Health & Fitness

Brain activity synchronizes with sound waves, even without audible sound, through lip-reading, according to new research.

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In a survey of nearly 10,000 veterans newly separated from military service, most were satisfied with their work and social well-being, but more than half reported chronic physical health problems, and a third reported chronic mental health conditions.

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Theoretical simulations suggest structural maintenance of chromosome proteins coil not only around each other but also around the strands of DNA they help manipulate. These strands are formed into loops that regulate transcription and other cellular processes.

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The reason you're feeling low could be due to a Vitamin B deficiency. Dietitian Melissa Meier rounds up ten foods to help boost your happiness. 

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Chicory is nutty in flavour, is full of fibre, has a prebiotic effect and is naturally caffeine-free. 

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The Pacific island of Palau is taking a stand. 

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Testicular cancer can be prevented from coming back using half the amount of chemotherapy that is currently used, a new clinical trial has shown. The new trial showed that giving men one cycle of chemotherapy was as effective at preventing men's testicular cancer from coming back as the two cycles used as standard.

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An astronaut aboard the ISS had a deep vein thrombosis (DVT) -- or blood clot -- in the jugular vein of the neck and had it treated while on the mission.

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Parasites in the genus Plasmodium, which cause malaria, are transmitted to humans through bites from infected mosquitoes. The parasites manage to acclimatize to these two completely different hosts because the plasticity of their genome enables them to adapt as necessary. Scientists decided to investigate the epigenetic mechanisms behind this plasticity, in particular DNA methylation. They identified molecules capable of inhibiting DNA methylation and effectively killing even the most resistant Plasmodium falciparum parasites.

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Guests at the 2020 Golden Globes awards will be served a 100 per cent plant-based meal. 

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The results support researchers' growing recognition that tau drives brain degeneration in Alzheimer's disease more directly than amyloid protein, and at the same time demonstrates the potential of recently developed tau-based PET (positron emission tomography) brain imaging technology to accelerate Alzheimer's clinical trials and improve individualized patient care.

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Researchers have successfully used a laser-assisted imaging tool to 'see' what happens in brain cells of mice learning to reach out and grab a pellet of food. Their experiments, they say, add to evidence that such motor-based learning can occur in multiple areas of the brain, even ones not typically associated with motor control.

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Children born with congenital heart disease (CHD) are now surviving at extraordinarily high rates; for most, their life expectancy may be comparable to that of the general population. However, despite the great advances in medical and surgical care, many people with CHD experience long-lasting neurodevelopmental difficulties. These include problems with attention and executive function skills, learning challenges, and in some cases, lower-than-normal IQs.

Study links congenital heart disease and autism

A recent study published in the journal Pediatrics provides compelling evidence that there may also be an association between CHD and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This large, case-control study is one of the first to confirm that people born with CHD have approximately a 33% increased likelihood of receiving a diagnosis of ASD. This holds true even after considering other factors known to elevate the risk of autism, including genetic syndromes, prematurity, and neonatal complications such as epilepsy or insufficient oxygen at birth.

One of the most interesting findings from this study was that the risks of ASD were highest among children with less critical forms of CHD, such as atrial septal defects and ventricular septal defects, although children with more complex types of CHD also had elevated risks. As we noted in an editorial that accompanied the Pediatrics article, this and other similar studies (such as this one, this one, and this one) raise more questions than answers. For example: How can we explain this association? Why do some subgroups of people with CHD seem to be at greater risk than others? What can health providers do about it?

What’s the connection between CHD and autism?

For decades, research has highlighted the connection between CHD and neurodevelopmental impairments in children. Most studies have suggested that outcomes are generally worse for those with more severe forms of CHD who require cardiac surgery in the first year of life, and for those with co-existing genetic syndromes. These findings suggest that there may be shared genetic pathways that impact heart and brain development but are expressed in different ways (for example, as ASD and/or CHD). Further research investigating the connection between genes and their behavioral expression in CHD and autism will help us understand this link.

In addition, children with CHD — especially those with more severe types of heart disease who undergo cardiac surgery in infancy — are also exposed to changes in brain maturation, and are vulnerable to early brain injuries as a result of altered blood flow in the brain that occurs in utero, as well as before and after surgery. Evidence suggests these brain injuries may include damage to the white matter fibers that are the “subway” of the brain, connecting areas of the brain and transmitting information between them. These early neurological injuries can impact brain systems that are essential for development and learning, and may also place children with CHD at increased risk of developing the atypical behaviors observed in autism disorders.

In fact, even when the criteria for a formal diagnosis of ASD is not met, many individuals with CHD display some degree of social impairment, including difficulties understanding facial expressions, or with being able to put themselves in somebody else’s shoes (referred to as “theory of mind” skills). Research has shown that in many cases, these social challenges are part of a broader profile of underlying impairments in executive function, including inflexible ways of thinking, rigid adherence to routines, and difficulties managing transitions.

Guidelines recommend early evaluation and treatment

This and other research is raising awareness about the critical need to screen for ASD features in children with CHD, as early as possible. The American Heart Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics have provided guidelines for routine neurodevelopmental evaluation and treatment of children, adolescents, and adults with CHD. Identification of early symptoms related to autism should be done as early as 18 months or whenever there is a concern, with periodic checkups at critical junctures, including school entry and preadolescence. This may be done at a multidisciplinary clinic that provides developmental care for young children with CHD and their families (the Cardiac Neurodevelopmental Program at Boston Children’s Hospital was one of the first programs of this kind), or by a child psychologist, pediatric neurologist, or neuropsychologist in the community setting.

Once atypical behaviors are identified, prompt interventions to foster social communication, positive parent-child interaction, and social behaviors can be initiated through Early Intervention or other in-home or community-based agencies. Given the amount of variability in the behavioral profiles of children with ASD, these programs must be tailored to each individual’s needs, and may include interventions such as applied behavior analysis (ABA), occupational therapy, or speech and language therapy. We believe that a proactive approach will lead to improved developmental trajectories and better quality of life for those with CHD and their families.

The post Congenital heart disease and autism: A possible link? appeared first on Harvard Health Blog.

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A research team reports it has developed and tested a relatively simple strategy for reducing the chance of parents exposing their babies in the NICU to one of the most commonly diagnosed and potentially deadly microbial scourges in a hospital: Staphylococcus aureus.

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The level of high school sports participation is at an all-time high.¹ Students who play competitive sports enjoy physical and mental benefits. It reduces the rate of obesity, Type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure. It also improves cardiovascular and pulmonary function and increases the potential that young people will go on to stay physically active throughout their life.²

Researchers also discovered that athletes who regularly play sports are less likely to use drugs and less likely to smoke cigarettes. Female athletes are 80% less likely to become pregnant during high school than their peers who don’t participate in sports. Students playing sports perform better in the classroom with higher grade point averages, better attendance and a greater chance of going to college.

In one survey of 75 Fortune 500 companies, researchers found that 95% of the vice presidents played high school sports. One of the risks of playing full contact sports, though, is a head injury, which experts estimate occurs 300,000 times annually during participation in high school and intercollegiate sports.³

Playing Sports Develops Mental Fitness and Sound Response

Many of the benefits of playing sports are related to mental fitness or mental flexibility. Neurobiologists from Northwestern University focus on this in their studies of the brain’s response to sound.⁴ By hooking a series of electrodes to the scalp they can record the electrical response to sound and play it through a speaker.

Lead researcher Nina Kraus commented that this methodology gives insight into the health of the nervous system. Her team has found that those who are exposed to language and musical stimulation while growing up are less likely to have neural static or the generation of excess electrical activity.

On the other hand, growing up in a musically or linguistically limited environment, the brain may be excessively noisy, which interferes with your ability to understand auditory information. Their results suggest that playing sports gives an athlete’s brain greater ability to turn down background noise.⁵ Kraus explained:⁶

"The brain is hungry for information and it actually creates electrical activity when it doesn't get enough. But it creates random and staticky activity, which in the end is more of a problem because it gets in the way of making sense of sound."

The researchers used a cross-sectional study design involving 988 student athletes. They evaluated the athletes’ auditory processing by measuring the frequency-following response (FFR) using electrodes applied to the scalp.

The FFR was used as it is sensitive to experience, and researchers have found that injury reduces the amplitude. They measured the FFR amplitude of the brain's response, of the background noise and the ratio between these measures, and found athletes had a larger response than nonathletes, and concluded:⁷

“These findings suggest that playing sports increases the gain of an auditory signal by turning down the background noise. This mode of enhancement may be tied to the overall fitness level of athletes and/or the heightened need of an athlete to engage with and respond to auditory stimuli during competition.”

Sports May Dampen a Noisy Brain

Kraus believes the ability to hear direction during competitive sports helps “tune the brain to better understand one’s sensory environment.”⁸ This gives an athlete the advantage of being able to hear their coach yelling from the sidelines above the noise of the spectators by dampening the background noise.

Dr. Richard Isaacson from the Alzheimer's Prevention Clinic at Weill Cornell Medical College was intrigued with the results.⁹ He commented that the researchers demonstrated that athletes enjoyed mental fitness from playing sports, and he expressed an interest in further studies to differentiate between noncontact and contact sports.

The Northwestern researchers theorized that within a healthy nervous system, athletes may be able to handle injury and other health problems better than non-athletes. Kraus explained that making sense of what is heard may be one of the most difficult functions of the brain. The pitch, timing and harmonics of sound must be meshed with understanding the meaning within microseconds of having heard it.

The study is one of the latest in neural processing sponsored by the National Institutes of Health concerning sound in sports concussions. The hope is to use the analyzation of electrical responses following a concussion to determine when an athlete may be ready to return to full contact sports without an increased potential for greater damage to the brain.

Brain Benefits From Language and Music

The researchers also found since head injuries disrupt auditory processes it may be important to understand how this enhancement may reduce potential brain injury. Kraus said playing a musical instrument or learning a new language can help strengthen the brain’s ability to process the signal, yet it does not affect the background noise. In other words:¹⁰

"They all hear the 'DJ' better but the musicians hear the 'DJ' better because they turn up the 'DJ,' whereas athletes can hear the 'DJ' better because they can tamp down the 'static.”

The obvious benefit of being bilingual is the ability to communicate with people from around the world. Most people in the U.S. believe learning a second language is valuable, though not necessarily essential. However, as a challenging task for your brain, learning a new language is beneficial.

When evaluated, those who are bilingual have more gray matter involved in cognition and have enhanced cognitive control, greater mental flexibility and a better ability to handle tasks that involve switching and conflict monitoring. In the elderly, this may offer greater advantages since bilingual older adults have a greater cognitive reserve that helps the brain cope with pathology.

In those who currently are experiencing a neurological disorder such as Alzheimer's, the simple act of listening to music can help them reconnect with the world around them. Some of this benefit appears to be rooted in familiarity. Imaging studies show when you listen to music areas of your brain light up and release dopamine.

Even a Mild Head Injury May Have Lifelong Consequences

Some estimate as many as 90% of the population has experienced some form of head injury. Sports, car accidents and slips and falls can all result in mild to severe traumatic brain injuries. Unfortunately, many of these go undiagnosed and untreated, raising the risk of an accumulation of low-grade concussions over time to neurological dysfunction later in life.

According to one study, a single concussion can raise your risk for Parkinson's disease, a degenerative and progressive brain condition. The symptoms include tremors, slow movement, rigid limbs and stooped posture. The condition is also associated with depression, dementia, speech impairments and personality changes.

However, having experienced a traumatic brain injury does not automatically equate to the development of Parkinson's, even though it does increase the risk.

In this study a concussion was defined as a loss of consciousness for up to 30 minutes or an alteration of consciousness or amnesia for up to 24 hours. The study’s author, a staff neurologist at the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center, noted that the study included all veterans across the U.S. who had been diagnosed at a VA hospital.

The amount of information in it offered the highest level of evidence published thus far and has important implications since many of the brain injuries veterans had suffered occurred during their civilian life and not during active duty.

Symptoms of a head injury are often overlooked as they don't seem severe enough to warrant medical attention. Common signs of head injury include poor concentration, impaired word recall, mood changes, reduced ability to focus on mental tasks and sleep problems.

Regardless of how severe a head injury appears to be, it is important to carefully attend to any psychological changes that occur in the following weeks. These signs indicate an inflammatory cascade within the nervous system that present as psychological and cognitive downstream effects.

Reduce Your Risk of a Concussion

Although many adults may notice psychological and neurological changes, children usually do not. They require careful monitoring for changes in behavior and function. The accumulation of low-grade concussions over time can accelerate the development of dementia.

If you have a genetic predisposition to Alzheimer’s disease and suffer a brain injury your risk increases even further. When this is combined with a poor diet and other factors, such as a lack of exercise, neurological degeneration can accelerate.

There are several strategies you can use to help prevent a concussion or traumatic brain injury. If your child is playing sports, check with the coach, school or league to see if they have a concussion protocol they follow and be sure they understand your concerns if your child should be injured during a game.

In some cases, an emergency room physician may sign off for your child to return to contact sports within a few weeks after the injury. If there are any signs or symptoms of a head injury, it is important to seek a second opinion from a physician who commonly works with people who suffer from brain injury.

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While the pitfalls of too little sleep have been well documented, there are also risks of sleeping too much, which is generally defined as more than nine hours a night. Specifically, excessive sleep, along with long midday naps, may increase your risk of stroke, according to a Chinese study involving 31,750 people.¹

It’s unclear exactly why excess sleep increases stroke risk, but long nappers and sleepers are more likely to have increased waist circumferences and inactive lifestyles, both of which are risk factors for stroke. However, other mechanisms could also be at play, as the relationship between sleep and cardiovascular health is complex and still being explored.

Too Much Sleep, Long Naps Increase Stroke Risk by 85%

Compared with sleeping seven to eight hours a night, those who slept for nine hours or more had a 23% greater risk of stroke, while shorter sleep (less than six hours a night) had no significant effect on stroke risk. Those who took long midday naps of more than 90 minutes also had a greater stroke risk — by 25% — than those who napped for 30 minutes or less.²

The greatest risk of all, however, occurred among those who both slept for nine hours or more at night and napped for more than 90 minutes. This excessive sleep combination increased stroke risk by 85% compared to moderate sleepers and nappers.

Sleep quality also matters, and the researchers found, “Compared with good sleep quality, those with poor sleep quality showed a 29%, 28% and 56% higher risk of total, ischemic, and hemorrhagic stroke, respectively.”³ People who were long nighttime sleepers with poor sleep quality were 82% more likely to have a stroke compared to moderate sleepers with good-quality sleep.

What’s more, even switching sleep duration from moderate to long increased stroke risk. Those who switched from seven to nine hours of sleep a night to nine hours or more were 44% more likely to have a stroke than persistent moderate sleepers.⁴ Previous research has also linked sleeping for more than eight hours per night with stroke, particularly in the elderly and women.⁵

The Link Between Sleep Duration and Stroke

In the U.S., more than 795,000 people have a stroke every year, which amounts to one stroke every 40 seconds.⁶ While stroke is the second leading cause of death, and a leading cause of disability, worldwide,⁷ it’s only recently that its link to sleep has become more widely recognized. In fact, most strokes occur in the first hours of the day, a time during sleep when blood pressure patterns dip, then surge in the morning.

“This morning blood pressure surge has been suggested to lead to increased cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events in the morning by disrupting vulnerable plaques, leading to rupture and thrombosis,” researchers explained in the journal Frontiers in Neurology.⁸

Sleep duration is also associated with an increased risk of high blood pressure, a leading risk factor for stroke. One study revealed, for instance, that sleeping for less than seven or more than eight hours per night is associated with an increased risk of high blood pressure.⁹

Disrupted sleep, including that caused by sleep apnea or limb movements during sleep, can also raise stroke risk, as noted in the Journal of Stroke,¹⁰ perhaps because it puts extra stress on your cardiovascular system:

“Any causes of sleep curtailment or fragmentation such as sleep restriction, sleep apnea, insomnia, periodic limb movements during sleep, and shift work, not only impair cardiovascular restoration but also impose a stress on the cardiovascular system. Sleep disturbances have been reported to play a role in the development of stroke and other cardiovascular disorders.”

In order to reduce your risk of stroke and other chronic conditions, optimizing your sleep is crucial — but what’s the “magic” number? Adults need an average of seven to nine hours of sleep a night, with most doing well with about eight.

Additional Risk Factors for Stroke

There are a number of risk factors for stroke aside from excess sleep, many of them physical in nature. As mentioned, high blood pressure is the greatest one, increasing risk of stroke by two- to fourfold.¹¹ Other health conditions, including heart disease, diabetes, atherosclerosis and obesity, also increase the risk, as do smoking cigarettes and physical inactivity.

Using antibiotics for an extended period of time during middle-age or later may also increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, including heart attack and stroke, in women.¹²

Among younger adults, in particular, men have a higher risk of stroke than women, and African-American and Hispanic Americans are about two times more likely to have a stroke than Caucasians.¹³

Further, according to Dr. Lee H. Schwamm, director of the comprehensive stroke center at Massachusetts General Hospital, and Dr. Lawrence R. Wechsler, chairman of the department of neurology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, the risk factors for stroke among people under the age of 50 differ from those in older patients, and include the following:¹⁴

Arterial dissection causing a blood clot — Causes of arterial dissection, which is when the lining of an artery tears, can occur during sudden neck movements, including sports injuries to the neck and jolting that can occur when riding a roller coaster

Hole in the heart (patent foramen ovale) — An estimated 1 in 4 people has this condition, which raises your odds of a stroke, as it can allow a blood clot to cross through your heart and into your brain

Blood clots

Heart defects or disturbed heart rhythm

Narrowing of the arteries caused by stimulants or drugs, causing a sudden lack of oxygen to your brain

Aneurism or arteriovenous malformation

Exercise Slashes Stroke Risk

What’s worse for your health than excess sleep is excess sleep combined with physical inactivity and prolonged sitting. In fact, one study found “ … physical inactivity, prolonged sitting and/or long sleep duration … had the strongest associations with all-cause mortality.”¹⁵

The good news is that exercise is very effective at both improving your sleep quality and reducing your risk of stroke, even in small doses. Less than an hour of strength training per week can reduce your risk for heart attack and stroke anywhere from 40% to 70%.¹⁶ Less than one hour of strength training per week also lowered the risk of metabolic syndrome, which raises your risk for Type 2 diabetes, heart disease and stroke, by 29%.¹⁷

Daily walks may also have a protective effect, particularly in reducing stroke severity should one occur. Adults who participate in light to moderate physical activity may have less severe strokes than their physically inactive peers, with researchers recommending at least four hours of walking or two to three hours of swimming a week as a potential means of reducing stroke severity.¹⁸

One reason why exercise is protective against stroke is because elevating your core temperature through exercise, steam rooms, hot baths or saunas helps optimize heat shock proteins (HSP) inside your cells, which limit cellular damage facilitate cellular recovery,¹⁹ and improves protein misfolding and repair.

Accumulation of damaged HSP may lead to plaque formation in your brain or cardiovascular system, thus leading to an increased risk of stroke or cardiovascular disease. Toward that end, researchers have also linked sauna use with a reduced risk for stroke and high blood pressure, because it increases heat shock proteins.²⁰

Most Strokes Are Due to Lifestyle Factors

The vast majority of strokes are linked to modifiable lifestyle factors, which is why I strongly encourage you to take control of your health to reduce your risk and learn about more stroke prevention strategies here. If you’re sleeping too much, seek out the underlying reasons why and address them at the source.

Overall, however, many of the same risk factors that raise your risk of heart disease — such as obesity, smoking and inactivity — also raise your risk of stroke. Common nutrient deficiencies, like vitamin D and magnesium, also raise your risk.

Ideally, measure your vitamin D level twice a year and make sure you maintain a healthy level between 60 and 80 ng/mL (150 and 200 nmol/L) year-round, either from sensible sun exposure or oral supplementation, or both. To raise your magnesium level, eat magnesium-rich foods and/or take a magnesium supplement, balanced with vitamins D3, K2 and calcium. Other key stroke-prevention strategies include:

• Eat real food — A diet of unprocessed or minimally processed whole foods, rich in healthy fats and fermented foods and low in net carbs, will protect your heart and cardiovascular health.
• Manage your stress — Stress is associated with a high risk of stroke,²¹ and while experiencing stress is inevitable, how you manage it can make the difference in how it affects your health. My favorite overall tool to manage stress is EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques).

Act FAST if Stroke Occurs

If you or a loved one is having a stroke, emergency medications can dissolve the clot that is blocking blood flow to your brain. Acting fast is crucial, however, as in order to be effective, you typically need to get help within three hours — and the sooner the better.²²

Most strokes occur without warning, so knowing the following symptoms of stroke and calling 911 immediately can therefore be the difference between life and long-lasting disability or death.

• Sudden numbness or weakness of face, arm or leg, especially when occurring on one side of the body; face drooping, typically on just one side
• Sudden confusion; trouble talking or understanding speech
• Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes, or double vision
• Sudden trouble walking, dizziness or loss of balance or coordination
• Sudden severe headache with no known cause; nausea or vomiting

Even if the symptoms are brief and disappear, a mini stroke may have occurred, so get emergency help if you or a loved one experiences any of these symptoms. A helpful acronym to memorize is FAST:

After a stroke, neuroplasticity training can also help you to regain lost function if implemented immediately. Bob Dennis’ book "Stroke of Luck: Master Neuroplasticity for Recovery and Growth After Stroke," and its shortened version, "Stroke of Luck: NOW! Fast and Free Exercises to Immediately Begin Mastering Neuroplasticity Following a Stroke," are excellent reference books that can help you to optimize recovery after a stroke.

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