Link between mental illness and sleep aid use

A possible link exists between mental illness and using sleep aids.

In today's "always on," high-stress world, it has become commonplace to turn to over-the-counter sleep aids for a little help with drifting off into dreamland at night. However, that habit, if made a consistent one, could lead to potentially serious damage when it comes to ones mental health.

A new study zeroing in on anticholinergic drugs -- a category that includes common non-prescription sleeping aids and antihistamines like Benadryl -- found that the long-term use of such medications in higher doses can lead to an increased risk of developing dementia, including Alzheimer's disease, in the future. It's the first study of its kind to prove this dose-response effect, meaning that the higher, cumulative consumption of the drug, the higher the likelihood of a person developing dementia later in life. It's also the first to suggest that this dementia risk may persist -- and be irreversible -- even years after people have stopped taking these drugs. The study was published in JAMA Internal Medicine in late January.

Dr. Shelly Gray, a professor at the University of Washington's School of Pharmacy and lead author of this study, originally intended to disprove this association that had been researched previously and published last year with her more rigorous study design, she told The Huffington Post. Dr. Gray and her colleagues tracked approximately 3,5000 men and women aged 65 and older who exhibited no dementia symptoms at the beginning of the study. Each participant was part of the joint Group Health–University of Washington study funded by the National Institute on Aging, which made it more efficient for them to track exposure to anticholinergic drugs via each person's pharmacy computer records.

Anticholinergics, which block the neurotransmitter acetylcholine in the brain and body, are typically taken to address gastrointestinal problems, urinary issues, respiratory disorders and insomnia, with side effects ranging from drowsiness to constipation urine retention to dry mouth.

Using more rigorous methods, a follow-up period extending beyond seven years, a more thorough assessment of pharmacy records regarding the medication use (both prescription and over-the-counter options), Dr. Gray's team was better able toconfirm this link between anticholinergic medication use and mental illness.

The pharmacy data allowed Dr. Gray and her team to calculate the standard daily medication doses of each study participant as well as their cumulative exposure to anticholinergics over a 10-year period. Over the course of the study, almost 800 participants developed a degree of dementia. The pharmacy data also revealed themost common medications (and daily doses) used by the group of participants: antidepressants (10 mg per day of doxepin), first-generation antihistamines (4mg per day of chlorpheniramine) and antimuscarinics for bladder control (5 mg per day of oxybutynin). They estimated that the use of such amounts for more than three years could result in a greater risk of developing dementia.

According to Dr. Gray, substitutes are available for the first two medications in this list. A selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitor like citalopram or fluoxitene can aide depression symptoms, while a second-generation antihistamine like loratadine can address allergies without the harmful, anticholinergic exposure. However, it can be more difficult to find an effective alternative for for urinary incontinence.

Dr. Gray hopes that this study will help inform older adults that many common medications have strong anticholinergic effects and come with a degree of risk when it comes to their mental health. However, for adults who are already taking drugs found to be problematic in this study, it's important to talk to your physician before terminating any medicinal regimen, as well as inform them of the over-the-counter drugs you take -- no matter how mainstream and benign they may seem.

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Interesting facts about sleep

This article discusses a few interesting facts about sleep.

A proper sleep cycle ensures the well-being of our physical and mental health, but surprisingly we do very little to maintain our sleep cycle. These intriguing facts about sleep will motivate, if not coerce, you to take your 'sleep' more seriously.

· Economizing on sleep may lead to shrinking of brain
It's a fact that human brain does shrink with age, but people who sleep for less duration are prone to increased rate of reduction. The fact is backed by a research. There are many factors like cholesterol levels, physical activity which are linked to the rate of change in brain volume over a period of time—and sleep has emerged as one of the important factors. A study carried out by Claire Sexton, DPhil, lead researcher found that people who sleep less clocked a higher rate of decline in the size of the frontal, temporal, and parietal lobe areas of the brain.

· Less sleep may lead to or speed up Dementia 
Researchers and doctors promote sleep for an enhanced memory. Now studies have found out that less sleep may lead to dementia or accelerate the emergence of this disease. More research is needed to establish if lack of sleep actually causes dementia; till then, the best thing to do is to relax and sleep for sufficient number of hours.

· Brain makes decision while we are asleep
Remember those times when you were irked to make a decision but couldn't make it. You closed your work and went to sleep. And when you woke up you realized that you've made the decision. Ever wondered why and how? This is a result of your brain that was busy organizing information, processing data and clearing up unnecessary information while you were asleep. The fact was brought to light in a study that was done by a team of French and UK researchers. In this research, a group of adults were given a task of word classification, one when they were awake, and the other while they were asleep. The researchers found that same pattern of brain activities were happening when individuals were presented with even more words while they were asleep. This perfectly explains why we respond when someone calls out our name while we are asleep.

· Sleep Apnea can be treated better with the help of family
Sleep apnea is a sleep disorder which is characterized by breathing pauses or breaks during sleep. There are two types of sleep apnea: obstructive sleep apnea and central sleep apnea. The problem can be mild or severe, based on how often your lungs don't get enough air. Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is the best method for treating sleep disorders. Family support is vital to make a person adhere to this treatment. Studies suggest, people who rated their family relationship quality higher, adhered to CPAP treatment more closely.

· Night birds have more difficulty sticking to an exercise routine
Early risers are found to be disciplined when it comes to exercise routine. It is quite easy for them to get out of bed early morning, and go out for jogging, running, or other exercises. While on the other hand, night owls find it troublesome to stick to an exercise routine. For them getting out of bed early morning is next to impossible. In a study, it was found that night owls generally spent their time sitting aimlessly, feel like doing nothing and gave excuses for not being able to exercise like insufficient number of hours in the day.

· Sleeping with a pet alongside messes your sleep
The world is filled with pet lovers. Out of these pet lovers some even go to an extent where they share bed with their pets. This may sound wonderful but it actually affects your sleep. A research presented at the annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies, found that 30% of pet owners who shared bed with their pets get interrupted sleep as they had to get up at least once in the night due to the barks, meows, tail wags, and more. So, overall this idea of sharing bed, however cute it sounds, will disrupt your sleep and affect your health.

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Helmet technology may help with concussions

Forbes recently published the following article explaining why current helmets cannot prevent concussions, but that new helmet technology may be able to help.

The veil of denial and misinformation that has clouded awareness of the long term dangers of athletic concussion has started to lift.  As the general public and especially families of collision sports athletes begin to realize the threat to a normal life posed by the heightened risk of Alzheimers, ALS, Parkinson’s, dementia, Chronic Traumatic Encepalopathy and depression that multiple concussions trigger–the search for solution becomes more intense. One focus in prevention is helmets. Athletes in football, baseball, hockey, field hockey, auto and horse racing all wear helmets.

There is a prevalent belief that those helmets play a major role in preventing concussion–they do not. Current helmets are primarily designed to prevent skull fracture. There obviously is some protective benefit–but the energy wave from a collision currently moves through the plastic and the liner of a helmet and enters the athlete’s head. Tate Technology, headed by CEO Jenny Tate Morgan, has devised a solution. Morgan comes from a family background in helmetry. Her grandfather, John Tate Riddell designed the first plastic helmet, and founded Riddell Football. Her father, also CEO of Riddell, co-ventured with Jack Welch and GE Plastics to use new polycarbonate materials on helmets in 1957. Riddell innovated a series of designs also used in military helmets.

Tate Technology assembled a scientific team of industry experts, engineers, PhD’s and MD’s along with a seasoned board of directors from Fortune 500 companies to find better solutions.  ”Advanced Concussion Technology” (ACT) is a solution which has gone through research, development and some testing. It uses a system of coils designed to dissipate energy and attenuate at the first point of impact. This is done through ”compression” instead of the energy flowing into “tension.” The energy wave moves directly into the head. The system of coil and compression in the helmet can reduce the impact of a hit by as much as half. This company is licensing the technology, which can adapt to any of the currently made helmets; it will not manufacture them itself.

I don’t pretend to be an engineer with in-depth knowledge of energy attentuation. But in lay terms, reducing the energy in a hit so it never penetrates the head and the brain, seems like a solution that could revolutionize helmetry. What works on sports helmets, can work on military, bicycle and motorcycle helmets. Tate’s ACT is ready to be installed in helmets now.

Kudos to those inventive individuals and companies that are trying to tackle a problem that is a largely undiagnosed public health epidemic. Otherwise, the number of concussions will continue to rise, and the trauma will manifest earlier than ever before. This is the result of larger, stronger, faster bodies colliding. It will be exciting to see how fast Jenny Morgan’s ACT technology can begin providing relief.I have always felt that once American corporations with engineering capacity worked on the helmet problem, progress would occur. In the same way neutraceutical and pharmaceutical solutions to brain damage have occurred. The race for solution is producing a variety of promising approaches, such as Prevacus nasal spray. In helmetry, Vicis Company has developed a helmet with impact absorbing filaments that also offers hope.

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Study: Traumatic brain injury and dementia in older adults

A study shows that older adults who previously had a traumatic brain injury are at a higher risk of developing dementia.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) appears to be associated with an increased risk of dementia in adults 55 years and older, according to a study published online by JAMA Neurology.

Controversy exists about whether there is a link between a single TBI and the risk of developing dementia because of conflicting study results. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that Americans 55 years and older account for more than 60 percent of all hospitalizations for TBI, with the highest rates of TBI-related emergency department (ED) visits, inpatient stays and deaths happening among those patients 75 years and older. Therefore, understanding the effects of a recent TBI and the subsequent development of dementia among middle or older adults has important public health implications.

Researchers Raquel C. Gardner, M.D., of the University of California, San Francisco, and colleagues examined the risk of dementia among adults 55 years and older with recent TBI compared with adults with non-TBI body trauma (NTT), which was defined as fractures but not of the head or neck. The study included 164,661 patients identified in a statewide California administrative health database of ED and inpatient visits.

In the study, a total of 51,799 patients with trauma (31.5 percent) had TBI. Of those, 4,361 patients (8.4 percent) developed dementia compared with 6,610 patients (5.9 percent) with NTT. The average time from trauma to dementia diagnosis was 3.2 years and it was shorter in the TBI group compared with the NTT group (3.1 vs. 3.3 years). Moderate to severe TBI was associated with increased risk of dementia at 55 years or older, while mild TBI at 65 years or older increased the dementia risk.

"Whether a person with TBI recovers cognitively or develops dementia, however, is likely dependent on multiple additional risk and protective factors, ranging from genetics and medical comorbidities to environmental exposures and specific characteristics of the TBI itself," the authors note.

Editorial: Role of Big Data in Understanding Late-Life Cognitive Decline

In a related editorial, Steven T. DeKosky, M.D., of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, writes: "In this issue of JAMA Neurology, Gardner and colleagues used a very large database to examine the risk of dementia following significant trauma, specifically whether body trauma (fractures) or traumatic brain injury (TBI) differed in dementia incidence during follow-up."

"Unfortunately, there was not a nontrauma control group included, which may have answered the question of whether NTT (i.e. body trauma itself) raised the risk of dementia significantly above age-equivalent controls without nonbrain trauma (perhaps from inflammation or other complications)," DeKosky continues.

"Judicious use of data by skilled researchers who are familiar with the entire range of dementia research from pathobiology to health care needs will enable us to ask important questions, evolve new or more informed queries, and both lead and complement the translational questions that are before us. Dementia is both a global problem and a pathological conundrum; thus, the complementary use of big data and basic neuroscience analyses offers the most promise," he concludes.

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Chronic sleep disturbance could mean early Alzheimer's or dementia

A study shows that chronic sleep disturbance could indicate an early onset of Alzheimer's or dementia.

People who experience chronic sleep disturbance -- either through their work, insomnia or other reasons -- could face an earlier onset of dementia and Alzheimer's, according to a new pre-clinical study by researchers at Temple University.

"The big biological question that we tried to address in this study is whether sleep disturbance is a risk factor to develop Alzheimer's or is it something that manifests with the disease," said Domenico Praticò, professor of pharmacology and microbiology/immunology in Temple's School of Medicine, who led the study.

Initially, the researchers looked at longitudinal studies which indicated that people who reported chronic sleep disturbances often developed Alzheimer's disease.

For the study, they used a transgenic Alzheimer's mouse model that begins developing memory and learning impairment at about one year -- the equivalent of a human that is mid-50-60 years in age -- and at 14-15 months have the typical human brain pathology of Alzheimer's, including amyloid plaques and tau protein tangles, the two major brain pathological/lesion signatures for the disease.

The eight week study began when the mice were approximately six months old, or the equivalent of an adult human in their 40s. One group of mice was kept on a schedule of 12 hours of light and 12 hours of darkness, while a second group was subjected to 20 hours of light and only four hours of darkness, greatly reducing their amount of sleep.

"At the end of the eight weeks, we didn't initially observe anything that was obviously different between the two groups," said Praticὸ, who is also a member of Temple's Center for Translational Medicine. "However, when we tested the mice for memory, the group which had the reduced sleep demonstrated significant impairment in their working and retention memory, as well as their learning ability."

The researchers then examined the mice's brains to look at the different aspects of the Alzheimer's pathology -- mainly the amyloid plaques and tau protein tangles.

"Surprisingly, we didn't see any difference between the two groups in the amyloid plaques," noted Praticὸ. "However, we did observe that the sleep disturbance group had a significant increase in the amount of tau protein that became phosphorylated and formed the tangles inside the brain's neuronal cells."

Tau protein acts as an important component for neuronal cell health, but elevated levels of phosphorylated tau can disrupt the cells' synaptic connection or ability to transport a nutrient/chemical or transmit an electrical signal from one cell to another, said Praticò.

"Because of the tau's abnormal phosphorylation, the sleep deprived mice had a huge disruption of this synaptic connection," he said. "This disruption will eventually impair the brain's ability for learning, forming new memory and other cognitive functions, and contributes to Alzheimer's disease."

Praticὸ said that since the sleep deprived mice developed the Alzheimer's brain pathology earlier than the mice who were not deprived, sleep disturbance acts as a trigger that accelerates the pathological process of tau becoming phosphorylated and irreversibly damaging the synaptic connection.

"We can conclude from this study that chronic sleep disturbance is an environmental risk factor for Alzheimer's disease," he said. "But the good news is that sleep disturbances can be easily treated, which would hopefully reduce the Alzheimer's risk."

The researchers published their findings, "Sleep deprivation impairs memory, tau metabolism and synaptic integrity of a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease with plaques and tangles," in the journal Neurobiology of Aging.

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Those with sleep apnea are more likely to develop pneumonia

People who have sleep apnea are more likely to develop pneumonia.

People with sleep apnea may be at greater risk for developing pneumonia, according to a new study. And the more severe the sleep apnea, the greater the risk, the research suggests.

"This study showed that sleep apnea is an independent risk factor for incident pneumonia," wrote Dr. Vincent Yi-Fong Su and Dr. Kun-Ta Chou of the department of chest medicine at Taipei Veterans General Hospital in Taiwan. "Our results also demonstrated an exposure-response relation in that patients with more severe sleep apnea may have a higher risk of pneumonia than patients with sleep apnea of milder severity."

The sleep disorder causes the upper airway to become blocked, cutting off oxygen during sleep. The researchers said this increases the risk for aspiration, or inhaling contents or fluid from the throat into the lungs. This can put people at greater risk for pneumonia.

The 11-year study, published March 3 in CMAJ, involved 34,100 patients. Close to 7,000 of these participants had sleep apnea, and about 27,000 did not.

The researchers found that more than 9 percent of the sleep apnea group developed pneumonia, compared to less than 8 percent of those without the sleep disorder. The risk was higher among patients using continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy, considered the gold standard for treating sleep apnea.

However, those who developed pneumonia were older and had other health problems, such as heart disease, diabetes and dementia.

While the study showed an association between sleep apnea and pneumonia risk, it did not prove a cause-and-effect link.

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Study: Concussions and Alzheimer's are linked

According to a new study, older adults with memory issues and Alzheimer's disease also generally have a history of concussion.

Older adults with memory problems and a history of concussion have more buildup of Alzheimer's disease-associated plaques in the brain than those who also had concussions but don't have memory problems, according to a new study.

''What we think it suggests is, head trauma is associated with Alzheimer's-type dementia -- it's a risk factor," said study researcher Michelle Mielke, an associate professor of epidemiology and neurology at Mayo Clinic Rochester. "But it doesn't mean someone with head trauma is [automatically] going to develop Alzheimer's."

Her study is published online Dec. 26 and in the Jan. 7 print issue of the journal Neurology.

Previous studies looking at whether head trauma is a risk factor for Alzheimer's have come up with conflicting results, she noted. And Mielke stressed that she has found only a link or association, not a cause-and-effect relationship.

In the study, Mielke and her team evaluated 448 residents of Olmsted County, Minn., who had no signs of memory problems. They also evaluated another 141 residents with memory and thinking problems known as mild cognitive impairment.

More than 5 million Americans have Alzheimer's disease, according to the Alzheimer's Association. Plaques are deposits of a protein fragment known as beta-amyloid that can build up in between the brain's nerve cells. While most people develop some with age, those who develop Alzheimer's generally get many more, according to the Alzheimer's Association. They also tend to get them in a predictable pattern, starting in brain areas crucial for memory.

In the Mayo study, all participants were aged 70 or older. The participants reported if they ever had a brain injury that involved loss of consciousness or memory.

Of the 448 without any memory problems, 17 percent had reported a brain injury. Of the 141 with memory problems, 18 percent did. This suggests that the link between head trauma and the plaques is complex, Mielke said, as the proportion of people reporting concussion was the same in both groups.

Brain scans were done on all the participants. Those who had both concussion history and cognitive [mental] impairment had levels of amyloid plaques that were 18 percent higher than those with cognitive impairment but no head trauma history, the investigators found.

Among those with mild cognitive impairment, those with concussion histories had a nearly five times higher risk of elevated plaque levels than those without a history of concussion.

The researchers don't know why some with concussion history develop memory problems and others do not.

The research was funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health, among several other supporters.

The study adds valuable information for experts in the field, said Dr. Robert Glatter, director of sports medicine and traumatic brain injury in the department of emergency medicine at Lenox Hill Hospital, in New York City. Glatter, who is also a former sideline physician for the National Football League's New York Jets, reviewed the new study findings.

Other studies, he said, often rely on postmortem information. In the Mayo study, participants had to have loss of consciousness as a measure of having a concussion history, Glatter noted. However, he added, the new thinking is that loss of consciousness is not necessary to define a concussion -- one can occur without that.

The effect of head injury may be cumulative over time in the development of Alzheimer's, he said. In the past, experts thought only severe head trauma was linked with Alzheimer's, but less severe injury may actually be relevant as well, he added.

Some other factor or factors yet to be discovered may be at play, Glatter said.

Both Mielke and Glatter stressed that concussions don't automatically lead to Alzheimer's. "Not all people with head trauma develop Alzheimer's," Glatter said.

"If you do hit your head, it doesn't mean you are going to develop Alzheimer's," Mielke said, although "it may increase your risk."

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The latest research on brain trauma and young athletes

This article discusses many different studies done on young athletes and concussions done recently.

First the good news: There's little to no evidence that the average high school athlete faces a scenario similar to former professional football players who exhibit signs of serious depression or early-onset dementia linked to their years on the playing field.

"We're not seeing an epidemic of men in their early 50s with early Alzheimer's because they played high school football," said Steven Broglio, director of the Neurotrauma Research Laboratory at University of Michigan.

But new research conducted by Broglio and others around the country now shows troubling evidence that high school football and other contact sports can take a more subtle long-term toll on the brain -- and it's not just concussions that are problematic.

In fact, for all the focus on concussions, the bigger worry for athletes may be the accumulation of body blows that jolt the head, shaking the brain like a bowl of Jello and traumatizing fragile brain tissue and nerves.

The issue is especially worrisome in football, a sport built around plays where athletes slam into each other as hard as possible. Football players can experience as many as 1,000 impacts or more over the course of season. Researchers say that, in terms of g-forces and stress on the body, playing in a high school football game is comparable to being in a 20- or 30-mph car crash.

Those so-called sub-concussive impacts may not cause concussions, but it appears they can add up and result in damage to the brain.

Broglio and his colleagues at U-M recently published a study that looked at college students with and without a history of concussions. There were no outward differences between the two groups. But on close examination, the students with histories of concussions showed changes in gait, balance and in the brain's electrical activity, specifically attention and impulse control.  

In a U-M press release on the study, Brolgio offered this analogy: 

The signaling pathways in our brains are analogous to a five-lane highway. On a new highway, traffic runs smoothly and quickly as all lanes are in top shape. However, during normal aging, the asphalt deteriorates and lanes might become bumpy or even unusable. Traffic slows.

Similarly, our brains start with all pathways clear to transfer electrical signals rapidly. As we age, the brain's pathways break down and can't transfer the information as quickly. Concussive and other impacts to the head may result in a 'pothole' on the brain's highway, causing varying degrees of damage and speeding the pathway's natural deterioration.

"These are all very high-functioning college students," Broglio said about the subjects in the study with a history of concussion. "But on a very subtle level, something has changed. It appears that because of concussive or sub-concussive blows, there has been a permanent change in the brain and as they grow older, this could magnify."

In short, he said, it's possible that the changes could speed up the memory problems and other mental deterioration that people experience as they age. 

'Totality of blows'

Meanwhile at Purdue University, researchers studied the issue of sub-concussive blows by putting sensors in the helmets of Lafayette, Ind., high school football players for two seasons. 

Their conclusion: Concussions are likely caused by many hits over time and not from a single blow to the head, as commonly believed.

"The most important implication of the new findings is the suggestion that a concussion is not just the result of a single blow, but it's really the totality of blows that took place over the season," Eric Nauman, an associate professor of mechanical engineering and an expert in central nervous system and musculoskeletal trauma, said in a press release about the study. "The one hit that brought on the concussion is arguably the straw that broke the camel's back."

The Purdue researchers had additional findings contrary to conventional thinking.

"Most clinicians would say that if you don't have any concussion symptoms you have no problems," Larry Leverenz, an expert in athletic training and a clinical professor of health and kinesiology, said in the press release. "However, we are finding that there is actually a lot of change, even when you don't have symptoms."

In the two seasons studied, there were six players with concussions but 17 that showed brain changes even though they did not have concussions. 

Players in the study received from 200 to nearly 1,900 hits to the head in a single season. Helmet-sensor data indicated impact forces to the head ranged from a g-force of 20 to more than 100. The worst hit was almost 300 g.

Nauman said that a person in a 30 mph car crash experiences a g-force of 30 if he/she is wearing a seatbelt and 150 without a seatbelt.  

"The average hit we record is about 22 Gs,' Nauman said about the Lafayette football players. "So it's not that different (from a car crash). It is not uncommon for a player to  have one 80-100 G hit, a couple of 50-60s and a bunch of smaller ones."

The Purdue research mirrors the findings of a similar study at the University of Rochester Medical Clinic in upstate New York, where high school football and hockey players showed changes in their brain scans even when they hadn't experienced a concussion.

That study involved nine athletes and six people in a control group. Among the nine athletes, only one was diagnosed with a sports-related concussion, but six others showed abnormalities on their post-season scans that were closer to the concussed brain than to the normal brains in the control group.

The brain scans also correlate to the number of head hits and symptoms experienced, the researchers said.

No clear answers
So what's the take-away message for parents and athletes about the research?

First, Broglio stressed that brain function is affected by many factors, including genetics and lifestyle choices such as smoking and alcohol consumption.

"Concussion may be only one small factor," he said.

He also pointed out higher risk factors are just that: Not every cigarette smoker gets lung cancer, not every blonde with a history of sunburns gets skin cancer, people with a family history of heart disease  may or may not  have heart problems.

In addition, Broglio stressed that the brain research on the young athletes is still in its infancy.

"It's not entirely clear" if and how the brains of young athletes are affected by the sports they play, Broglio said. "We are realizing it's probably not how many concussions you have that makes a difference, but the total exposure" to concussive and sub-concussive impacts.

He added that it appears that playing contact sports in high school is a "very small risk" in terms of overall long-term health.

But, he acknowledged, at what point contact sports becomes too risky for teenagers is a "very big question. We don't have clear answers."

For that reason, Dr. Robert Baker, a family practitioner with Bronson Orthopedics & Sports Medicine in Kalamazoo, said one of the biggest challenges for doctors who treat sports-related concussions is recommending if and when a youngster should end his or her sports career.

"The best we can do is look at the type of hits they've experienced, the periods of recovery," Baker said. Determining the threshold where enough is enough "is a very difficult issue."

But Baker and other local doctors say it rarely gets to that point, and it's important for parents to keep the risk of sports-related concussions in context.

"You're more at risk by not wearing a seatbelt," said Dr. James VanHuysen, of Bronson Orthopedics & Sports Medicine.

Dr. Daniel Fain, of Kalamazoo's Bronson Pediatric Neurology, agreed.

"I think sports are important," he said, and fear of sports-related concussions shouldn't keep kids out of sports.

That said, "parents need to understand the severity of concussions" so that when they do occur, families respond appropriately, he said. "If I were a parent, I'd hope my kid would be looking at this."

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Brain Size May Predict Risk for Early Alzheimer's Disease

New research suggests that, in people who don't currently have memory problems, those with smaller regions of the brain's cortex may be more likely to develop symptoms consistent with very early Alzheimer's disease. The study is published in the December 21, 2011, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

"The ability to identify people who are not showing memory problems and other symptoms but may be at a higher risk for cognitive decline is a very important step toward developing new ways for doctors to detect Alzheimer's disease," said Susan Resnick, PhD, with the National Institute on Aging in Baltimore, who wrote an accompanying editorial.

For the study, researchers used brain scans to measure the thickness of regions of the brain's cortex in 159 people free of dementia with an average age of 76. The brain regions were chosen based on prior studies showing that they shrink in patients with Alzheimer's dementia. Of the 159 people, 19 were classified as at high risk for having early Alzheimer's disease due to smaller size of particular regions known to be vulnerable to Alzheimer's in the brain's cortex, 116 were classified as average risk and 24 as low risk. At the beginning of the study and over the next three years, participants were also given tests that measured memory, problem solving and ability to plan and pay attention.

The study found that 21 percent of those at high risk experienced cognitive decline during three years of follow-up after the MRI scan, compared to seven percent of those at average risk and none of those at low risk.

"Further research is needed on how using MRI scans to measure the size of different brain regions in combination with other tests may help identify people at the greatest risk of developing early Alzheimer's as early as possible," said study author Bradford Dickerson, MD, of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and a member of the American Academy of Neurology.

The study also found 60 percent of the group considered most at risk for early Alzheimer's disease had abnormal levels of proteins associated with the disease in cerebrospinal fluid, which is another marker for the disease, compared to 36 percent of those at average risk and 19 percent of those at low risk.

Read more: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111221211220

Are women more at risk for insomnia?

Women have a higher risk than men of developing insomnia at some time in their lives.

Insomnia is a common sleep disorder characterized by the inability to obtain sufficient sleep— typically seven to eight hours for adults, enough to feel refreshed and alert throughout the day—and leads to associated symptoms such as excessive daytime sleepiness. Patients with insomnia dedicate enough time to sleep, but they either cannot fall asleep easily (known as sleep onset insomnia), or they wake up and can’t fall back to sleep easily (sleep maintenance insomnia). Some have both. There is a tendency for insomnia to run in families, although the genetic component is not yet known.

There are two types of insomnia—primary and secondary.

Primary insomnia occurs spontaneously, meaning that nothing in the environment, including medical issues, is to blame.

Secondary insomnia is far more common than the primary variety. Causes include depression, anxiety, chronic pain from conditions such as arthritis or fibromyalgia, dementia, sleep apneaand restless leg syndrome. Some medicationsand too much alcohol, caffeine or nicotine also can lead to secondary insomnia.

Some causes of secondary insomnia, such as depression and fibromyalgia, are more common in women. Restless leg syndrome is often the result of iron deficiency anemia, which occurs more often in women than men.

Read more: http://www.healthcanal.com/mental-health-behavior/23902-Are-women-more-risk-for-insomnia.html

Does Hypertension Affect Brain Capacity?

Can the course of dementias and mild cognitive impairment be influenced by diseases and risk factors?

Larger numbers of people are affected by mild cognitive impairments and dementia, which means that early detection of possible precursors as well as diagnosis and therapy of risk factors that can actually be influenced are gaining in importance. The term "mild cognitive impairment" describes impairments in memory, attention, and intellectual capacity that are common at an advanced age. It is notably below the usual standard for the age group and educational level under investigation, without presenting substantial limitations to people's everyday lives. Mild cognitive impairment may occur as a precursor stage to actual dementia.

The current data situation is based on less conclusive cross sectional studies and longitudinal studies. In spite of the fact that interventional studies have been negative so far, the authors are of the opinion that a biologically plausible association exists between cognitive degeneration and hypertension, diabetes, and hyperlipidemia. Chronic renal failure has been identified as a new somatic risk factor in recent years. Epidemiological data indicate a protective effect for a Mediterranean diet, physical activity, and moderate alcohol consumption. Smoking, on the other hand, raises the risk for developing cognitive impairments.

Read more: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111121124121