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THURSDAY, April 20, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Is there a simple way to screen older folks for dementia risk years before there are any signs of memory loss or thinking impairment? Yes, researchers report.It’s a test called SOMI, short for Stages of Objective Memory Impairment.The process is straightforward. After being shown a series of images, patients who have no symptoms of dementia are asked to recall what they’ve seen, sometimes — if needed — with the help of clues.After grading memory skills, participants are then ranked according to five stages of risk. Stage 0 represents no current memory issues, and low future dementia risk. Stage 4 represents the least reliable memory, and the highest degree of future dementia risk.The new study indicates that those classified as...

THURSDAY, April 20, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- For people with epilepsy, living in lower-income neighborhoods is associated with worse mental functioning, new research suggests.For the study, the researchers looked at the memory, thinking ability and mental health of people with epilepsy, and found differences based on where they lived. Brain-health issues were more common among those from disadvantaged areas with fewer educational and employment opportunities, according to a report published online April 19 in the journal Neurology.“Epilepsy research has arguably ignored the potential impact of the social determinants of health in neighborhoods on cognition — factors that have been hiding in plain sight for many years,” said study co-author Robyn Busch, of the Cleveland Clinic in...

THURSDAY, April 20, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Scientists say their new study has overturned settled science, finding a new cause for a metabolic disease that causes neurological damage and sometimes death in Native American children. The good news is that this may lead to better treatment for the condition. While people with the inherited condition Glutaric Aciduria Type I (GA-1) had been believed to be affected by toxic substances produced in the brain, researchers looked instead to the liver because other metabolic disorders had been shown to break down proteins in the liver and then cause brain damage. Treatments has included a strict, low-protein diet. That has shown limited success, and up to a third of children with the condition experience long-term neurological damage.In the new...

THURSDAY, April 20, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- One in five people who die by suicide experienced intimate partner problems that included divorce, separation, arguments and violence, new research shows.“I think people hear the term intimate partner problems and go straight to intimate partner violence. That is a component of intimate partner problems, but it’s not just about violence,” said study author Lt. Cmdr. Ayana Stanley, who began researching the issue while at the University of Georgia (UGA) College of Public Health.“Romantic partners experience other kinds of relationship stressors, such as general hostility, arguments and jealousy,” said Stanley, who is now a program coordinator in the division of violence prevention at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and...