Latest news with #cognitivedecline
CNN
4 days ago
- Health
- 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.
Fast Company
30-07-2025
- Health
- Fast Company
A massive new study of 24,000 people says this is what happens to people who stay up too late every night
WORK LIFE Let's just say it was a struggle. BY Listen to this Article More info 0:00 / 4:20 I'm a night owl, so I'm interested when I come across studies about what happens to people who habitually stay up late. Sometimes they can be disturbing, and sometimes they're innocuous. But sometimes — like the latest one I've read — they come with a silver lining. Today's study comes to us from the medical school at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. It involves tracking the sleep habits and health outcomes of nearly 24,000 people over 10 full years. Let's give you the results up front: good, bad, and the reason to look on the bright side. Writing in The Journal of Prevention of Alzheimer's Disease, the Dutch researchers said they tracked the sleep habits and the degree to which they displayed cognitive decline over the same period. The results were disconcerting on their face for night owls; people who habitually stay up late wound up with faster cognitive decline than those who go to bed early. But, there was an unexpected twist. The less education night owls had, the less likely they were to experience similar levels of cognitive decline over the study period. That finding begs for an explanation, and researcher Ana Wenzler, a Ph.D. candidate in the university's department of epidemiology, offered a few: First, as we saw in another recent study, people who stay up late are less likely than their early-to-bed peers to exercise during the day. Second, people who go to bed early simply sleep through many of the times when other people smoke, drink, and eat unhealthy foods most often. Finally — and this might be the most interesting — the increased correlation between more education and more cognitive decline for night owls might stem from the fact that, statistically, more educated people wind up trapped in a daytime work hours environment, even when their natural rhythms might be better served by a different schedule. As Wenzler explained in an accompanying statement: 'That probably has to do with their sleep rhythm. They are often people who have to go back to work early in the morning and are therefore more likely to sleep too short, giving their brains too little rest. We suspect that lower- or middle-educated people are more likely to have a job that allows them to take their sleep rhythm into account, such as a job in the hospitality industry or one with night shifts. If this is not possible, your brain does not get enough rest and you are more likely to adopt bad habits. It would be nice if more consideration was given to evening people who now have to work early: for example, by giving them the option of starting later.' This is the part I look at as a silver lining. Because, even as workplaces have evolved during the 10 years or so that the study period covered, many highly educated night owls have, in fact, adjusted. More of us work remotely, more of us work for ourselves, and more of us have worked out flexibility. We've actually given ourselves 'the option of starting later' if it fits our schedules better. In my personal situation, that's exactly what's happened. If you go back to the earlier parts of my career, I was chained to an inflexible schedule at work. As an example, I had a job that required me to battle a Los Angeles commute and be sitting at my desk by 7:30 a.m. each day. Let's just say it was a struggle. Today, I'm fortunate in that I answer to nobody but myself, and so I set my own hours. I probably put in a lot more time each week than I once did when I was on someone else's schedule, but the hours I work are better suited to my natural chronotype (or 'biological clock'). Of course, we're hearing about this study just as many big companies are swinging the pendulum back the other way, requiring employees to be in the office more often, and limiting remote work and flexibility. Maybe that's a competitive opportunity if you're running a business. Great employees come in all chronotypes: night owls and early birds alike. Call it another silver lining. — By Bill Murphy Jr. Inc. is the voice of the American entrepreneur. We inspire, inform, and document the most fascinating people in business: the risk-takers, the innovators, and the ultra-driven go-getters that represent the most dynamic force in the American economy. The early-rate deadline for Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies Awards is Friday, September 5, at 11:59 p.m. PT. Apply today. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Inc. Magazine: Everything you need to start and grow your business. More
Yahoo
27-07-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Brains Aged Faster In 2021–2022: What Did The Pandemic Do To Us?
A new study suggests that the pandemic may have had a significant impact on our brains, whether or not we contracted COVID-19. Leveraging an extensive database of brain scans, British researchers say that people's brains showed accelerated aging during 2021 and 2022, including signs of shrinkage. While people who were infected with COVID also showed cognitive decline, like slower processing speed, the study was notable because it said even the non-infected were likely to experience harm to their brain. While the study did not delve into the exact causes of the accelerated aging, the study's first author, Ali-Reza Mohammadi-Nejad, a neuroimaging researcher at the University of Nottingham, theorizes that it may have been the result of stress and other factors. 'But it is likely that the cumulative experience of the pandemic—including psychological stress, social isolation, disruptions in daily life, reduced activity and wellness—contributed to the observed changes… In this sense, the pandemic period itself appears to have left a mark on our brains, even in the absence of infection,' said Mohammadi-Nejad, per NBC. The researchers found that males and 'those from more socioeconomically deprived backgrounds' experienced the most significant brain aging. Overall, the pandemic was thought to be linked to a 5.5-month acceleration in the aging process. This is not the first time researchers have reached similar conclusions. Last year, a previous study found that teenagers experienced dramatic brain aging during the pandemic. Notably, the study suggested that girls' brains aged 4.2 years faster and boys' brains aged 1.3 years faster, on average. The latest study does not indicate whether the structural changes identified in individuals who have never contracted COVID will result in any noticeable changes in brain function. Nor does the study confirm whether the physical changes will persist over the long term, says Adam Brickman, a professor of neuropsychology at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, who was not involved in the study.
Yahoo
21-07-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Could cancer drugs be the future of Alzheimer's treatment?
With few treatments available to stop or reverse Alzheimer's disease, scientists have turned to cancer drugs as a potential means of walking back cognitive decline. Alzheimer's cases are rising in the United States and worldwide due to an aging population, but there is no cure for the disease. Attempts to develop new treatments that slow the disease's progress, rather than lessen symptoms, have frequently failed. Only two drugs — the antibody therapies Leqembi and Kisunla — are currently approved by the Food and Drug Administration to slow the progression of early Alzheimer's, and scientists say their benefits are limited. Some pharmaceutical companies have halted or abandoned their Alzheimer's drug development programs because of unsuccessful trials. Others are trying to use existing medications, including popular weight loss drugs, to combat Alzheimer's. With that in mind, researchers at the University of California, San Francisco conducted a broad search for drugs that could be repurposed to treat the condition — in theory, reducing the time in which the drugs could be made available to patients. They scoured a database of more than 1,300 drugs of various classes, including antipsychotics, antibiotics, antifungals and chemotherapy drugs. Then, they looked at how those drugs affected gene expression. Their new study, published Monday in the journal Cell, identified two cancer drugs as the best candidates to lower Alzheimer's risk in patients. When combined, the drugs seemed to slow or reverse Alzheimer's symptoms in mice. One of the drugs is normally used to treat breast cancer, while the other is effective against colon and lung cancer. Alzheimer's disease is associated with significant changes in the way genes are expressed in the brain, leading to the increased production of certain proteins and the decreased production of others. These imbalances may disrupt brain function and contribute to symptoms like memory loss. Fewer than 90 drugs in the researchers' database reversed the expression of signature Alzheimer's-related genes in human brain cells. And five drugs in particular seemed to lower the risk of Alzheimer's in actual patients, based on electronic medical records. The authors ultimately selected two of those drugs, both approved by the FDA to treat cancer, to test in mice. 'We didn't expect cancer drugs to come up' as the most promising, said Marina Sirota, a co-author of the study and interim director of the UCSF Bakar Computational Health Sciences Institute. The authors said the breast cancer drug letrozole seemed to change gene expression in nerve cells. And the colon and lung cancer drug irinotecan seemed to change gene expression in glial cells, which support the nervous system. Alzheimer's can destroy nerve cells and cause glial cells to proliferate, creating inflammation in the brain. In a 2020 study, breast cancer patients who received letrozole were less likely to develop Alzheimer's than patients who did not receive the drug. Colorectal cancer survivors treated with irinotecan also had a decreased Alzheimer's risk, according to a 2021 study. After testing the drugs in mice, the study authors found that the two-drug combo reversed brain degeneration and improved memory in mice that had developed hallmarks of Alzheimer's as they aged. Because results in mice often don't translate to humans, the researchers hope to test the drugs in a clinical trial with Alzheimer's patients. 'Developing a new drug can take hundreds of millions, or even billions, of dollars, on average take more than 10 years. For this repurposed drug, usually it just takes two or three years, and then you can go to the clinical trial and the cost is much, much lower,' said Dr. Yadong Huang, a co-author of the study and professor of neurology at UCSF. 'We still haven't generated or produced any very effective drugs that can really slow dramatically the cognitive decline,' he added. Part of the difficulty in developing drugs for Alzheimer's is the complexity of the disease. Its exact cause is largely unknown. For now, the authors said, it's unclear exactly why the cancer drugs seem to work against Alzheimer's. One theory is that the breast cancer drug blocks the production of estrogen, a hormone that controls the expression of a large number of genes. The colon and lung cancer drug may also block inflammation in the brain by preventing the proliferation of glial cells — though Huang said there are other possibilities. Dr. Melanie McReynolds, an assistant professor of biochemistry at Pennsylvania State University, who was not involved in the study, offered another theory. Her research has suggested that a different type of cancer drug could help treat Alzheimer's by regulating glucose metabolism, the process by which cells make energy. McReynolds said the process is necessary for various brain cells to communicate with each other. 'With aging, with stress, with diseases, that line of communication is disrupted,' she said. McReynolds said the drug combo tested in the new study might reverse metabolic decline — what she called 'the secret for contributing to better outcomes with Alzheimer's.' But assessing how Alzheimer's patients tolerate the combination of cancer drugs will be important. Letrozole can cause hot flashes and irinotecan can cause severe diarrhea. Both drugs can lead to nausea and vomiting. 'These drugs have huge side effects, so you need to always balance and figure out whether those types of side effects would be amenable to somebody with Alzheimer's,' Sirota said. 'It's not that it's a slam dunk.' This article was originally published on Solve the daily Crossword
Fox News
17-07-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Johnson demands NARA turn over records related to Biden's mental 'decline' amid Senate probe of 'cover-up'
EXCLUSIVE: Sen. Ron Johnson is demanding the National Archives turn over all records related to former President Joe Biden's "mental and physical health and cognitive decline," Fox News Digital has learned. Fox News Digital exclusively obtained a letter Johnson, R-Wis., sent to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is serving as the acting archivist of the United States. Johnson, who leads the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, said he is now conducting an investigation into "the cover-up of former President Biden's health and cognitive decline." "My office has been reviewing the allegations that former President Biden, cabinet members, and his staff covered up his declining mental and physical health over the course of his presidency," Johnson wrote to Rubio, adding that the allegations "raise serious questions about who was making key presidential decisions if the former president was incapable of doing so. "One of these key decisions may have involved the presidential power to grant clemency or pardons — a matter that the White House Counsel's Office, among other entities, are currently investigating," Johnson wrote. Fox News Digital exclusively reported Tuesday that the White House Counsel's Office, in conjunction with the Justice Department, is investigating Biden's use of an autopen and already is reviewing more than 27,000 documents turned over by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). "The reporting further suggests that these records represent only a portion of the information in NARA's possession that may be related to the coverup of former President Biden's alleged mental and physical decline," Johnson wrote to Rubio, referring to the Fox News Digital exclusive report. Johnson is now demanding that NARA turn over all records provided to the White House Counsel's Office referring to or relating to Biden's mental or physical health or the alleged cover-up, including all communications. Johnson also is demanding communications between or among any former White House officials, members of Biden's Cabinet or their staff or other staff relating to Biden's mental or physical health. Specifically, Johnson is demanding records belonging to former White House chief of staff Ron Klain, former White House chief of staff Jeff Zients, former advisor Mike Donilon, former counselor to the president Steve Ricchetti, Biden personal attorney Bob Bauer, Biden senior advisor Anita Dunn, former White House Physician Kevin O'Connor and others. Johnson gave Rubio until July 30 to turn over the records. Trump sent a memo in June to the Department of Justice directing Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate the autopen use and to determine whether it was related to a decline in Biden's mental state. The White House Counsel's Office is investigating Biden's use of an autopen, a machine that physically holds a pen and features programming to imitate a person's signature. Unlike a stamp or a digitized print of a signature, the autopen has the capability to hold various types of pens, from a ballpoint to a permanent marker, according to descriptions of autopen machines available for purchase. Biden used an autopen to sign a slew of documents while in office. He also used an autopen to sign final pardons, including preemptive pardons for members of his family, Dr. Anthony Fauci, Gen. Mark Milley and members and staff of the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riots. He only signed one pardon by hand, for his son Hunter, after vowing to the American people for months he would not pardon Hunter. In his final weeks in office, Biden granted clemency and pardoned more than 1,500 individuals in what the White House described at the time as the largest single-day act of clemency by a U.S. president. Biden, in a recent interview with The New York Times, defended his use of an autopen, saying he "made every decision" on his own. "We're talking about (granting clemency to) a whole lot of people," Biden said. However, the Times reported that Biden "did not individually approve each name for the categorical pardons that applied to large numbers of people," according to the former president and his aides. Congressional committees, like the House Oversight Committee, are also investigating the autopen use and Biden's health while in office. A senior administration official recognized the simultaneous efforts but stressed that the White House Counsel's investigation is separate from any congressional probes. Officials told Fox News Digital the investigation is a "massive effort," and one that they hope to finish "as soon as possible." As for Trump, officials told Fox News Digital he does not use an autopen for anything that could be considered official business. The only time Trump may use the autopen is for unofficial business, including correspondence, letters for birthdays or commissioned records for widely shared documents, his office said.
