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WEDNESDAY, Feb. 22, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- A gene variant found almost exclusively among people of African descent appears to substantially raise the risk of Alzheimer's disease, a new study finds.The variant is in a gene called ApoE3, and it's apparently only harmful when it exists in combination with the ApoE4 gene — a well-known risk factor for Alzheimer's. That gene duo was present in only 1% of the nearly 32,000 individuals in the study, all of African descent. But it was tied to a nearly threefold increase in the risk of developing Alzheimer's, according to findings published Feb. 21 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.Dr. Michael Greicius, the senior researcher on the study, pointed to one major reason the finding is important: Most of what's known about the...

WEDNESDAY, Feb. 22, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- A lot can happen in a marriage to end the sexual part of the relationship.Maybe a sexless marriage is OK, if both partners agree on the diminished role of physical and emotional intimacy.But if there’s a difference of opinion about having a sexless marriage or a lack of communication about sex, that can be a problem.“What I see most often is a desire discrepancy of one partner that's interested in having sex every night and then you have one partner that would be interested in having sex once a month,” said Laura Heck, an Oregon-based certified sex and couples therapist. “And when there's that big of a discrepancy and they don't find agreement, it's really challenging.”What is a sexless marriage?Heck said she would describe a...

WEDNESDAY, Feb, 22, 2023 (HealthDay News) — Vaginal dryness. It happens to most postmenopausal women, but few talk about it and even fewer get treated for it.Vaginal dryness is a painful condition that occurs when the lining of the vagina does not produce enough lubrication. A healthy vagina has a thick discharge that keeps the tissues lubricated and healthy. When the body no longer makes adequate lubrication, the tissue becomes thin and dry, which may cause discomfort.According to an article in the International Journal of Women’s Health, approximately 50% to 60% of postmenopausal women suffer from this condition. Yet, only 25% receive treatment.Vaginal dryness can wreak havoc on a woman's quality of life. Painful sexual intimacy can be challenging to navigate in a relationship....

WEDNESDAY, Feb. 22, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- If you’re one of the millions of people with a pacemaker or an implantable defibrillator to help control abnormal heart rhythms, certain health-tracking devices may do more harm than good.Smartwatches, rings or scales that emit electrical currents can interfere with these lifesaving implantable heart devices, causing them to malfunction, a new study suggests.“While the electrical current applied to the body by the gadget is imperceptible by the patients, our work indicates it might be sufficient to confuse pacemakers, implantable cardiac defibrillators and cardiac resynchronization therapy devices,” said study author Benjamin Sanchez Terrones. He is an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of...