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TUESDAY, April 27, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- That college degree may be useful in many ways, but new research suggests it probably won't keep your brain from shrinking with age.Over the years, a number of studies have suggested that education might buffer people against age-related declines in memory and thinking. But those findings did not prove a cause-and-effect relationship.In the new study, researchers asked whether people's education levels were related to an objective marker of brain aging: atrophy, or thinning, of the brain tissue.Overall, the study found, there was no strong connection.Based on MRI brain scans of over 2,000 Europeans, higher education level was only "modestly" associated with greater brain tissue volume. And over time, people with more education lost brain...

TUESDAY, April 27, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Alzheimer's disease and traumatic brain injury appear to affect the brain in similar ways, according to a study that may point to new ways to identify people at high risk for Alzheimer's."These findings are the first to suggest that cognitive impairment following a traumatic brain injury is useful for predicting the magnitude of Alzheimer's-like brain degradation," said study author Andrei Irimia. He is an assistant professor of gerontology, neuroscience and biomedical engineering at the University of Southern California, in Los Angeles.More than 1.7 million Americans a year suffer a traumatic brain injury (TBI), which is often followed by changes in brain structure and function, as well as thinking and memory struggles.Concussion, which is a...

TUESDAY, April 27, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Loss of the sense of smell and taste is often an early and enduring symptom of COVID-19. Now, research suggests that for many COVID survivors with long-term sensory loss, it's also depressing.In a web-based survey completed by 322 adults with COVID and a sudden change in smell or taste, 56% reported decreased enjoyment in life and 43% admitted feeling depressed after losing their sense of smell."For those of us who have our sense of smell and taste, we take it so much for granted that it's hard to imagine it would be a big deal to lose it," said study lead author Dr. Daniel Coelho, an otolaryngology professor at Virginia Commonwealth University. "But it's not just about food not tasting great, or flowers not smelling like flowers. It has...

TUESDAY, April 27, 2021 (American Heart Association News) -- The now-ended pause in use of Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine raised concerns about whether confidence might be rattled in vaccines and how they are monitored for safety.Experts say it should do the opposite."I think this is a clear example that the system works, that there are many safeguards put in place after either a drug or vaccine begins to get use in the public," said Dr. Ralph Sacco, chairman of neurology at the University of Miami. He also is editor-in-chief of the American Heart Association journal Stroke.On Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Food and Drug Administration lifted the pause on the Johnson & Johnson vaccine shortly after a federal vaccine advisory committee recommended...