Posts in category: Uncategorized

How long is the present? The answer, Cornell researchers suggest in a new study, depends on your heart.

New evidence released today from a study of 31,245 patients already taking statin therapy indicates that inflammation may be a more powerful predictor of risk of future cardiovascular events—such as heart attack and stroke—than “bad” cholesterol.

The cells that make up the human brain begin developing long before the physical shape of the brain has formed. This early organizing of a network of cells plays a major role in brain health throughout the course of a lifetime. Numerous studies have found that mothers with low iron levels during pregnancy have a higher risk of giving birth to a child that develops cognitive impairments like autism, attention deficit syndrome, and learning disabilities. However, iron deficiency is still prevalent in pregnant mothers and young children.

Just a few decades ago, the possibility of connecting the brain with a computer to convert neural signals into concrete actions would have seemed like something from science fiction. But in recent years, some scientific advances have been made in this regard, through so-called BCIs (Bran-Computer Interfaces) that establish communication bridges between the human brain and computers. A recent study by UPF continues to advance in this direction and makes new contributions to pursue this desired neuroscientific milestone.

The pressures of the pandemic resulted in some GPs displaying signs of psychological distress and burnout, according to a University of York-led study published in BMJ Open.

Consumers have been using a common over-the-counter oral decongestant known as phenylephrine for years, but that may not continue much longer.

Fetal alcohol exposure at any stage of pregnancy can lead to congenital malformations, as well as cognitive, behavioral, and emotional impairments in offspring. New research conducted in mice and published in The FASEB Journal indicates that even very early embryos exposed to alcohol can experience growth restriction, brain abnormalities, and skeletal delays, but feeding pregnant mothers certain nutrients prior to conception and throughout pregnancy can reduce the incidence and severity of the alcohol-induced defects.

The cholesterol-lowering drug bempedoic acid reduced the combined rate of major adverse cardiovascular events by 13%, meeting its primary endpoint in a large study of patients with high cholesterol who were unable to tolerate statins, according to research being presented at the American College of Cardiology’s Annual Scientific Session Together With the World Congress of Cardiology.

Adding to the growing body of evidence on sleep disturbances and cognitive impairment, new research finds significant links between three measures of sleep disturbance and the risk for developing dementia over a 10-year period. The results, reported in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, associate sleep-initiation insomnia (trouble falling asleep within 30 minutes) and sleep medication use with higher risk for developing dementia.

A recent study finds that concerns about the health effects of COVID-19 are a key variable in determining whether people are hesitant to get vaccinated against the virus. The study also found that an individual’s tendency to plan for the future plays a surprising role in people’s vaccine hesitancy.