Air quality maps show how Canadian wildfire smoke is affecting Midwest, Northeast
Air quality alerts are in effect Monday in Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts and Delaware.
On Monday morning, Detroit's air quality was among the worst in the world, ranking third, according to IQAir.
A map of the current Air Quality Index, the federal measurement system, showed ratings of unhealthy and unhealthy for sensitive groups for areas around the Great Lakes and the U.S.-Canada border in the Northeast, Monday morning.
The air index has six ratings:
Sensitive groups include those who have a heart or lung disease, as well as older adults, children and pregnant women.
The smoke was expected to sink over the next couple of days, impacting more of the Northeast, CBS News meteorologist Rob Marciano said.
There were more than 700 active wildfires in Canada, as of Monday morning, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre.
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CNN
2 hours ago
- CNN
Can You Lower Your Risk for Dementia? - Chasing Life with Dr. Sanjay Gupta - Podcast on CNN Podcasts
Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:00:03 Welcome to Paging Dr. Gupta. Thank you so much for joining us. We are really trying to be your source for answers to whatever health questions you've been mulling over. Feel free to send those in to us. This is the show where we take those questions, really dig into the science and hopefully the stories behind them. Kyra's back with us. Who do we have first? Kyra Dahring 00:00:24 Hey Sanjay. So first up today, we've got a question from Alan in Ottawa, Canada, who wrote in asking if having type 2 diabetes accelerates cognitive decline if you're over the age of 70. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:00:40 Alan, I am really glad you asked about this, because so many people in both Canada and the United States have type 2 diabetes. In fact, around 11% of the general population lives with diabetes, and the numbers for those over the age of 65 jump up close to 30%. Keep that in mind when we give you the answer right after the break. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:01:06 'Alright, so does having type 2 diabetes affect cognitive decline in older adults? Well, the short answer, unfortunately, is yes. Studies find that diabetes can increase the odds of developing cognitive decline up to two times. A 2021 JAMA study following about 10,000 men and women found that those who had diabetes at age 70 had a higher likelihood of developing cognitive decline. So, you know, older adults with diabetes do have higher instances of dementia overall, Alzheimer's disease, and also something known as vascular dementia. And it has also been shown that the risk of cognitive decline in dementia is higher for those who develop diabetes at a younger age. So the earlier the age when you develop diabetes, the more likely you are to have cognitive decline again after age 70. Now, we don't know exactly why this is, but the connection appears to be pretty strong. So much so that some people have started calling Alzheimer's type 3 diabetes. Now that might be a bit hyperbolic, but I think there's no question that we know diabetes raises the risk of heart disease and stroke, which hurt heart and blood vessels, damaged blood vessels in the brain, could contribute to cognitive decline. We also know that the brain is dependent on many different chemicals, which can become imbalanced when insulin is not working as it should. Some of those changes could trigger cognitive decline, high blood sugar all by itself is pro-inflammatory that could damage brain cells and cause dementia to develop. But all this to say that there's clearly a connection between lifestyle and dementia. In fact, if you look at some of the latest studies, probably around 40% of dementia cases are preventable through lifestyle changes -- healthy balanced diet, physical activity, exercising your brain, social activity, and yes, keeping your blood sugar in check. There was another recent study called the Poynter Study, around 2,000 participants from across the United States, people who were between the ages of 60 and 79 and were cognitively healthy, okay, so they did not have problems, but they were leading sedentary lifestyles and had a higher risk of dementia due to health issues like pre-diabetes or borderline high blood pressure. And what they did in these two groups is one was given sort of a structured lifestyle intervention program, and the other was given guidance, but they were told to sort of do it on their own. All of it was geared towards healthy behaviors. Things like 30 minutes of cardio a day plus several days of weight training, a Mediterranean DASH diet, which is basically the Mediterranean diet with even more salt restrictions, certain brain training exercises, social activities, and health monitoring. Both groups that focused on these lifestyle changes did see an improvement in cognitive function. So that was really encouraging. There was other studies that have shown people who had even been given the diagnosis of cognitive impairment or early Alzheimer's disease also saw an improvement. Not only were they able to slow or stall the progression of the disease, in some cases they were able to reverse it with lifestyle changes alone. So there's this connection between high blood sugar, diabetes and cognitive impairment. But I think the evidence is becoming increasingly clear that there's a lot that you can do about it. Hope that helps, Alan. I'll be back to answer another one of your questions right after the break. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:04:50 All right, all sorts of pagers going off. Kyra, who's next? Kyra Dahring 00:04:55 Okay, next up we've got Cal. Now, he's wondering, can learning a new language or even picking up a new instrument, can that actually help slow down cognitive decline? Or what kind of impact does that have? Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:05:11 'So just as keeping your body active is important, and we know it's really important, not just for your physical health, but your brain health as well, we also know that learning a new language or learning to play an instrument can have a really significant beneficial impact on cognitive decline. I love this question. I love the topic. It is true that just moderate brisk activity, physical activity, is probably the most evidence-based way to improve your overall brain health. But when it comes to doing other things, learning new skills, taking on new hobbies, the key word here is new. A lot of people focus on things like crossword puzzles, which can be really helpful for overall brain-health, but mostly what crossword-puzzles do is make you really good at crossword puzzles. What you want to do is something new! Learning a new language is kind of like a form of developing cognitive reserve, like a demanding career of some sort that's going to strengthen and organize your brain circuits, helping to fight off the initial symptoms of dementia until later in life. I really loved this one study when it came to instruments. There was a study of twins where one twin had developed dementia, the other didn't. And what they found after controlling for education and physical activity, that playing a musical instrument was significantly associated with lower likelihood of dementia and cognitive impairment. So, you know, genetically identical individuals, the only big difference was that one played an instrument. Taking that a step further, there was a study that found professional musicians who began training before age seven actually had reliably thicker areas of certain parts of the brain, such as the anterior corpus callosum, which is the very front of the brain that sort of connects the two hemispheres. Even learning an instrument later in life, was associated with improved attention, improved thinking skills, and overall better mental health. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:07:18 'So, Shukriya, merci, gracias for your question. Thank you very much. That's all the time we have for today. Thanks to everyone who sent in questions. I'm inspired by your curiosity. I love reading these questions, I love hearing your stories and I love your voices. That is what makes this show so special. So keep the questions coming. If there's something health related you've been wondering about send it to us, we might try and answer it next week! Record a voice memo email it to AskSanjay@ or give us a call, 470-396-0832, and leave a message. Thanks so much for listening. I'll be back next Tuesday.
CNN
2 hours ago
- CNN
Pope's Gen Z appeal, prime time for hurricanes, combating money stress: Catch up on the day's stories
👋 Welcome to 5 Things PM! Worried about money? A lot of people are. Experts offer tips on how you can prepare for hard times — and reduce stress in the process. Here's what else you might have missed during your busy day. Rome just wrapped up the equivalent of a Catholic Woodstock, and the headliner was the new American pope. Hundreds of thousands of young people from across the globe waved flags on the Eternal City's ancient streets and camped out in warehouses as they gathered for faith, music and religious services. The Atlantic hurricane season has been relatively calm so far, but August through mid-September is historically the most active stretch. The next few weeks could be a whole different ballgame as the conditions that fuel these storms start to fall into place. As part of a modernization effort, the Trump administration will stop sending out paper checks for Social Security beneficiaries soon. There will, however, be some exceptions. Here's what you need to know. Until recently, women's soccer outside the US had a relatively short history, but the sport has exploded in popularity around the world in the past few years. The progress is encouraging, but there have been bumps along the way. Proteins from an ancient rhino tooth unearthed in the Canadian Arctic have allowed scientists to look much deeper into the past than ever before. Dinosaur proteins could be next. GET '5 THINGS' IN YOUR INBOX If your day doesn't start until you're up to speed on the latest headlines, then let us introduce you to your new favorite morning fix. Sign up here for the '5 Things' newsletter. 🔥 Fire in the sky: Firefighters have been battling a large blaze in the Grand Canyon since July 4, but it's been intensifying because of the heat and gusty winds. This led to the formation of an ominous-looking fire cloud more than 24,000 feet up in the air. Elon Musk awarded $29 billion pay package from Tesla As more colon cancer cases are found in adults under 50, see symptoms to watch for In the only country that prohibits girls and women from higher education, the Taliban is cracking down even harder on schools 📸 Behind the scenes: Legendary music photographer Jim Marshall started taking pictures of the Grateful Dead in 1966. The resulting images are intimate and honest, reflecting the trust he built over the years. Take a look. 🫏 Democratic lawmakers left which state in an effort to prevent a partisan redrawing of the congressional map?A. AlabamaB. MissouriC. TexasD. Louisiana⬇️ Scroll down for the answer. 👋 We'll see you tomorrow.🧠 Quiz answer: C. The political battle over Texas' redistricting effort is having major implications across the country.📧 Check out all of CNN's newsletters. Today's edition of 5 Things PM was edited and produced by CNN's Kimberly Richardson and Sarah Hutter.
Medscape
4 hours ago
- Medscape
Cognitive Impact From Dementia Risk Factors Greater in Women
TORONTO — A number of modifiable risk factors are more common in women than in men and have a greater impact on cognition, an early look at new research showed. Six modifiable dementia risk factors were more prevalent in women, whereas only three were more common in men. Investigators also found that the impact on cognition from some of these factors was greater in women than in men, especially hearing loss and diabetes. However, the impact of these and other risk factors varied by age. Megan Fitzhugh, PhD The results suggest personalized health and lifestyle interventions should consider both sex and age, study author Megan Fitzhugh, PhD, assistant professor, Department of Neurosciences, University of California San Diego, told Medscape Medical News. 'Clinicians should familiarize themselves with the 14 identified modifiable risk factors, and if their patients have these risk factors, consider their sex and age, and try to target the behavior changes accordingly to minimize the impact on cognition and dementia risk,' Fitzhugh said. The findings were presented on July 28 at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference (AAIC) 2025. At Greater Risk It's well-known that women are at greater risk for dementia. The lifetime risk for Alzheimer's disease (AD) is 1 in 5 for women compared with 1 in 10 for men. Sex-specific factors such as pregnancy and menopause may contribute to this imbalance. But while many researchers tackle this issue from a biological perspective, Fitzhugh focuses on the effects of modifiable risk factors. She used the 2008 wave of the Health and Retirement study, an ongoing population-based study of a representative sample of American retirees and their spouses who complete questionnaire every 2 years (in 'waves'). After excluding anyone younger than 40 years and those without self-reported risk factor information, the study sample included 17,182 individuals. Fitzhugh concentrated on items included in the Lancet Report on Dementia Prevention. As reported by Medscape Medical News , 45% of dementia risk factors are potentially modifiable. Risk factors identified in the Lancet report include less education in early life (contributing 5% to risk); hearing loss (7%), elevated low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (7%), depression (3%), traumatic brain injury (3%), physical inactivity (2%), diabetes (2%), smoking (2%), hypertension (2%), obesity (1%), and excessive alcohol (1%) in midlife; and social isolation (5%), air pollution (3%), and vision loss (2%) in late life. Looking at prevalence, investigators found that six of the 14 risk factors were more common in women, including physical inactivity, depression, smoking, poor sleep, less education and poor vision (for example, glaucoma or cataracts). Only three risk factors were more common in men, including hearing loss, diabetes, and alcohol use. There was no difference in prevalence between men and women in high BMI, hypertension, and social isolation. Plotting Cognition The Health and Retirement Study also gathers data on global cognition (immediate recall, delayed recall, numeracy, etc.) using a 27-item scale. Fitzhugh separated mean cognitive scores for men and women and for three age groups (middle age: 40-59 years; middle to older age: 60-79 years; and oldest age: 80 years and over), then plotted risk factors in each group. The graphs she created illustrate the differences in cognitive performance between having and not having a risk factor for each sex. For example, the diabetes plot shows this risk factor has a much bigger impact on cognition in women. 'The line for men is relatively flat, so their cognition is really the same if they have diabetes or not, but for women, if they have diabetes, cognition is much lower compared to women who don't have diabetes', explained Fitzhugh. In addition to diabetes, other risk factors that have a greater cognitive impact on women included poor sleep, BMI, hypertension, poor vision, less education, and hearing loss. Along with high LDL, hearing loss is the largest modifiable risk factor, accounting for 7% of dementia risk, according to the Lancet Commission report. But even though more men have hearing loss across all ages, it appears to be more impactful on women in terms of cognition, said Fitzhugh. 'Maybe we should be targeting women with hearing loss in middle to older age, making sure they get hearing aids,' she said. Elsewhere in her research, Fitzhugh found women with hearing loss have a greater risk for dementia than men with hearing loss. 'There's something about hearing loss in women that is particularly detrimental.' The cognitive impact of risk factors also varies by age, investigators found. Among women, the impact of hearing loss was greatest in middle to older age. Poor sleep only had a significant impact in middle age, which coincides with the menopause transition. And in the oldest age, less education was the only risk factor to have a significant impact on cognition. In men, only smoking had a greater cognitive impact, but interestingly, only in the older age group. 'The way I think about age in this study is it's telling us when, potentially, we should be targeting these risk factors,' said Fitzhugh. She recognizes this is 'just a snapshot' in time and said she'd like to 'map out' how risk factors impact cognition over time. Commenting on the research, Liisa Galea, PhD, Treliving Family Chair in Women's Mental Health, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, and professor of psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, said that more modifiable factors are associated with cognition in females than males is 'most surprising.' 'Clearly these factors are important for everyone, but we need more targeted messaging to women across the lifespan about the importance of these variables for their brain health,' Galea said.
