2 ways to a limber brain
For the first time, scientists have shown that learning slows the buildup in the brain of protein plaques and tangles that are the signature and possible cause of Alzheimer’s disease.
Although the study was conducted in mice, it does reinforce the idea that, in humans, maintaining an active mind may help delay or even prevent Alzheimer’s disease.
“Using your brain can protect you physically,” said Kim Green, co-lead author of the study at the University of California at Irvine. “We show that when you do this, it causes changes in the brain, and these changes are protective.”
In a different study related to brain function, Dutch researchers have concluded that daily folic acid supplements of 800 micrograms improve cognitive function in older adults.
Caution on blood pressure meds
Some common blood pressure drugs can substantially increase the risk of diabetes, especially among those already at risk for the condition, U.S. researchers report.
Beta blockers and diuretics are the drugs most associated with the condition, according to the report, and angiotensin-receptor blockers (ARBs) and angiotensin-converting-enzyme (ACE) inhibitors are least associated with diabetes. Calcium-channel blockers fall in the middle.
“There are differences across the various types of drugs that we use to treat high blood pressure in people who develop diabetes,” said study author Dr. William Elliott, from the department of preventive medicine at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago.
Elliott noted that the risk of getting diabetes while taking diuretics and beta blockers depends on many factors. These include length of time on the medication, weight, family history of diabetes and whether a person has recently gained weight, he said.
How doctors should be prescribing these drugs in light of these findings isn’t clear-cut, Elliott said. “In Britain, they have issued new guidelines, where, in fact, the diuretic and beta blocker combination are not to be used together because of the excess risk of diabetes,” he said.
As first-line treatment, he added, doctors who take a patient’s risk for diabetes into account might be better off prescribing an ACE inhibitor or an ARB rather than a beta blocker or a diuretic.
Study: Selenium slows HIV
Supplements of the mineral selenium appear to reduce or slow the progression of HIV, University of Miami researchers report. Evidence suggests that supplements of the nutrient, in this case 200 micrograms a day, can improve immune system function.
“Taking one capsule of selenium a day is a simple and inexpensive and safe therapy that can be used, not as a replacement for HIV drugs, but as an adjunct therapy,” said lead researcher Barry E. Hurwitz. But too much selenium can be harmful and also interfere with statin drugs.
