shit about PCOS in regards to infertility, not any of the debilitating or humiliating symptoms that can wreck one's life." —littlecactuscat 19."Urinary tract infections. Lots of elderly people end up with broken hips or even blood infections that begin as UTIs." —Emergency-Economy654 "My gramps died earlier this year from a UTI that was symptomless but got into his bloodstream." —1800twat "The symptoms it causes in elderly people are also different from the ones exhibited by younger people. One of the main symptoms, other than pain, is confusion/dizziness. The symptoms can manifest almost like a stroke or hypoxia." —Yabbos77 20."ADHD. It's definitely commonly recognized and treated, but I don't think most non-ADHD people truly understand how frustrating it is to live with it. Your whole life revolves around it, because unless you're always keeping it in check, you can't live in normal society, and it's fucking exhausting having to always be hyper aware of everything you do. Your productivity, your memory, your sensory perception, all of that, is, by default, hindered permanently compared to a neurotypical person, but unfortunately, most things are built around neurotypical capabilities (working 9-5, etc.), and it's so mentally draining to force yourself to adapt to that culture. "Meds and good habits help, but they can only do so much. No matter what you do or take, you will sooner or later fall into a cycle of procrastination, of forgetfulness, of 'ADHD paralysis,' of sensory overstimulation, and it fucking sucks because it's so difficult to explain to people. It's become so normalized that most people, at least the ones I've talked to, think you're overplaying it or that it's not that big of a deal." —Frysken finally, "Impacted wisdom teeth. I almost died from mine. One day, I woke up with a toothache and went to the ER. They sent me home, said you have a toothache, go see a dentist. The next day, it was swollen, and the pain was worse, so I went to a different ER. They gave me painkillers and told me to go see a dentist. The next day, I woke up, and my eye was swollen shut." "My throat was swollen, and I had trouble breathing. Went to a third ER where they told me I had an abscess from impacted wisdom teeth, and the swelling was very close to my brain. If I had waited another hour, I'd be dead. So I went from a minor toothache to almost dead in about three days. So any time I hear someone question whether or not to get their wisdom teeth out, I insist they do!" —MeggyGrex Is there anything you would add? Tell us about it in the comments or via the anonymous form below: Also in Goodful: Also in Goodful: Also in Goodful:
