Архив рубрики: Health

For long-term brain health, older adults might want to carefully consider how they spend their downtime, according to a new study.
Researchers from the University of South Australia assessed the 24-hour activity patterns of nearly 400 people over age 60.
When it comes to brain health, the study found that the context or type of activity individuals engage in matters, news agency SWNS reported.
DEMENTIA REPORT REVEALS ‘SHOCKING’ SIGNS AT AGE 60 THAT YOU'LL DEVELOP THE DISEASE BY AGE 80
Some sedentary behaviors are better for cognitive function than others, according to the findings, which were published in The Journal of Gerontology Series A.
Mentally stimulating behaviors, such as reading, listening to music, praying, crafting and playing a musical instrument — as well as social behaviors like chatting with others — are beneficial for memory and thinking abilities, the study noted.
The research team referred to the «valuable insights» that could help reduce instances of cognitive..

The patient in Louisiana who was hospitalized with severe bird flu illness was found to have a mutated version of the virus, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced last week.
The fact that the virus mutated within the patient suggests that it could potentially spread from human to human.
The CDC analyzed samples of the H5N1 virus that were collected from the patient, comparing its genomic sequences to those of infected dairy cows, wild birds, poultry and other animals, the agency stated.
BIRD FLU LEADS TO SEVERE HUMAN ILLNESS AND STATE OF EMERGENCY
«The analysis identified low frequency mutations in the hemagglutinin gene of a sample sequenced from the patient, which were not found in virus sequences from poultry samples collected on the patient’s property, suggesting the changes emerged in the patient after infection,» the CDC said.
«While these low frequency changes are rare in humans, they have been reported in previous cases of A(H5N1) in other countrie..

When a 3-year-old New York boy was diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder, hope came in an unlikely form: a golden retriever named Yammy.
Susan Bresnahan’s son, Patrick, was born in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, she told Fox News Digital.
Bresnahan, who has been a nurse for 20 years, noticed that her son wasn’t hitting any of the normal developmental milestones as he reached toddler age.
RARE DISEASE DIAGNOSIS STRENGTHENS BOND BETWEEN TWIN SISTERS: ‘DOING OUR BEST’
«I knew in my gut that something was wrong,» she said during an on-camera interview. (See the video at the top of this article.)
After seeing many specialists and undergoing genetic testing, young Patrick — just over 2 years old at the time — had a rare neurodevelopmental disorder called Timothy syndrome, the family learned.
«After getting the diagnosis, it was the first good night’s sleep I had in two years, because I was losing my mind knowing there was something really wrong,» Bresnahan recalled.
FAMILY SELLING DREAM..

Jimmy Carter, the 39th president of the United States who died at the age of 100 on Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024, had been living in hospice care at his home since Feb. 2023.
Back in May, Carter's son, Jason Carter, said in a speech at the Carter Center in Georgia that his grandfather was «doing OK.»
Jason Carter also praised the «outpouring of love» the Carter family received since the passing of the former first lady Rosalynn Carter in Nov. 2023.
JIMMY CARTER, 39TH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, DEAD AT 100
«He has been in hospice … for almost a year and a half now, and he really is, I think, coming to the end,» Jason Carter said at the time.
«I’ve said before, there’s a part of this faith journey that is so important to him, and there’s a part of that faith journey that you only can live at the very end, and I think he has been there in that space,» the grandson also said.
Carter had experienced multiple health issues in recent years.
Following liver surgery to remove a mass in 2015,..

Feel like you «can’t handle your alcohol» — or do you experience nausea, facial flushing or a racing heart after enjoying even small amounts of your favorite cocktail?
These could be signs that you have an inherited intolerance to alcohol — and a mutated gene could be the culprit, according to Cleveland Clinic.
This gene mutation hampers the body’s ability to produce an enzyme that helps break down alcohol and eliminate its byproducts from the body, health experts said.
DRINKING ALCOHOL IS LINKED TO SIX TYPES OF CANCER, EXPERTS SAY
An at-home DNA test could detect whether you have the mutation causing this alcohol adversity.
The test looks for mutations in the ADH and ALDH genes, which affect metabolism, according to several laboratory company websites that produce the testing kits.
The testing kit, which costs approximately $150, involves swabbing the cheek and mailing the sample back to a laboratory company to see if the gene mutations are present.
Results typically come in less than..

Getting a certain number of daily steps has long been known to boost overall health — and now a new study has pinpointed how many you need to keep depression at bay.
A research team led by Bruno Bizzozero-Peroni, PhD, from Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha in Cuenca, Spain, analyzed 33 studies involving 96,173 adults.
In comparing the adults’ daily step counts and rates of depression, they found that people with higher daily step counts tended to have fewer depressive symptoms, according to the study findings, which were published in JAMA Network Open last week.
DANCE EASES DEPRESSION SYMPTOMS IN PARKINSON'S PATIENTS, NEW STUDY SUGGESTS
Getting 5,000 or more steps was linked to reduced depressive symptoms, while a step count of 7,000 or higher was associated with a lower risk of depression, the researchers found.
«Our results showed significant associations between higher numbers of daily steps and fewer depressive symptoms, as well as lower prevalence and risk of depression in th..

With an estimated 6.9 million Americans aged 65 and older currently living with Alzheimer's disease, the road to a cure seems long and uncertain.
But as the year comes to a close, experts are reflecting on some of the hopeful advances in diagnosis, treatment and risk management that have been made in 2024.
The Alzheimer’s Association — a Chicago-based nonprofit committed to Alzheimer’s research, care and support — shared its top five significant discoveries from the year.
DEMENTIA REPORT REVEALS 'SHOCKING' SIGNS AT AGE 60 THAT YOU'LL DEVELOP THE DISEASE BY AGE 80
2024 saw a new drug enter the dementia landscape, as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Kisunla (donanemab) in July.
This was the third new approval since 2021.
Kisunla, which is made by Eli Lilly, is designed to «slow progression and change the underlying course of the disease,» according to the Association’s press release.
The once-monthly injection is intended for adults with early symp..

It’s common for doctors to recommend getting bloodwork following a medical appointment or routine check-up.
Blood tests can identify deficiencies in vitamins or minerals, immune system problems, or signs of infection, as well as whether organs like the liver, heart or kidneys are functioning correctly, according to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
Fox News Digital spoke with a doctor about how to be prepared for your next blood test.
ALZHEIMER’S BLOOD TEST DETECTS DISEASE WITH 90% ACCURACY IN ROUTINE DOCTORS’ APPOINTMENTS: STUDY
Doctors may order blood tests for three main reasons: screening, diagnostics or monitoring.
Screenings are unrelated to symptoms and are based on age, risk factors or the last time you were checked, according to Brintha Vasagar, MD, a family physician with Bayhealth Family Medicine in Dover, Delaware.
These tests can screen for things like cholesterol, glucose, HIV or hepatitis C.
WOMEN’S HEART DISEASE RISK COULD BE PREDICTED UP TO 30 YEARS IN AD..

Putting a swing in their step could be just the thing to help ease the symptoms of depression in some Parkinson's patients, a new study suggests.
Patients who took months of dance classes found their depression eased, a small study published recently in the Journal of Medical Internet Research says.
Not only did depression symptoms ease for the Parkinson's patients, their brain scans displayed changes in their brain areas related to mood, researchers said.
PARKINSON'S DISEASE RISK IS LINKED TO GUT HEALTH, RESEARCHERS SAY
«It was very cool to see that dance had a positive effect on the mood circuits in the brain, which we could see in the imaging,» senior researcher Joseph DeSouza, an associate professor of neuroscience at York University in Toronto, Canada, said in a university news release.
«These improvements that we could see on MRI brain scans were also reported by the participants via survey,» DeSouza said.
«Our study is the first to demonstrate these benefits acro..

Nearly 20% of American adults reported having an anxiety disorder in the past year, data shows — and many are more likely to feel uneasy and anxious as the sun sets.
While «sunset anxiety» isn’t an official medical diagnosis and does not appear in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), some mental health experts agree that it’s a very real phenomenon.
The symptoms aren’t limited to just anxiety, according to Andrea D. Guastello, PhD, a licensed psychologist at the University of Florida Department of Psychiatry.
ADDING LAUGHTER TO YOUR LIFE CAN BOOST HEALTH AND HEALING, EXPERTS SAY
«It can be any psychiatric symptom that increases in frequency or intensity as the sun goes down or at night,» Guastello told Fox News Digital.
Symptoms may include feelings of depression, isolation and hopelessness that tend to increase at night, the expert said.
Sunset anxiety occurs when a person starts to feel anxious as the sun goes down at the end of the day, Beena Persaud, ..