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Yahoo
28-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
13 Menopause Symptoms You May Not Have Heard About
"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links."Certain symptoms of menopause get more attention than others. Most people are aware that hot flashes and night sweats can come with the territory, but there are other side effects to have on your radar, including ones related to your skin and even your taste buds. Let's back up a moment: Perimenopause, which is the phase leading up to menopause, and menopause, which is when you naturally stop having periods, cause hormonal changes like a drop in estrogen production. That plummet in estrogen is largely responsible for the symptoms of menopause, explains Sherry Ross, M.D., an ob/gyn and women's health expert at Providence Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica, CA. Unfortunately, many of these symptoms aren't discussed. That can lead women to feel uneasy when they experience 'weird' menopause symptoms that are actually quite common. Meet the experts: Sherry Ross, M.D., is an ob/gyn and women's health expert at Providence Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica, CA. Lauren Streicher, M.D., is a clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and host of the podcast Come Again. Ife J. Rodney, M.D., is the founding director of Eternal Dermatology + Aesthetics. If you're dealing with symptoms that are interfering with your day-to-day or you're just uncomfortable, it's important to talk to your healthcare provider. Whether or not they're related to menopause, there may be treatment options available to help, and it's ideal to get personalized advice. But it's also key to understand what's happening in your body during this life phase, and why. With that in mind, these are some of the menopause symptoms you might experience—remember, every woman's experience can be unique—along with what you can do to help deal with them. That drop in estrogen can impact your skin's ability to retain moisture and produce collagen and elastin, which help give skin a youthful appearance, explains Ife J. Rodney, M.D., founding director of Eternal Dermatology + Aesthetics. 'Your skin also produces less sebum (or oil), which can lead to dryness,' she says. Washing with a mild cleanser, applying moisturizer with hyaluronic acid or glycerin after you take a bath or shower and throughout the day can be helpful, according to the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD).$13.52 at A decline in the hormone progesterone in menopause, as well as hot flashes, can disrupt sleep, says Lauren Streicher, M.D., a clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and host of the podcast Come Again. One of the most effective ways to combat this is hormone therapy, which helps to raise the levels of estrogen or estrogen and progesterone in your body, Dr. Ross says. Following a set bedtime routine, keeping your bedroom at a comfortable temperature, and getting regular exercise may help, too, according to the National Institute on Aging (NIA). A note on hormone therapy: While it can be helpful for many of these menopausal symptoms, there are a range of factors to consider, including how long ago you started menopause and your age. So, talk to your doctor to see whether you're a good candidate, and which type of hormone therapy may be best for you. Because estrogen helps support joint and muscle health, and can tamp down on inflammation, muscle and joint discomfort could arise when estrogen declines, Dr. Streicher explains. 'Keep in mind that people in mid-life are at risk for joint and muscle pain anyway,' Dr. Streicher says. While Dr. Streicher says that hormone therapy can help, she also suggests doing your best to maintain a healthy weight. 'Weight training and resistance training may help, too,' she says. There are estrogen receptors in your breast tissue, which means a drop in estrogen can lead to breast changes, Dr. Streicher says. 'Some people get increased breast tenderness and fullness during perimenopause,' she says. While there's not much you can do about this symptom, hormone therapy may counteract some of it. Many women may have a drop in saliva flow in menopause. 'Dry mouth is an under-appreciated symptom,' Dr. Streicher says. She recently did research on women and menopause, and discovered that 75% didn't realize that dry mouth was a symptom of the life stage. What's behind this? The mouth and salivary glands contain estrogen receptors, and those can be impacted by the drop in estrogen that naturally comes with menopause, Dr. Streicher says. Doing your best to stay well hydrated may help, she says. Fluctuating hormone levels can mess with your taste buds, and so can dry mouth, Dr. Streicher says. One small study even found that a 'significantly higher' percentage of women who had been through menopause couldn't identify the taste of the artificial sweetener sucralose as well as some bitter tastes compared to women who hadn't been through menopause. This is another symptom that hormone therapy may be able to mitigate. If you notice a change in the way you smell, it could be due to menopause. 'We have estrogen receptors in the skin, including in sweat glands,' Dr. Streicher says. That means your natural scent may change as your levels of estrogen drop. 'You also have people who are sweating more due to hot flashes—and that can lead to body odor,' Dr. Streicher says. Outside of hormone therapy, wearing layers that can be removed when you're hot may help, although that's not a perfect solution. Dropping estrogen levels can impact the production of keratin and collagen, proteins responsible for nail strength, Dr. Rodney says. Thyroid issues are also common in menopause, and those can impact the strength of your nails, Dr. Streicher says. Internal and external hydration (e.g. lathering up with a good hand lotion) can help with dry, brittle nails. Dr. Rodney adds that you may also want to make sure you have all of your nutritional bases covered, since some deficiencies could be at play. Talk to your doctor for personalized advice on this. Dizziness can be a sign of a lot of different health issues, making it important not to dismiss this as 'just' being due to menopause, Dr. Streicher says. But it can also be a symptom of the life phase thanks to changes in estrogen levels and insomnia, she says. 'If you have severe dizziness, I would make sure that nothing else is going on,' Dr. Streicher underscores. In other words, call or visit your doctor. Also known as paresthesia, hormonal changes in menopause like the drop in estrogen can lead to a numb, tingling feeling in some areas of the skin, Dr. Streicher says. Why? Estrogen supports healthy nerve function and, when levels drop, you can become vulnerable to nerve issues. Like dizziness, this symptom is also one of many that could be attributed to other causes and is best discussed with your doctor if it persists. Your vagina is full of hormone receptors and they're under-stimulated when you go through menopause, Dr. Streicher says. As a result, she says that 'the vaginal tissue becomes dry.' That can lead to symptoms like pain during sex, and burning or irritation. In addition to hormone therapy, using hormonal and non-hormonal vulvar and vaginal creams may help, she says. Just keep this in mind, per Dr. Streicher: 'A lot of women do require a prescription product.' So, talk to your doctor if this one is an issue for you. This is more common in perimenopause and early menopause, Dr. Streicher says. 'You have estrogen receptors throughout the brain,' she says. Going through the hormonal changes linked with perimenopause and menopause can impact your ability to think clearly as a result, she says. 'This can be treated with hormone therapy, and is a huge reason why many women take hormone therapy,' Dr. Streicher says. There are a few reasons why you may notice a change in your bowel habits. 'There are estrogen receptors throughout the gut,' Dr. Streicher says. As a result, changes in estrogen levels in your body may impact your bowel habits. But there also may be changes to your gut microbiome over time, she says. The best way to try to combat this is to focus on eating a healthy, varied diet that's high in fiber, Dr. Streicher says. While there are individual things you can do for each symptom, doctors stress that hormone therapy, also known as hormone replacement therapy, can help with many of them. 'Hormone replacement therapy is most effective in treating disruptive hot flashes, insomnia, or any menopausal symptoms negatively affecting a woman's quality of life,' Dr. Ross says. Dr. Streicher agrees. There are different forms of hormone therapy, including oral and topical formulas, Dr. Streicher points out. If you're interested in trying hormone therapy, it's best to talk to your doctor about next steps. Menopause can come with symptoms beyond hot flashes. If you're experiencing unusual symptoms, whether or not you suspect they're due to menopause, talk to your healthcare provider. They should be able to help guide you on next steps. You Might Also Like Can Apple Cider Vinegar Lead to Weight Loss? Bobbi Brown Shares Her Top Face-Transforming Makeup Tips for Women Over 50
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Former President Biden's Cancer Treatment Options
Former U.S. President Joe Biden speaks at a conference hosted by the Advocates, Counselors, and Representatives for the Disabled on April 15, 2025 in Chicago. Credit -In a statement from his personal office on May 18, former President Joe Biden revealed he has an aggressive form of prostate cancer that has spread to his bones. 'While this represents a more aggressive form of the disease, the cancer appears to be hormone-sensitive which allows for effective management,' his office said in a statement. 'The President and his family are reviewing treatment options with his physicians.' Recent studies show that survival for men with prostate cancer that has spread to the bone is just under two years. But this form of cancer, though aggressive, can sometimes be controlled. Here's what oncologists who treat prostate cancer say are the most common strategies for treating a cancer like Biden's, and some of the challenges. 'The good news is this: we have now entered an era of different treatments that I call therapy intensification where we are trying to attack cancer with a multi-modality approach,' says Dr. Maha Hussain, deputy director of the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. 'We can come up with a significant prolongation of life by comparison to when I entered the field." She has seen patients with prostate cancer that has spread survive and "live many, many years.' Most prostate cancer is fueled by the male hormone testosterone, so the most effective strategies to control it starve the cancer by cutting off its supply, say experts. Historically, doctors have removed the testes—the main source of the hormone—but today, pills and injections can suppress testosterone not just in the testes but in other organs that produce small amounts, such as the adrenal glands, as well. Doctors also now add chemotherapy to hormone-suppression to better control cancer growth. Exactly which combinations of treatments are right for Biden will depend on whether his cancer is new or if it was previously diagnosed and recently re-emerged. Either scenario is possible, say experts. Read More: The Race to Explain Why More Young Adults Are Getting Cancer With respect to having prostate cancer initially diagnosed at such an aggressive state, after it has already spread, 'I don't think there is any reason to think this could not be the natural history of prostate cancer in an older person,' says Dr. Robert Figlin, cancer center director at Cedars-Sinai Cancer Center. 'And this would not [indicate] something that was missed or mismanaged in past years. This is certainly something that can occur in the course of a male's life—it's not unusual to present in this way.' Many older men are diagnosed with aggressive disease, with studies showing that about 20% of prostate cancer cases are diagnosed in men 75 years and older, and that men 70 and older tended to have higher Gleason scores, an indicator of the cancer's aggressiveness, at diagnosis. (Biden's Gleason score is 9, his office said in the statement, indicating a more aggressive cancer.) 'Prostate cancer can sit dormant for years and suddenly decide to wake up,' says Hussain. 'I've seen all kinds of cases—all shades of grey.' Treatment options also depend on a patient's overall health. Other conditions a person might have can affect their ability to tolerate the therapies and side effects. 'We have to take into account other diseases a man may have, other medical conditions that may be life-limiting, goals that man has in terms of longevity and quality of life, and other medications he may be taking,' says Dr. Michael Morris, prostate cancer section head at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Immunotherapy—an exciting new treatment that harnesses the immune system to fight certain cancer types—is so far not effective against prostate cancer. While it has been successful in slowing melanoma, breast, lung, kidney and bladder cancers, and lymphoma, prostate cancer remains relatively hidden from the immune system, making it what doctors call a 'cold' cancer. 'I'd rather call it a sneaky cancer,' says Hussain. 'Prostate cancer cells literally sit inside the bone marrow next to the white blood cells," which are immune cells. "The white blood cells can't see it, so unlike other cancers, prostate cancer has still not been responsive to immunotherapies.' Read More: A New Immune Treatment May Work Against Several Cancer Types However, while current immunotherapy strategies may not be as effective against prostate cancer, new immune-based interventions are being explored, says Morris. 'For now, for a patient who presents today with prostate cancer, there is no real role for immunotherapy,' he says. 'But there are many ways of manipulating the immune system to activate against prostate cancer. If you ask me in another couple of years, we will have a quite a different message.' Doctors are also exploring whether introducing chemotherapy earlier, along with hormone-suppressing treatments could improve their chances of controlling the cancer and preventing it from spreading and becoming more aggressive. 'One of the most important questions for patients with newly diagnosed metastatic disease would need to answer is whether they need docetaxel chemotherapy in addition to [hormone suppressing] therapy,' says Dr. Timothy Daskivich, associate professor of urology at Cedars-Sinai. "Data suggests that patients with higher volume metastases benefit the most from docetaxel. If these patients don't get it up front, it could be a missed opportunity." Prostate cancer screening—done with a blood test for prostate specific antigen (PSA), a marker of cancer cells—has helped to lower deaths from the disease. But the screening has been controversial, since prostate cancer generally grows slowly and the test can pick up signs of benign prostate growth, which also occurs as men age. However, the American Cancer Society currently recommends that men with average risk of prostate cancer get screened beginning at age 50, if they are expected to live at least 10 more years, and that men with higher risk, including African-American men and those with a father or brother diagnosed with the disease, start earlier, at age 45. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends that most men stop screening at age 70, since at that time, men may be more likely to die of causes other than prostate cancer, and the risks of over-treating slow-growing cancers may outweigh the benefits. As vice president under President Barack Obama, Biden led the Cancer Moonshot to spur research into new treatments. As president in 2022, he set a nationwide goal of reducing cancer death rates by 50% over 25 years. The quest was personal for Biden, whose son Beau died in 2015 of brain cancer at age 46. 'Cancer touches us all,' he wrote in an Instagram post on May 19. "Like so many of you, Jill and I have learned that we are strongest in the broken places. Thank you for lifting us up with love and support." Contact us at letters@
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
What to know about prostate cancer after former President Joe Biden's diagnosis
Former President Joe Biden's office announced on Sunday that he was diagnosed with an "aggressive" form of prostate cancer. Biden's office said the cancer was diagnosed after "increasing urinary symptoms" and that it has metastasized, spreading to his bones. The statement added that the cancer is "hormone-sensitive," which may allow for effective treatment options, which Biden and his family are reviewing. Here's what to know about prostate cancer including the signs and symptoms, how it is diagnosed and how it is treated. Prostate cancer is the most common cancer -- after skin cancer -- diagnosed in American men, according to the American Cancer Society (ACS), the nation's leading cancer advocacy organization. The prostate is found below the bladder and in front of the rectum. Most prostate cancers develop from gland cells in the prostate, which make fluid that is added to semen, the ACS said. Diagnosis rates have increased about 3% every year since 2014, according to ACS. MORE: Former President Joe Biden's cancer diagnosis: What does a Gleason score of 9 mean? It's estimated that about one in eight men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in his lifetime. ACS estimates that there will be about 313,780 cases of prostate cancer and about 35,770 prostate cancer deaths in 2025. What are the signs and symptoms? Early prostate cancer generally does not cause symptoms but, when symptoms do occur, they include problems with urination or blood in the urine or semen, according to ACS. When prostate cancer is advanced, meaning it has grown larger or has metastasized, it can cause other problems including erectile dysfunction; weakness or numbness in the legs; loss of bladder or bowel control; weight loss; fatigue; or pain the ribs, hips or spine when the cancer has spread to the bones, ACS said. Dr. Maha Hussain, a prostate cancer expert and the Genevieve Teuton professor of medicine in the division of hematology-oncology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, told ABC News it is more common for prostate cancer to be found through regular annual exams than because of symptom occurrence. She added that many symptoms, such as frequent urination or difficulty passing urine, may not be due to prostate cancer but rather due to an enlarged prostate, which is common among older men. Prostate cancer can often be found early through screening tests, which increases the odds of successful treatment. ACS recommends men speak with their health care provider about the decision to screen and to have those discussions at age 40 or 45 for those at high risk and at age 50 for those at average risk. One screening test involves a blood test that measures level of prostate-specific antigens (PSA), which are proteins made by cells in the prostate gland. Although there is no cutoff level that clearly indicates the presence of cancer, the ACS said many doctors use a cutoff of four nanograms per milliliter to recommend further tests with a urologist. Dr. Nitin Yerram, co-director of urologic oncology at the John Theurer Cancer Center at Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey, said although PSA testing is a good tool, there are some pitfalls as well. "Using PSA screening is like using a sledgehammer to hammer a small nail, so it's not very precise," he told ABC News. "And PSA can be elevated for a variety of different reasons, whether it be inflammation, infection. Cancer is one of them, but [the test] doesn't differentiate between all of those." He added, "That said, it is still a great tool, and it's very important for men with an elevated PSA to get further work up to help determine why that's elevated." Prostate cancer can also be tested for via digital rectal exam, which is when a physician inserts a gloved, lubricated finger into the rectum to feel for bumps or hard areas on the prostate that indicate cancer, according to ACS. MORE: 'Strongest in the broken places': Joe and Jill Biden say thanks amid cancer diagnosis Patients may also undergo a prostate biopsy, which is when prostate cell samples are studied under a microscope to check for cancer. The National Cancer Institute said prostate biopsies can be assigned a Gleason score to determine how likely the cancer is to grow and spread. The score is determined by "adding together the two grades of cancer cells that make up the largest areas of the biopsied tissue sample," according to NCI. The Gleason score usually ranges from six to 10 with higher scores indicating a stronger likelihood of progression. President Biden's office said he received a Gleason score of nine. Treatment options for prostate cancer vary depending on what stage the cancer is in and how far it has spread. "The good news is, nowadays, we have had significant improvement in the medical management of prostate cancer that has spread, and there's been significant prolongation of life, and so there are all kinds of different treatment options available for these patients," Hussain said. For prostate cancers that are small or localized to the prostate, doctors may recommend observation or active surveillance to monitor if symptoms are changing or if the cancer is starting to grow. Surgery and radiation therapy are the most common treatments for men who are classified as low or intermediate risk, experts told ABC News. For men whose cancer is more advanced, chemotherapy or hormone therapy -- the latter of which is also known as androgen deprivation therapy -- are most common. "Testosterone, we know, is a driver of prostate cancer, and obviously all men have testosterone," Yerram said. "And so central to an anti-androgen therapy plan is really to reduce the levels of testosterone to as close to zero as possible to help stop progression of that prostate cancer and to provide treatment." "Specifically on President Biden, who obviously I'm not taking care of, but he has stage 4 cancer, so for him, anti-androgen therapy or chemotherapy will likely be first line for him," Yerram added. Experts said it is important for prostate cancer patients to follow up with their doctor after treatment to look for signs of cancer recurrence or treatment side effects. For localized or regional cancer, meaning the cancer is in the prostate or the cancer has spread to nearby structures, there is a five-year survival rate of more than 99%, according to ACS. MORE: Obama, Trump and other political leaders react to Biden's cancer diagnosis For For cancers that have spread to other parts of the body such as lungs, liver, or bone, the five-year survival rate is about 37%, ACS said. Hussain said that although metastatic prostate cancer is not curable, it is very much treatable, and that survival rates have increased over the last three decades. "We've really come a very, very long way in terms of how long patients are living," Hussain said. "When I entered the field, let's say 1990, the average longevity with metastatic prostate cancer, roughly, was about two-and-a-half years. Now. we have more than doubled that and ... we have many men who are actually living even much longer in my practice over the years." What to know about prostate cancer after former President Joe Biden's diagnosis originally appeared on
19-05-2025
- Health
What to know about prostate cancer after former President Joe Biden's diagnosis
Former President Joe Biden's office announced on Sunday that he was diagnosed with an "aggressive" form of prostate cancer. Biden's office said the cancer was diagnosed after "increasing urinary symptoms" and that it has metastasized, spreading to his bones. The statement added that the cancer is "hormone-sensitive," which may allow for effective treatment options, which Biden and his family are reviewing. Here's what to know about prostate cancer including the signs and symptoms, how it is diagnosed and how it is treated. What is prostate cancer? Prostate cancer is the most common cancer -- after skin cancer -- diagnosed in American men, according to the American Cancer Society (ACS), the nation's leading cancer advocacy organization. The prostate is found below the bladder and in front of the rectum. Most prostate cancers develop from gland cells in the prostate, which make fluid that is added to semen, the ACS said. Diagnosis rates have increased about 3% every year since 2014, according to ACS. It's estimated that about one in eight men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in his lifetime. ACS estimates that there will be about 313,780 cases of prostate cancer and about 35,770 prostate cancer deaths in 2025. What are the signs and symptoms? Early prostate cancer generally does not cause symptoms but, when symptoms do occur, they include problems with urination or blood in the urine or semen, according to ACS. When prostate cancer is advanced, meaning it has grown larger or has metastasized, it can cause other problems including erectile dysfunction; weakness or numbness in the legs; loss of bladder or bowel control; weight loss; fatigue; or pain the ribs, hips or spine when the cancer has spread to the bones, ACS said. Dr. Maha Hussain, a prostate cancer expert and the Genevieve Teuton professor of medicine in the division of hematology-oncology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, told ABC News it is more common for prostate cancer to be found through regular annual exams than because of symptom occurrence. She added that many symptoms, such as frequent urination or difficulty passing urine, may not be due to prostate cancer but rather due to an enlarged prostate, which is common among older men. How to screen for prostate cancer Prostate cancer can often be found early through screening tests, which increases the odds of successful treatment. ACS recommends men speak with their health care provider about the decision to screen and to have those discussions at age 40 or 45 for those at high risk and at age 50 for those at average risk. One screening test involves a blood test that measures level of prostate-specific antigens (PSA), which are proteins made by cells in the prostate gland. Although there is no cutoff level that clearly indicates the presence of cancer, the ACS said many doctors use a cutoff of four nanograms per milliliter to recommend further tests with a urologist. Dr. Nitin Yerram, co-director of urologic oncology at the John Theurer Cancer Center at Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey, said although PSA testing is a good tool, there are some pitfalls as well. "Using PSA screening is like using a sledgehammer to hammer a small nail, so it's not very precise," he told ABC News. "And PSA can be elevated for a variety of different reasons, whether it be inflammation, infection. Cancer is one of them, but [the test] doesn't differentiate between all of those." He added, "That said, it is still a great tool, and it's very important for men with an elevated PSA to get further work up to help determine why that's elevated." Prostate cancer can also be tested for via digital rectal exam, which is when a physician inserts a gloved, lubricated finger into the rectum to feel for bumps or hard areas on the prostate that indicate cancer, according to ACS. Patients may also undergo a prostate biopsy, which is when prostate cell samples are studied under a microscope to check for cancer. The National Cancer Institute said prostate biopsies can be assigned a Gleason score to determine how likely the cancer is to grow and spread. The score is determined by "adding together the two grades of cancer cells that make up the largest areas of the biopsied tissue sample," according to NCI. The Gleason score usually ranges from six to 10 with higher scores indicating a stronger likelihood of progression. President Biden's office said he received a Gleason score of nine. What are the treatment options? Treatment options for prostate cancer vary depending on what stage the cancer is in and how far it has spread. "The good news is, nowadays, we have had significant improvement in the medical management of prostate cancer that has spread, and there's been significant prolongation of life, and so there are all kinds of different treatment options available for these patients," Hussain said. For prostate cancers that are small or localized to the prostate, doctors may recommend observation or active surveillance to monitor if symptoms are changing or if the cancer is starting to grow. Surgery and radiation therapy are the most common treatments for men who are classified as low or intermediate risk, experts told ABC News. For men whose cancer is more advanced, chemotherapy or hormone therapy -- the latter of which is also known as androgen deprivation therapy -- are most common. "Testosterone, we know, is a driver of prostate cancer, and obviously all men have testosterone," Yerram said. "And so central to an anti-androgen therapy plan is really to reduce the levels of testosterone to as close to zero as possible to help stop progression of that prostate cancer and to provide treatment." "Specifically on President Biden, who obviously I'm not taking care of, but he has stage 4 cancer, so for him, anti-androgen therapy or chemotherapy will likely be first line for him," Yerram added. Experts said it is important for prostate cancer patients to follow up with their doctor after treatment to look for signs of cancer recurrence or treatment side effects. What are the survival rates? For localized or regional cancer, meaning the cancer is in the prostate or the cancer has spread to nearby structures, there is a five-year survival rate of more than 99%, according to ACS. For For cancers that have spread to other parts of the body such as lungs, liver, or bone, the five-year survival rate is about 37%, ACS said. Hussain said that although metastatic prostate cancer is not curable, it is very much treatable, and that survival rates have increased over the last three decades. "We've really come a very, very long way in terms of how long patients are living," Hussain said. "When I entered the field, let's say 1990, the average longevity with metastatic prostate cancer, roughly, was about two-and-a-half years. Now. we have more than doubled that and ... we have many men who are actually living even much longer in my practice over the years."
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
‘Don't ask what AI can do for us, ask what it is doing to us': are ChatGPT and co harming human intelligence?
Imagine for a moment you are a child in 1941, sitting the common entrance exam for public schools with nothing but a pencil and paper. You read the following: 'Write, for no more than a quarter of an hour, about a British author.' Today, most of us wouldn't need 15 minutes to ponder such a question. We'd get the answer instantly by turning to AI tools such as Google Gemini, ChatGPT or Siri. Offloading cognitive effort to artificial intelligence has become second nature, but with mounting evidence that human intelligence is declining, some experts fear this impulse is driving the trend. Of course, this isn't the first time that new technology has raised concerns. Studies already show how mobile phones distract us, social media damages our fragile attention spans and GPS has rendered our navigational abilities obsolete. Now, here comes an AI co-pilot to relieve us of our most cognitively demanding tasks – from handling tax returns to providing therapy and even telling us how to think. Where does that leave our brains? Free to engage in more substantive pursuits or wither on the vine as we outsource our thinking to faceless algorithms? 'The greatest worry in these times of generative AI is not that it may compromise human creativity or intelligence,' says psychologist Robert Sternberg at Cornell University, who is known for his groundbreaking work on intelligence, 'but that it already has.' The argument that we are becoming less intelligent draws from several studies. Some of the most compelling are those that examine the Flynn effect – the observed increase in IQ over successive generations throughout the world since at least 1930, attributed to environmental factors rather than genetic changes. But in recent decades, the Flynn effect has slowed or even reversed. In the UK, James Flynn himself showed that the average IQ of a 14-year-old dropped by more than two points between 1980 and 2008. Meanwhile, global study the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) shows an unprecedented drop in maths, reading and science scores across many regions, with young people also showing poorer attention spans and weaker critical thinking. Related: James Flynn: IQ may go up as well as down Nevertheless, while these trends are empirical and statistically robust, their interpretations are anything but. 'Everyone wants to point the finger at AI as the boogeyman, but that should be avoided,' says Elizabeth Dworak, at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, who recently identified hints of a reversal of the Flynn effect in a large sample of the US population tested between 2006 and 2018. Intelligence is far more complicated than that, and probably shaped by many variables – micronutrients such as iodine are known to affect brain development and intellectual abilities, likewise changes in prenatal care, number of years in education, pollution, pandemics and technology all influence IQ, making it difficult to isolate the impact of a single factor. 'We don't act in a vacuum, and we can't point to one thing and say, 'That's it,'' says Dworak. Still, while AI's impact on overall intelligence is challenging to quantify (at least in the short term), concerns about cognitive offloading diminishing specific cognitive skills are valid – and measurable. Studies have suggested that the use of AI for memory-related tasks may lead to a decline in an individual's own memory capacity When considering AI's impact on our brains, most studies focus on generative AI (GenAI) – the tool that has allowed us to offload more cognitive effort than ever before. Anyone who owns a phone or a computer can access almost any answer, write any essay or computer code, produce art or photography – all in an instant. There have been thousands of articles written about the many ways in which GenAI has the potential to improve our lives, through increased revenues, job satisfaction and scientific progress, to name a few. In 2023, Goldman Sachs estimated that GenAI could boost annual global GDP by 7% over a 10-year period – an increase of roughly $7tn. The fear comes, however, from the fact that automating these tasks deprives us of the opportunity to practise those skills ourselves, weakening the neural architecture that supports them. Just as neglecting our physical workouts leads to muscle deterioration, outsourcing cognitive effort atrophies neural pathways. One of our most vital cognitive skills at risk is critical thinking. Why consider what you admire about a British author when you can get ChatGPT to reflect on that for you? Research underscores these concerns. Michael Gerlich at SBS Swiss Business School in Kloten, Switzerland, tested 666 people in the UK and found a significant correlation between frequent AI use and lower critical-thinking skills – with younger participants who showed higher dependence on AI tools scoring lower in critical thinking compared with older adults. Similarly, a study by researchers at Microsoft and Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania surveyed 319 people in professions that use GenAI at least once a week. While it improved their efficiency, it also inhibited critical thinking and fostered long-term overreliance on the technology, which the researchers predict could result in a diminished ability to solve problems without AI support. 'It's great to have all this information at my fingertips,' said one participant in Gerlich's study, 'but I sometimes worry that I'm not really learning or retaining anything. I rely so much on AI that I don't think I'd know how to solve certain problems without it.' Indeed, other studies have suggested that the use of AI systems for memory-related tasks may lead to a decline in an individual's own memory capacity. This erosion of critical thinking is compounded by the AI-driven algorithms that dictate what we see on social media. 'The impact of social media on critical thinking is enormous,' says Gerlich. 'To get your video seen, you have four seconds to capture someone's attention.' The result? A flood of bite-size messages that are easily digested but don't encourage critical thinking. 'It gives you information that you don't have to process any further,' says Gerlich. By being served information rather than acquiring that knowledge through cognitive effort, the ability to critically analyse the meaning, impact, ethics and accuracy of what you have learned is easily neglected in the wake of what appears to be a quick and perfect answer. 'To be critical of AI is difficult – you have to be disciplined. It is very challenging not to offload your critical thinking to these machines,' says Gerlich. Wendy Johnson, who studies intelligence at Edinburgh University, sees this in her students every day. She emphasises that it is not something she has tested empirically but believes that students are too ready to substitute independent thinking with letting the internet tell them what to do and believe. Without critical thinking, it is difficult to ensure that we consume AI-generated content wisely. It may appear credible, particularly as you become more dependent on it, but don't be fooled. A 2023 study in Science Advances showed that, compared with humans, GPT-3 chat not only produces information that is easier to understand but also more compelling disinformation. * * * Why does that matter? 'Think of a hypothetical billionaire,' says Gerlich. 'They create their own AI and they use that to influence people because they can train it in a specific way to emphasise certain politics or certain opinions. If there is trust and dependency on it, the question arises of how much it is influencing our thoughts and actions.' AI's effect on creativity is equally disconcerting. Studies show that AI tends to help individuals produce more creative ideas than they can generate alone. However, across the whole population, AI-concocted ideas are less diverse, which ultimately means fewer 'Eureka!' moments. Sternberg captures these concerns in a recent essay in the Journal of Intelligence: 'Generative AI is replicative. It can recombine and re-sort ideas, but it is not clear that it will generate the kinds of paradigm-breaking ideas the world needs to solve the serious problems that confront it, such as global climate change, pollution, violence, increasing income disparities, and creeping autocracy.' To ensure that you maintain your ability to think creatively, you might want to consider how you engage with AI – actively or passively. Research by Marko Müller from the University of Ulm in Germany shows a link between social media use and higher creativity in younger people but not in older generations. Digging into the data, he suggests this may be to do with the difference in how people who were born in the era of social media use it compared with those who came to it later in life. Younger people seem to benefit creatively from idea-sharing and collaboration, says Müller, perhaps because they're more open with what they share online compared with older users, who tend to consume it more passively. Alongside what happens while you use AI, you might spare a thought to what happens after you use it. Cognitive neuroscientist John Kounios from Drexel University in Philadelphia explains that, just like anything else that is pleasurable, our brain gets a buzz from having a sudden moment of insight, fuelled by activity in our neural reward systems. These mental rewards help us remember our world-changing ideas and also modify our immediate behaviour, making us less risk averse – this is all thought to drive further learning, creativity and opportunities. But insights generated from AI don't seem to have such a powerful effect in the brain. 'The reward system is an extremely important part of brain development, and we just don't know what the effect of using these technologies will have downstream,' says Kounios. 'Nobody's tested that yet.' There are other long-term implications to consider. Researchers have only recently discovered that learning a second language, for instance, helps delay the onset of dementia for around four years, yet in many countries, fewer students are applying for language courses. Giving up a second language in favour of AI-powered instant-translation apps might be the reason, but none of these can – so far – claim to protect your future brain health. As Sternberg warns, we need to stop asking what AI can do for us and start asking what it is doing to us. Until we know for sure, the answer, according to Gerlich, is to 'train humans to be more human again – using critical thinking, intuition – the things that computers can't yet do and where we can add real value.' We can't expect the big tech companies to help us do this, he says. No developer wants to be told their program works too well; makes it too easy for a person to find an answer. 'So it needs to start in schools,' says Gerlich. 'AI is here to stay. We have to interact with it, so we need to learn how to do that in the right way.' If we don't, we won't just make ourselves redundant, but our cognitive abilities too.
