People with long-term, low-level exposure to pesticides have a 70 per cent higher incidence of Parkinson's disease than people who have not been exposed much to bug sprays, US researchers say. (theage.com)

June 25, 2006

Children with autism disorders in the San Francisco Bay Area were 50% more likely to be born in neighborhoods with high amounts of several toxic air contaminants, particularly mercury, according to a first-of-its-kind study by the California Department of Health Services. (healthsentinel.com)

Posted by news editor | Filed under: Autism

June 05, 2006

Eleven men and women with a long history of migraine did not respond to several type of drugs, including beta-blockers, antidepressants and anticonvulsants, had fewer and less severe headaches, on average, after taking capsules containing an extract of pine bark, vitamin C and vitamin E every day for three months, according to a report in the journal Headache. (Reuters.co.uk)

Posted by news editor | Filed under: Migraines

May 07, 2006

During an epidemic in Nigeria in 1996, Pfizer illegally tested an unapproved drug on children with brain infections, says a panel of Nigerian medical experts. According to the report, published in the Sunday (today) edition of the Washington Post, this violated international law. The report was completed five years ago, but never came out in the open. (Medical News Today)

Posted by news editor | Filed under: Medication

May 03, 2006

After falling out of a palm tree, Rolling Stone Keith Richards continued to suffer headaches after being discharged from the hospital. It was at first believed that he suffered only a mild concussion but doctors have now diagnosed bleeding in the brain. He will undergo an operation to drill a hole in his skull and drain the blood. (Ireland on-line)

Posted by news editor | Filed under: Haemorrhage

April 09, 2006

Women who have their ovaries removed may be at increased risk of dementia, a study of 2,500 patients suggests.

A Mayo Clinic, Minnesota, team found the risk was especially raised among young women - removal of one ovary by the age of 38 raised the risk by 260% (BBC NEWS)

Posted by news editor | Filed under: Dementia

April 07, 2006

For patients at high risk of Alzheimer's disease, taking a combination of vitamins E and C plus ibuprofen significantly reduces their risk, results of a longitudinal study suggest. (REUTERS)

Posted by news editor | Filed under: Alzheimer's Disease

A new study suggests that people in midlife who are overweight are at increased risk for Alzheimer's disease.

The researchers from the Kaiser Permanente Foundation Research Institute in Oakland, Calif., followed nearly 9,000 people for up to 30 years. The study participants were evaluated for overweight and obesity by measuring upper arm and shoulder skinfold thickness.

Those with higher skinfold measurements in their 40s were more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease than those with smaller measurements. (upi.com)

Posted by news editor | Filed under: Alzheimer's Disease

March 20, 2006

Many people with Parkinson's disease who are taking dopamine agonists such as Mirapex and Permax are finding that they have new problems: compulsive gambling, overactive sex drive, and other compulsive behaviors. Some patients are suing the drug companies "to recover the money they lost gambling, on the grounds that the companies did not do enough to warn about these risks." The drug companies say there's no scientific proof that their drugs cause comulsive behavior. However:

... a recent analysis headed by FDA scientist Ana Szarfman found a strong association between pathological gambling and dopamine agonists. The statistics from a federal adverse-events database are not conclusive, but FDA officials regularly mine the data to spot red flags. (Washington Post)

Posted by news editor | Filed under: Parkinson's Disease

March 02, 2006

Acupuncture, one of the most popular complementary treatments, works as well as standard drugs for migraines, German researchers said on Thursday. (MSNBC)

Posted by news editor | Filed under: Migraines

February 25, 2006

People who regularly drink green tea may have a lesser risk of mental decline as they grow older, researchers have found.

Their study, of more than 1,000 Japanese adults in their 70s and beyond, found that the more green tea men and women drank, the lower their odds of having cognitive impairment. (MSNBC)

Posted by news editor | Filed under: Human Brain

February 22, 2006

If it seems you're forgetting more as you grow older, you are. Like most other organs in the body, the brain gets smaller as we age, leading to a decline in memory, decision-making ability and verbal skills. That doesn't necessarily mean that you're on a steep downhill slide toward certain dementia, say experts. Growing evidence suggests there are steps you can take to better the odds of preserving your brainpower and protecting it against disease. (Washington Post)

Posted by news editor | Filed under: Alzheimer's Disease