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MONDAY, Jan. 4, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- People with metabolic syndrome and the skin condition psoriasis are at especially high risk for heart attack and stroke, a new study warns.Psoriasis has been known to increase the risk of heart disease, but researchers have now pegged metabolic syndrome as a key reason.Metabolic syndrome is a condition that includes obesity, diabetes, high cholesterol and high blood pressure -- all big risk factors for heart disease. It is common among psoriasis patients, according to a team from the U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI).The researchers said the new findings might lead to new ways to help prevent heart disease in people with psoriasis."Metabolic syndrome, so common among our psoriasis patients, drives up coronary artery disease...

MONDAY, Jan. 4, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- High blood pressure and pre-eclampsia during pregnancy may follow women through the years, causing lower scores on tests of memory and thinking skills, a Dutch study suggests.The study of nearly 600 pregnant women included 481 with normal blood pressure and 115 who developed high blood pressure during their pregnancies.Of those 115 women, 70% had gestational hypertension, which is high blood pressure that starts after 20 weeks of pregnancy in women who previously had normal readings. The other 30% had pre-eclampsia, a pregnancy complication marked by high blood pressure and elevated protein levels in the urine that develop after 20 weeks of pregnancy."Women with high blood pressure that starts in pregnancy, as well as women with pre-eclampsia,...

MONDAY, Jan. 4, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Despite training that teaches police officers to use neck restraints, there is no medical justification for the tactic, three neurologists write in JAMA Neurology.The killing of George Floyd, who died in May 2020 after an arresting police officer pressed a knee to his neck for more than eight minutes, helped spark a nationwide conversation about racial injustice.While Floyd's death and the death of Eric Garner, who died after being placed in a chokehold by a police officer in 2014, made headlines, many other Americans have died during confrontations with police officers who used neck restraints.In a Viewpoint column published online Dec. 28, the three neurologists described how carotid artery compression can result in stroke, seizure and death....

MONDAY, Jan. 4, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Think your 'light' smoking habit isn't really all that dangerous? A new study finds that people who are casual cigarette smokers can also be addicted to nicotine.Those who smoke one to four cigarettes per day or fewer meet the criteria for nicotine addiction and should be considered for treatment, researchers say."In the past, some considered that only patients who smoke around 10 cigarettes per day or more were addicted, and I still hear that sometimes," said study co-author Jonathan Foulds, professor of public health sciences and psychiatry and behavioral health at Penn State Cancer Institute in Hershey, Pa. "But this study demonstrates that many lighter smokers, even those who do not smoke every day, can be addicted to cigarettes," Foulds...