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FRIDAY, June 26, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- Women have more Alzheimer's disease-related changes in the brain than men, and this may be linked to hormonal disruptions at menopause, researchers say. "About two-thirds of people living with Alzheimer's are women, and the general thinking has been it's because women tend to live longer," said study author Lisa Mosconi of Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City. "Our findings suggest that hormonal factors may predict who will have changes in the brain. Our results show changes in brain imaging features, or biomarkers in the brain, suggesting menopausal status may be the best predictor of Alzheimer's-related brain changes in women," Mosconi said. The study included 85 women and 36 men, average age 52, with no thinking or memory...

FRIDAY, June 26, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- Early and intensive treatment with methotrexate and prednisone can ease fatigue in people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), according to a new study. RA causes chronically inflamed joints and that inflammation can lead to severe fatigue that isn't relieved by resting, according to the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR). "In addition to pain, profound fatigue reduces the quality of life for many people, even more than the swelling of the joints," EULAR's president, Iain McInnes, said in a league news release. He's a professor of rheumatology at the University of Glasgow in Scotland. But doctors often don't pay enough attention to patients' fatigue, he added. "Up to 90% of patients with rheumatoid arthritis report profound fatigue,"...

FRIDAY, June 26, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- Smoking is terrible for your heart and lungs, and simply switching to e-cigarettes won't do much good, a major new analysis finds. That's especially true now amid the COVID-19 pandemic, experts added. The only truly healthy way out for nicotine addicts is quitting, said a team led by Thomas Münzel, a cardiologist at University Medical Center in Mainz, Germany. His team found that both smoked and vaped nicotine was tied to worsening health of the heart and lungs. "There is no doubt that smoking cessation is and will remain the most powerful approach to prevent smoking-induced cardiovascular and respiratory disease," the researchers concluded. "This may be even more important in light of the … COVID-19 pandemic, as the use of tobacco...

FRIDAY, June 26, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- More than 2 million Americans buy prescription drugs from other countries as a way around rising prices in the United States, a new study finds. The analysis of nationwide survey data showed that 1.5% of adults got their prescription meds from outside the United States between 2015 and 2017. Immigrants and people who were older or who had inadequate health insurance coverage and tight budgets were more likely to do so. Those who use the internet for health care information were, as well, the findings showed. The findings were published online June 24 in JAMA Network Open. The number of Americans looking for cheaper prescription drugs is likely to rise due to the spike in unemployment stemming from the coronavirus pandemic and the loss of...