HEALTHY REPS
Health news and notes Connecting with someone with Alzheimer’s Mayo Clinic says that even if your loved one with Alzheimer’s doesn’t recognize you or can’t communicate verbally, you can still show reassurance and love. To maintain a connection, use your loved one’s senses: ʯ Touch. Hold their hand. Brush his or her hair. Gently massage their hands, legs or feet. ʯ Smell. The scent of a favorite perfume, flower or food might be comforting. ʯ Sight. Show your loved one a video with scenes of nature and soft, calming sounds. Or take them to look at a garden or watch the birds. ʯ Hearing. Read aloud, even if your loved one can’t understand the words. The tone and rhythm of your voice might be soothing.
appeared to trigger an immune reaction that included T cells from the blood and the brain’s scavenging microglia. The dark spots showed a different pattern, with leaky vessels and clots but no evidence of an immune reaction. Researchers continue to explore how COVID-19 affects the brain and triggers neurological symptoms.
Ill effects of light drinking Despite the purported cardiovascular benefits of light drinking, small amounts of alcohol were linked with incident atrial fibrillation (Afib) in a large observational study, reports MedPage Today. Increased Afib risk was observed with just one daily drink containing 12 g ethanol, whether the beverage was 120 mL of wine (four-fifths of one standard glass), 330 mL of beer (nearly a can’s worth), or 40 mL of spirits (roughly one shot), reported Renate Schnabel, M.D., of University Heart & Vascular Center Hamburg, Germany, and colleagues. Even very low alcohol consumption, at 2 g per day, was marginally associated with Afib risk over nearly 14 years of follow-up, they wrote in the European Heart Journal. Findings were consistent for men and women.
Promising news on cancer front
COVID-19’s effects on the brain Suggestions that SARS-CoV-2 might cross the blood-brain barrier and invade the brain were ruled out in a study conducted by the National Institutes of Health. Using a highpowered magnetic resonance imaging scanner to examine postmortem tissue from 19 patients, researchers found an unusual number of bright spots, a sign of inflammation. They also showed dark spots, which indicate bleeding. A closer look at the bright spots showed that tiny blood vessels in those areas were thinner than normal and, in some cases, leaked blood proteins into the brain. This leakage 40
March 2021
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Researchers in January reported another record one-year decline in the U.S. cancer death rate, a drop they attribute to success against lung cancer. The overall cancer death rate has been falling since 1991. From 2017 to 2018, it fell 2.4%, according to an American Cancer Society report, topping the record 2.2% drop reported the year before. Lung cancer accounted for almost half of the overall decline in cancer deaths in the past five years, the society reported. Most lung cancer cases are tied to smoking, and decades of declining smoking rates have led to falling rates of lung cancer illnesses and deaths. But experts say the drop in deaths has been accelerated by refinements in surgery, better diagnostic scanning, more precise use of radiation and the impact of newer drugs.
