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Type 1 and 2 Diabetes Increase Dementia Risk
Both types of diabetes dramatically increase a person's risk of dementia, a new study says. People with Type 1 diabetes are nearly three times more likely than those without diabetes to develop dementia, and folks with Type 2 diabetes are twice as likely to do so,...
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Review: Little Evidence Cannabis Helps Mental Health
Cannabis-based medications are often used to treat mental health problems, but a new review suggests they may not work as well as many people hope. Researchers looked at decades of studies and found little evidence that cannabis helps with most mental health or substance-use...
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Smartphone Use Linked to Disordered Eating in Teens
For many teenagers, a smartphone is essentially an extra limb. But new research suggests that spending too much time peering into that digital world might be altering how young people view their bodies and their relationship with food. A comprehensive review from King's...
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24 Minutes of Specially Designed Music Eases Anxiety
A short music session may help ease anxiety and researchers say there's a "sweet spot" for how long to listen. A clinical trial found that listening to specially designed music for 24 minutes can significantly reduce anxiety symptoms. The music was paired with auditory beat...
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VR Education Eases Anxiety About Medical Procedures
Imagine a doctor offering you a virtual reality headset to help explain an upcoming procedure. It turns out such an explanation might go farther to easing your worries than the usual handout leaflet, researchers reported Friday at a meeting in London of the European...
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People's Pain Perceptions Can Shape Yours
You're waiting for a vaccination. The person ahead of you stumbles out, groaning about how painful the shot was.Could hearing that make your own injection hurt worseYes, a new study says.What others say about an experience - be it a vaccination, or a job interview, or a...
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Exercise Promotes Release of Brain-Boosting Protein
It's long been known that exercise improves a person's brain health - and researchers now think they better understand at least one of the factors at play. Just one 15-minute session of aerobic exercise floods the brain with brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a...
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Study Finds Why Multitasking is Not Possible
Think you're great at multitasking Answering texts, listening to a podcast and finishing work at the same time Your brain may disagree. A new study out of Germany suggests that people can't truly do two tasks at once, even after lots of practice. Instead, the brain quickly...
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Epilepsy Drug May Help Treat Sleep Apnea
A drug used in Europe to treat epilepsy may help people with obstructive sleep apnea breathe more easily during sleep, according to a new clinical trial. Researchers found that the medication sulthiame reduced breathing interruptions and improved oxygen levels overnight in...
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More Concussions, Worse Brain Health in College Grads
Former college athletes can show signs of concussion-related brain decline as early as five years after graduation, a new study says. Athletes who had three or more concussions during college play had worse scores on tests measuring anxiety, depression, distress and sleep...
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Multilingualism Might Not Boost Brain Health
A researcher is disputing a recent high-profile study claiming that people who live in multilingual countries show healthier brain aging. The study, published in Nature Aging last year, found that knowing more than one language reduced odds of brain aging by 54%.But...
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FDA Approves Drug for Rare Autism-Linked Disorder
The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday approved a generic medication for a rare brain disorder, while walking back suggestions by President Donald Trump and other administration officials that the drug showed great promise for people with autism. The agency said it...
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That Stressful Person May Be Aging You
Spending time with someone who constantly causes problems may do more than just ruin your mood. Over time, those stressful relationships could also affect your health and even speed up aging, a recent study suggests. Researchers looked at the effects of people they call...
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The Health Benefits of Napping
Monday is National Napping Day, a tradition observed the day after the switch to Daylight Saving Time. The timing is fitting, since most people lose an hour of sleep when clocks "spring forward" on the second Sunday in March - and many will still feel the effects for...
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Many Seniors Gain Physical, Mental Fitness With Age
People think of aging as a steady decline, with seniors gradually losing their physical abilities and mental agility as the years wear on. But a new study suggests that seniors can - and often do - improve over time, with the right mindset. Nearly half of seniors 65 and older...
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How to Challenge Your Brain to Lower Dementia Risk
"Exercise your brain," experts advise people hoping to stave off dementia. But how Stretching your brain might be the better description. Do a crossword puzzle a day and you may just get good at crosswords. Instead, research increasingly shows that a variety of habits and...
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How Change to Daylight Saving Time Affects Health
Most of America "springs forward" Sunday for daylight saving time. Losing that hour of sleep can do more than leave you tired and cranky the next day; it also could harm your health. Darker mornings and more evening light knock your body clock out of whack - which means...
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Dr. Small: Brain Scan Detects Alzheimer's Protein
Advances in medical imaging have made it possible to detect physical signs of Alzheimer's disease in the brains of living people, offering the potential for earlier diagnosis. But experts say brain scans are not always the definitive answer many patients hope for.
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Chronic Pain Can Make Noise Unbearable
Everyday sounds add to the torment of a person with chronic back pain, apparently because pain rewires how the brain responds to noise, a new study says. People suffering from back pain process sounds differently and more intensely, adding to their agony, researchers...
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Protein May Hasten Alzheimer's Progression in Women
New findings could help explain why Alzheimer's dementia often progresses faster in women and may lead to fresh avenues of research and future treatments, researchers said.Alzheimer's disease is marked by abnormal amounts of tau protein in the brain that disrupt...
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Ultra-Processed Foods Impact Preschooler Emotions
Ultra-processed foods can have an impact on a young child's emotional and behavioral development, a new study says. Kids who eat more ultra-processed foods have a higher risk of problems like anxiety, fearfulness, aggression or hyperactivity, researchers reported March 3 in...
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Navigating Conversations With Kids on War, Trauma
Children living through the latest war in the Middle East or seeing images of the conflict may need help making sense of events that many adults find unnerving. Exposure to war, even if it is indirect, can affect how kids think, feel and behave, according to mental health...
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The Evidence Behind Pet Ownership and Longevity
Numerous studies suggest that having a pet, especially a dog or cat, may contribute to a longer and healthier life. Research has shown that pet owners often experience lower blood pressure, reduced cholesterol levels, and decreased feelings of loneliness. A 2019 study...
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Scientists Uncover Brain's Alzheimer's Defense
The long-debated question in Alzheimer's research is why some brain cells are more susceptible to degenerative damage than others. Now, scientists at the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA) and UC San Francisco have made an astounding discovery. They've...
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Experiment Explains 'Spring in Your Step' Feeling
Have you ever found a "spring in your step" when you're walking toward something you enjoy - a favorite food, a good friend, an entertaining activity That's a dopamine surge hitting your brain, a new study says. Dopamine - a brain chemical associated with reward - appears to...