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THURSDAY, July 20, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Researchers around the world are working to tease out the mechanisms behind Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia. Now, a new study points to so-called systemic inflammation.British researchers found that inflammation -- activation of the body’s innate immune system -- is associated with a small but statistically significant later risk of dementia. They reported their findings July 19 in the journal PLOS ONE.“In this study, we found associations between higher systemic inflammation levels and risk of being diagnosed with dementia three to 11 years later, although the increase in risk is small,” said study author Krisztina Mekli, of the University of Manchester in England.“This association, of course, does not mean...

THURSDAY, July 20, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- The need to increase racial diversity among U.S. health care providers is important for many reasons. Among them, Black patients are more likely to believe Black physicians or patients than sources who are white, new research finds.The race of the presenter in videos about prostate cancer did not appear to make a difference to white patients, the study noted. But Black Americans were 1.6 times more likely to believe medical information presented by a Black physician or patient than a white one. “Our findings demonstrate the need to increase diversity in the health care workforce,” said study lead author and urologist Dr. Stacy Loeb, a professor in the departments of urology and population health at NYU Langone Health in New York...

WEDNESDAY, July 19, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Chronic constipation may not only be an indicator of gut health, but a potential warning sign of thinking declines, a preliminary study suggests.Researchers found that among more than 110,000 middle-aged and older U.S. adults, those who were chronically constipated -- fewer than three bowel movements a week -- also showed signs of an "older" brain.Compared with their counterparts who were regular, they typically performed worse on tests of memory and thinking -- equivalent to three extra years of aging. And they were 73% more likely to say their cognitive skills were waning.The findings -- presented Wednesday at a meeting of the Alzheimer's Association in Amsterdam and online -- are considered preliminary. And they do not prove that...

WEDNESDAY, July 19, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- In the world of COVID-19 infections, the majority of patients develop symptoms, while about one-fifth mysteriously don’t develop a cough, sore throat or other tell-tale signs of illness.Now, new research finds that these symptom-free super-dodgers are more than twice as likely as others to carry a genetic mutation that seems to obliterate COVID-19.“The mutation is a version of a gene called HLA-B,” said study co-author Jill Hollenbach, a professor in the departments of neurology and epidemiology and biostatistics at University of California, San Francisco. This discovery could have far-reaching implications, perhaps influencing future vaccine design. “We think that this observation can help inform next generation vaccine design,”...