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Neurology
Blood test spots ‘toxic’ protein years before Alzheimer’s signs – US study
Researchers are now able to detect “toxic” small aggregates of a particular protein in the blood of people with Alzheimer’s disease, as well as...
No link between sedatives in pregnancy and child’s autism risk – large Chinese study
Researchers found in this study of 1.5m children that after adjusting for possible confounders and accounting for possible parental genetic or familial factors, benzodiazepine...
Brain ageing in black people faster from midlife than for white people – US cohort study
A cross-sectional analysis of two community-based cohorts found that from midlife, black people showed an accelerated pattern of brain ageing – the association of...
Scientists hail Alzheimer’s breakthrough despite two trial candidates’ deaths
While the eagerly-awaited findings of a trial involving nearly 1 800 people was widely celebrated as a major breakthrough in the treatment of Alzheimer's,...
Brain changes in autism more sweeping than thought – UCLA study
Brain changes in autism are comprehensive throughout the cerebral cortex rather than just particular areas thought to affect social behaviour and language, according to...
Prescription 'smart drugs' have opposite effect in healthy adults – Australian study
Specially prescribed medications aimed at boosting cognition in neurodevelopmental disorders like ADHD don’t increase overall cognitive performance in healthy individuals – in fact, they...
Menopausal hot flashes a possible marker for brain health – US study
Women who experience more hot flashes and night sweats during menopause may have more of a brain biomarker called white matter hyperintensities, which has...
Older diabetes drugs linked to lower dementia risk – US study
People who took an older class of diabetes medication known as glitazones had a 22% lower risk of developing dementia, says BMJ Open Diabetes...
Dementia risk upped by 2.5 times with schizophrenia – UK meta-analysis
People with psychotic disorders like schizophrenia are 2.5 times more likely than those without a psychotic disorder to eventually develop dementia, report University College...
MND risk for professional rugby players 15 times higher than average: Scottish study
Urgent action needs to be taken by rugby bosses to reduce head injuries after a study showing former international players are 15 times more...
Alzheimer’s drug slows cognitive decline in trial – breakthrough or another false dawn?
The announcement that lecanemab, a drug candidate for Alzheimer’s disease slowed the rate of cognitive decline by 27% in a large, late-stage clinical trial,...
Nightmares a good predictor of future dementia – US study
We spend a third of our lives asleep, and a quarter of our time asleep is spent dreaming. So, for the average person alive...
Woman who smells Parkinson’s disease helps scientists develop test
A woman who has a rare condition giving her a heightened sense of smell and who can sniff out Parkinson’s, has helped scientists develop...
How you sleep could be ‘strongest predictor’ of when you will die – US study
Increased sleep fragmentation, when people briefly wake up several times at night without remembering it, is the “strongest predictor of mortality,” according to a...
Blood type could predict stroke risk before age 60 – Maryland study
A person’s blood type might be linked to their risk of an early stroke, according to a meta-analysis that included all available data from...
Ultra-processed food linked to cognitive decline – Brazilian study
Consuming ultra-processed foods for more than 20% of your calorie intake every day could set you on the road to cognitive decline, a study...
Australian scientists discover potential therapeutic target for Alzheimer's
Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of dementia, currently has no cure or effective therapy, in part due to gaps in understanding how the...
More evidence flu jab may guard against Alzheimer’s – Texas cohort study
A new study provides more evidence that the influenza vaccination may help protect older adults against Alzheimer's disease (AD).
In a large propensity-matched cohort of...
Acupuncture relieves chronic headache – Chinese randomised trial
Acupuncture helped reduce the frequency of chronic tension-type headaches (CTTH), a randomised controlled trial in China found.
More than two-thirds (68.2%) of people with CTTH...
More brain changes for post-menopausal than for pre-menopausal women – Bonn study
Women who have gone through menopause may have more of a brain biomarker called white matter hyperintensities than premenopausal women or men of the...
Social isolation linked to later dementia – collaborative study
People who are socially isolated have lower grey matter volumes of brain regions involved in memory and learning, a team of researchers has discovered.
Their...
Gradual slower gait a sign of cognitive decline – Australian study
Walking more slowly as you age has always been a warning sign of increasing frailty that could lead to falls and other disabilities, experts...
Lab study raises intriguing questions about the ‘irreversibility of death’
Retina cells reacted to light and even communicated five hours after death, raising the possibility that other cells within the system could be activated...
Cranberries could improve memory, fight dementia – British collaborative study
Adding cranberries to your diet could help improve memory and brain function, and lower “bad” cholesterol, say researchers, who hope their findings have implications...
Promising dementia treatment stabilises behaviour – Australian study
Sodium selenate may slow cognitive decline and neurodegenerative damage that is the hallmark of many dementias, including Alzheimer’s Disease, found an Australian clinical trial.
A...
Dementia risk reduced with higher blood levels of two carotenoids – NIH study
Higher serum levels of two kinds of carotenoids were tied to lower risk of developing dementia over time, with dementia risk associated with blood...
People with epilepsy live 10-12-years shorter lives – Danish cohort study
Excess mortality is particularly pronounced among people with epilepsy and mental disorders, shows research from Aarhus University in Denmark.
The study shows that people with...
Pet ownership associated with slower cognitive decline, reduced disabilities in older people
Owning a pet, especially for five years or longer, may be linked to slower cognitive decline in older adults, according to a preliminary study...
Early menopause may raise dementia risk later – UK study of 150,000 women
Compared with women who enter menopause at about 50, women who experience very early menopause (before 40) were found to be 35% more likely...
Anti-epileptic dosages associated with breakthrough seizures in pregnancy – MONEAD study
Blood levels of many commonly used anti-epileptic drugs drop dramatically in pregnancy, researchers from the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Minnesota have...
Five ways to optimise treatment and tackle in-hospital stroke – AHA scientific statement
Although hospitalised patients are in a monitored environment, stroke evaluation and treatment are often delayed when compared with patients arriving with a stroke at...
Australian trials suggest greater need for paediatric stroke thrombectomies
The poor natural history of large vessel occlusion (LVO) stroke in children in Australia has added to the growing impetus for endovascular therapy (EVT)...
Early onset comorbidities linked to higher risk of later dementia – 30-year study
People with two or more chronic conditions in midlife had a substantially higher risk of subsequent dementia, a prospective cohort study analysing data from...
Calorie restriction associated with altered T cells and metabolic markers in MS
A small first-of-its-kind study from Johns Hopkins University found that intermittent calorie-restricted diets is associated with reduced memory T cell subsets in people with...
Epstein-Barr virus may be leading cause of Multiple Sclerosis – Harvard cohort study
Multiple Sclerosis (MS), a progressive disease that affects 2.8m people worldwide and for which there is no definitive cure, may be caused by infection...
Academic education may retard brain degeneration – Swiss study
A Swiss long-term study found that certain degenerative processes are reduced in the brains of academics, with their brains better able to compensate for...
High resting heart rate linked to increased dementia risk and faster cognitive decline
Higher resting heart rate (RHR) was linked to significantly greater dementia risk and faster cognitive decline independent of cardiovascular disease in a study of...
Self-administered test predicts early signs of Alzheimer's and dementia sooner
A simple, self-administered test developed by researchers at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, College of Medicine and College of Public Health can...
Emotional upset and heavy physical exertion as stroke triggers — Interstroke study
The study found that one in 11 survivors experienced a period of anger or upset in the hour leading up to it. It also...
Blood-brain barrier changes may explain progression of Parkinson’s disease
A US study has identified what appears to be a significant vascular defect in patients with moderately severe Parkinson’s disease, a finding that may...