Reports Say Charlie Sheen HIV-Positive

MONDAY, Nov. 16, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Actor Charlie Sheen is reportedly HIV-positive and will discuss the diagnosis Tuesday morning on NBC’s Today show, according to multiple published reports.

People magazine reported Monday afternoon that individuals close to Sheen approached Hollywood publicist and crisis manager Howard Bragman six months ago on ways to deal with the matter, but Bragman said he never dealt directly with Sheen.

“The interview could open up a lot of sympathy for him, but he has to be concerned about a fear of litigation from former sexual partners. You don’t take that lightly,” Bragman told the magazine. He added that the 50-year-old Sheen “is getting treatment, and a lot of people in his life know about it.”

Sheen has a history of substance abuse and has admitted to soliciting prostitutes in the past, People reported.

“It’s been going on for quite a while. He’s not necessarily comfortable talking about it. It was very hard to get up the courage for him to talk about it (HIV),” Bragman said.

Sheen’s diagnosis was first reported by the National Enquirer.

In a press release issued Monday, NBC said Sheen is set to make a “revealing personal announcement” on the Today show with co-host Matt Lauer.

Sheen’s ex-wife, actress Denise Richards, has known about his HIV infection for a “number of years,” according to Access Hollywood.

Richards, who has two daughters with Sheen, is not infected. Sheen reportedly contracted HIV — the virus that causes AIDS — after the couple’s divorce in 2006, Access Hollywood reported.

Dr. David Rosenthal is medical director of the Center for Young Adult, Adolescent and Pediatric HIV at
North Shore-LIJ Health System in Great Neck, N.Y. He said: “Today, patients with HIV can live almost normal lives, but they have to take their HIV medication daily and follow up with their physician on a regular basis.”

Rosenthal said many of the HIV treatments — called “combined antiretroviral therapy” — are one pill taken once a day. These pills combine multiple different medications into one pill.

“Since one person in seven in the U.S.A. that have HIV do not know that they have HIV, it is essential that patients get routine HIV testing as part of their regular medical care. The earlier we can diagnose a patient as being HIV positive, the less chance that patient can spread HIV to others, and the better chance that the person can start medications early and live a long, healthy life,” Rosenthal said.

Sheen, the son of actor Martin Sheen, starred in a series of hit movies in the 1980s and ’90s, including Platoon, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and Wall Street.

In the 2000s, he starred in a series of TV shows, most notably Two and a Half Men, from which he was fired in 2011.

More information

To learn more about HIV, visit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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Lowering Body Temperature May Help Cardiac Arrest Patients

By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, Nov. 16, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Lowering the body temperature after someone’s heart has stopped beating may improve the odds of surviving with good brain function, a new study suggests.

In fact, patients whose body temperatures were lowered (therapeutic hypothermia) were nearly three times more likely to survive cardiac arrest, the study found. Those treated with the cold therapy were also 3.5 times more likely to have better mental function than those who didn’t receive the therapy, the researchers said.

“Our findings provide support for the idea that all unconscious post-arrest patients should receive aggressive care with therapeutic hypothermia,” said lead researcher Dr. David Gaieski, an associate professor of emergency medicine at the School of Medicine at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia.

“Withholding [this treatment] does not make sense given these data and other data from other studies at many institutions around the world,” he said.

The report was published Nov. 16 online in the journal Circulation.

The body gets too little blood when the heart stops beating, or when blood flow is blocked by a blood clot or stroke, Gaieski said. In these situations, lowering the body’s temperature can help protect it, he explained.

Earlier studies have shown that the cold treatment can improve survival and brain function in people with “shockable” rhythms, such as ventricular fibrillation, the study said. Ventricular fibrillation is a condition where the lower chambers quiver, preventing the heart from pumping blood and causing cardiac arrest, the American Heart Association notes. In many of these cases the heart can be “shocked” into a normal rhythm, Gaieski said.

But there are cases of patients in cardiac arrest with “nonshockable” rhythms. This is when there is no electrical activity in the heart, or when there is electrical activity, the heart isn’t contracting and blood isn’t flowing, he explained. Currently, there aren’t a lot of hospitals using temperature-lowering therapy for patients who have a nonshockable rhythm, the researchers said.

For the study, Gaieski’s team looked at data from more than 500 patients whose hearts stopped beating between 2000 and 2013. All had nonshockable rhythms. Lowering the body’s temperature increased survival rates and brain function in these patients, the study said.

Dr. Robert Glatter, an emergency physician at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City and a spokesman for the American College of Emergency Physicians, said, “This important trial demonstrates that cooling should be tried in all patients with cardiac arrest, regardless of the initial heart rhythm.”

Glatter noted that the actual number of patients who survive mentally intact remains low. But, he added, reducing the body temperature has been shown to have a positive effect on improving outcomes.

“There has been a slow adoption of this treatment from lack of understanding the benefits of this easily implemented therapy,” he said.

Glatter added that lowering body temperature doesn’t require special equipment. It can be accomplished using equipment already in every hospital, he said.

More information

For more information on cardiac arrest, visit the American Heart Association.

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Coffee Drinkers May Live Longer

By Amy Norton
HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, Nov. 16, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Coffee lovers may live longer than those who don’t imbibe — with lower risks of early death from heart disease and neurological conditions such as Parkinson’s disease, a large U.S. study finds.

Researchers said the study, published online Nov. 16 in Circulation, adds to a large body of evidence on the good side of coffee.

People often think of coffee-drinking as a bad habit that they need to break, said study leader Dr. Frank Hu, a professor of nutrition and epidemiology at Harvard School of Public Health in Boston.

But, Hu said, many studies have linked moderate coffee intake to lower risks of developing various diseases — from heart disease and diabetes, to liver cancer, to neurological diseases such as Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer’s.

His team’s study, funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health, adds another layer of evidence. It found that coffee drinkers were not only less likely to develop certain diseases — they also tended to live longer.

Over 30 years, nonsmokers who drank three to five cups of coffee a day were 15 percent less likely to die of any cause, versus nondrinkers. Specifically, they had lower rates of death from heart disease, stroke, neurological conditions and suicide.

Both regular coffee and decaf were linked to longer survival, the study found.

None of that proves coffee, itself, extends people’s lives or directly protects against certain diseases, Hu said. Other factors might explain the connection.

But, Hu added, his team did account for many of those factors. And the coffee benefit remained.

The findings are based on more than 200,000 U.S. doctors, nurses and other health professionals who were surveyed repeatedly over almost three decades. During that time, almost 32,000 study participants died.

It turned out that people who drank one to five cups of coffee at the outset had lower odds of dying during the study period when other lifestyle habits and certain health problems, such as high blood pressure and diabetes, were taken into account.

The relationship grew stronger when the researchers looked only at nonsmokers: Those who drank three to five cups of coffee a day were 15 percent less likely to die during the study period, compared with adults who didn’t drink coffee. Lower risks were even seen among the heaviest coffee drinkers (more than five cups a day), who had a 12 percent lower death risk than nondrinkers.

“The body of evidence does suggest coffee can fit into a healthy lifestyle,” Hu said.

That evidence, Hu noted, has already been incorporated into the latest U.S. dietary guidelines, which say that a healthy diet can include up to three to five cups of coffee a day.

But overall lifestyle is key, Hu said. That is, there’s a difference between a person who gets little sleep, then uses coffee to function during the day, and a person who sleeps well, exercises, and eats a balanced diet that includes some coffee.

Alice Lichtenstein, a spokesperson for the American Heart Association, agreed.

“This doesn’t mean you should start drinking coffee in the hopes of getting health benefits,” said Lichtenstein, who is also a professor of nutrition science and policy at Tufts University in Boston.

But, she added, the new findings build on years of evidence that coffee is not the bad guy many believe it is. “There’s this lingering idea that coffee must be bad for you because it’s enjoyable,” Lichtenstein said. “It’s almost like we’ve been trying to find something wrong with it.”

There are caveats, though. “You do need to be careful about what you’re putting in your coffee,” Lichtenstein pointed out. Some milk is fine, she said, but watch the sugar and heavy cream.

And why would coffee be related to health benefits? It’s not clear from this study, Hu said, but other research has suggested that compounds in coffee can reduce inflammation, act as antioxidants, and improve blood sugar regulation, among other things.

Also, when it comes to some neurological conditions, such as Parkinson’s disease, Hu said, there’s evidence that caffeine offers benefits.

More information

The American Heart Association has more on caffeine and heart health.

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High-Tech Glasses Instead of Eye Patch for ‘Lazy Eye’?

By Alan Mozes
HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, Nov. 16, 2015 (HealthDay News) — New, high-tech glasses may offer kids with “lazy eye” a hipper alternative to the traditional, dreaded eye patch, new research suggests.

Fashioned to look like snazzy ski eyewear, the glasses can function as normal prescription eyeglasses — but with a twist. They also can form a temporary LCD digital patch over one eye, mimicking the therapeutic impact of eye patches and eye drops — the standard treatment for lazy eye (amblyopia).

Investigators say the digital specs, called Amblyz, might appeal to children who often resist standard treatment.

“Our study demonstrates that this treatment option is equally effective compared to traditional patching. And we are hoping that it’s actually more effective for certain subsets of patients,” said study lead author Dr. Daniel Neely, a professor of ophthalmology at the Indiana University School of Medicine’s Glick Eye Institute.

Neely presented his team’s findings Saturday in Las Vegas at a meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology. The effort was funded by the XMD Corp., maker of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved medical device.

Amblyopia, a term that means “dullness of vision,” affects roughly 3 percent of children, Neely said.

It is the most common eye ailment among children, arising when one eye is much weaker than the other, or when one eye “wanders” or shifts inward.

The brain responds by suppressing the optical information coming from the underperforming eye. Corrective treatment must begin as early as possible, before the neurological system matures — blocking all visual signals and causing blindness in the problem eye, Neely said.

Typically, eye patches or drops are used to block vision in the good eye and force the brain to rely on the weak eye. Over time, this can improve eye-brain communication.

The problem is that patch and/or drops therapy can last from two to eight hours a day, limiting the child’s ability to see and function normally during that time. Children, said Neely, understandably hate the treatment process, making compliance difficult.

The new study focused on 33 children between 3 and 8 years old. All were diagnosed with moderate amblyopia (meaning 20/40 to 20/100 vision), and all wore standard corrective glasses.

About half were given standard lazy-eye treatment — an adhesive patch worn two hours every day. The remaining kids were given a pair of electronic glasses for four hours a day, during which time the lens covering each child’s good eye was programmed to alternate from clear to opaque every 30 seconds.

After three months, investigators found that both groups of children fared equally well in terms of visual improvement, acquiring the ability to decipher two additional lines on a standard reading chart.

But Neely said the electronic glasses have the potential upside of being easier and less distressing for young patients to use.

“Not only does this make it more ‘fun’ or tolerable, but it may improve outcomes if the compliance is better,” he said. Although “they may seem awkward to an adult, to kids they are not, they are cool,” he added.

Whether parents judge the coolness to be worth the $450 price is an open question, according to another expert.

“The price is significant and may be a hurdle for some families,” said Dr. K. David Epley, a pediatric ophthalmologist in Kirkland, Wash., and a spokesman for the ophthalmology academy. “The glasses could be covered by vision insurance, but likely wouldn’t be fully covered,” said Epley, who was not involved in the study.

Still, he said, the digital glasses could prove to be a “good second-line therapy.”

“These are encouraging results that give ophthalmologists treating amblyopia another tool to use in restoring sight for these children,” Epley said. “Patching can be difficult, and the more methods of improving the vision, the more likely we are to be able to effectively treat every child.”

Research presented at meetings is usually considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed medical journal.

More information

There’s more on amblyopia at the U.S. National Eye Institute.

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Preventive HIV Treatment Shown Effective at Health Clinics

By Randy Dotinga
HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, Nov. 16, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Medications taken to prevent HIV infection in high-risk people appear to work well in “real-life” use, a new study suggests.

During a year of taking pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), only two people out of more than 400 high-risk people became infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. And it seems that those who became infected didn’t take the medication properly, the study said.

The new study found the HIV infection rate was as much as 20 times lower than in several previous HIV studies, background information in the current study said.

Gay and bisexual men at high risk for HIV infection “should be counseled about pre-exposure prophylaxis,” said Dr. Kenneth Mayer, director of HIV Prevention Research at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, who’s familiar with the study findings. Already, he said, “pharmacy records suggest that tens of thousands are using it.”

But the treatment is not without problems. The most important issue is that PrEP is expensive, potentially costing about $1,300 a month, said study lead author Dr. Albert Liu, clinical research director with the San Francisco Department of Public Health. However, the treatment is covered by most insurance companies, and medication assistance programs are available, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The treatment can also cause mild side effects, such as stomach upset, loss of appetite and mild headache. But most of these go away soon after starting treatment, according to AIDS.gov.

Pre-exposure prophylaxis combines two drugs — tenofovir and emtricitabine — into one pill, marketed as Truvada. The goal of the treatment is to prevent high-risk people from becoming infected with HIV. The treatment was approved for use in the United States in 2012, background information in the study said.

Gay and bisexual men account for two-thirds of new HIV infections, the study said.

The new study is unique because it provides insight into how the preventive treatment works in the community at large instead of among people recruited for a study, Liu said.

The study tracked more than 400 gay and bisexual men and transgender women who visited sexually transmitted disease clinics in San Francisco and Miami, and a community health center in Washington, D.C. The participants went to the clinics between 2012 and 2015.

All participants received free Truvada. Study treatment continued for 48 weeks.

Based on blood tests of almost 300 participants, the study found that 80 percent or more appeared to have used the therapy consistently, based on levels of the drugs in their bodies.

The two people who contracted HIV during the study appeared to have taken the drug two or fewer times per week instead of daily, as recommended.

The level of other sexually transmitted diseases remained stable among the participants, the study found. The researchers also found that people taking the treatment didn’t increase their level of anal sex without condoms. The percentage engaging in that sexual practice remained steady at about 66 percent.

The people most likely to consistently take the treatment included those with a stable housing situation, and those who engaged in riskier sex — defined as having two condomless anal sex partners in the past three months, the study noted.

Overall, the results provide “strong evidence” for boosting the use of pre-exposure prophylaxis among gay and bisexual men in these types of clinics, Liu said. “We saw higher levels of adherence in those who had higher-risk behaviors, which is encouraging and likely to increase the cost-effectiveness and impact of pre-exposure prophylaxis.”

HIV researcher Julia Marcus, a postdoctoral fellow with the Division of Research at Kaiser Permanente Northern California who’s familiar with the study, put it this way: “We’re seeing that pre-exposure prophylaxis works extremely well when taken.”

However, the study does point to challenges facing health advocates as they promote the use of this treatment.

Five percent of participants stopped taking the medication because of side effects, Liu said.

Then there’s the matter of cost. In this case, study researchers helped participants find access to continue treatment, although they may face copayments and high deductibles if they have insurance to cover it, he said. Most insurance programs, along with Medicaid, cover pre-exposure prophylaxis, Liu said.

There’s also concern because the researchers found that blacks were less likely than others to consistently take the medication; just 57 percent of them did so.

A second study found even more dismal use of PrEP among black people. This study surveyed more than 600 sexually active young gay or bisexual black men from Chicago and found that for those who weren’t HIV-positive, just 4 percent had used pre-exposure prophylaxis.

The surveys were done from 2013-2014. Eighty percent had incomes of less than $20,000 a year. Only half of this group had any health insurance, the study found. Just 40 percent were aware that pre-exposure prophylaxis exists, the survey revealed.

It’s not clear what’s going on, Liu said, although it’s possible that blacks may have more mistrust of the medical system and less knowledge about their health options.

The studies appear in the Nov. 16 issue of JAMA Internal Medicine.

More information

For more about pre-exposure prophylaxis, try AIDS.gov.

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How Much Weight Should You Really Gain During Pregnancy?

Photo: Getty Images

Kim Kardashian-West revealed on Twitter last week that she’s put on 52 pounds during her pregnancy—and still has 6 weeks to go until her due date. As with most things Kardashian, the Internet responded swiftly, with many calling her admission “refreshingly honest,” and others deeming her weight gain “dangerous.”

The truth is that every woman and every pregnancy is different, says Margaret Dow, MD, assistant professor of obstetrics-gynecology at the Mayo Clinic—only a woman and her own doctor know for certain whether her weight gain falls within a safe range. That said, in an interesting coincidence, the CDC just released a report that found half of new moms surveyed in 46 states, New York City, and Washington, DC gained more than the recommended amount of weight while they were expecting.

RELATED: 10 Foods Pregnant Women Shouldn’t Eat

A woman with a normal BMI should gain between 25 and 35 pounds, according to guidelines issued by the Institute of Medicine. Underweight women should put on between 28 and 40 pounds, while overweight women should pack on no more than 15 to 25. Obese women should gain no more than 20 pounds, if any weight at all.

Putting on too many pounds can lead to health problems for both mom and baby, including a higher risk for C-sections, gestational diabetes, and pre-eclampsia (dangerously high blood pressure). A mom’s weight at the time of birth can also influence her little one’s risks for conditions like diabetes and obesity later in life.

RELATED: 15 Factors That Affect a Woman’s Fertility

So why are so many women packing on too much? “Unfortunately it is a cultural phenomenon around the world that women during pregnancy should eat anything and everything that they want,” says Fahimeh Sasan, MD, an associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Medical Center.

Dr. Dow agrees. “We’ve all heard that you need lots of extra nutrition when you’re pregnant,” she says. “That’s partially true, only more along the lines of eating like a professional athlete than eating like a high-school wrestler.”

In reality, expectant moms only need 250 to 300 extra calories a day, and the quality of those calories counts, she says: the extra food would ideally be fruits, vegetables, healthy fats, and whole grains, not sweet or salty treats.

RELATED: 12 Ways to Soothe Heartburn in Pregnancy

“It can be tough,” she admits. “Cravings and fatigue and nausea and all those factors provide an extra challenge, but the thrill of starting your baby off right can trump all of that if you stay focused.” Dr. Dow adds some women worry that exercise harm their baby—a myth that’s been debunked, but has stuck around—and so they cut back, or stop altogether.

What’s more, many women fail to realize how hard it can be to shed that extra weight after birth. In fact, slimming down post-baby may be tougher for moms today than women from previous generations.  “Many of our mothers—and perhaps more so grandmothers, these days—were home, chasing after three kids under 6 and doing all the housework and other physically demanding work,” she says. “Current new moms are often home for 6 weeks, then back at a desk job. It’s an entirely different paradigm.”

RELATED: Here’s Why It’s Harder to Lose Weight Now Than It Was 20 Years Ago

Still, shaming women isn’t the answer. How much weight a woman gains should be nobody’s business besides her’s and her doctor’s, Dr. Dow says. It’s also not a good idea to compare your own pregnancies to others—including Mrs. Kardashian-West’s. “The Kardashians may have 24/7 access to a personal trainer to lose it all, but most of us don’t,” she says.

Even women who aren’t celebrities are often subject to unsolicited comments and judgement about their weight and appearance during pregnancy. “I tell my patients to ignore what people tell them,” Dr. Sasan says. What’s most important, she adds, is for women to maintain open communication with their ob/gyn.

“Pregnancy is a time when women really do think beyond themselves and their focus becomes about the health of the baby,” she says. “Once we have the conversation about the risks of weight gain, they feel empowered and don’t listen to all the chatter as much.”

RELATED: 20 Celebrities on Losing the Baby Weight

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Firefighter Receives Most Extensive Face Transplant Ever

By Dennis Thompson
HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, Nov. 16, 2015 (HealthDay News) — A 41-year-old volunteer firefighter from Mississippi now wears the face of a 26-year-old bike messenger from Brooklyn, after what doctors are calling the most extensive face transplant surgery ever performed.

Patrick Hardison of Senatobia, Miss., successfully received the face of bicyclist Dave Rodebaugh following a 26-hour procedure in August at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City that included more than 100 physicians, nurses, technical staff and support staff.

The surgery involved removing the skin off Rodebaugh’s scalp, face and neck, along with the bone around the nose and chin, and then fitting the donated tissue to Hardison’s features and reconnecting facial nerves and blood vessels.

“The amount of tissue that was transplanted in Patrick’s face had never been transplanted before,” said Dr. Eduardo Rodriguez, chair of the Hansjorg Wyss Department of Plastic Surgery at NYU Langone, who led the transplant effort.

Hardison suffered horrific facial injuries back in September 2001, when a burning mobile home caved in on him as he searched for fire victims. He lost his eyelids, ears, lips and most of his nose, as well as his hair and eyebrows.

“The roof collapsed on Patrick, knocking down his helmet,” Rodriguez said during a media briefing Monday morning. “He felt the mask on his face was melting. He was able to hold his breath, close his eyes tight and jump out of a window.”

Hardison underwent more than 70 surgeries to try to rebuild his face, but skin grafts from his legs left his face a mass of smooth scar tissue. To go out without drawing attention to himself, he had to wear sunglasses, a baseball cap and fake ears.

When Rodriguez took over Hardison’s case, he coordinated with the LiveOnNY organ recovery organization for the greater New York metropolitan area to look for a donor face.

Hardison waited over a year for a donation, because finding a match was more complicated for his procedure than it would have been for another type of organ donation, said Helen Irving, president and CEO of LiveOnNY.

“For Patrick, we needed to find the perfect match,” Irving said. “Not only blood type, height, weight and age, but light skin color — the type of skin that sunburns easily — fair hair, similar bone structure, no facial trauma or tattoos, and most importantly no antibodies that would cause Patrick to reject his donor.”

That donation became available following a bicycle accident in July that left Rodebaugh in a coma from which he never awakened, Irving said.

“His mother immediately said yes” to the face transplant, Irving said. “There was no hesitation in her mind.” Other people also received Rodebaugh’s heart, liver, kidneys, eyes and bone marrow.

The transplant surgery involved two teams, and stretched from the morning of Aug. 14 into the morning of Aug. 15.

One team spent about 12 hours removing Rodebaugh’s face, which included cutting away the bone around the nose and chin, preserving facial nerves and tying off important arteries and veins, Rodriguez said.

In another room, a second team worked on Hardison for about eight hours to cut away a decade’s worth of scar tissue, built up from dozens of reconstructive surgeries. The team also removed bone around the nose and chin, so Rodebaugh’s face would perfectly fit Hardison, Rodriguez explained.

The final step involved attaching Rodebaugh’s face to Hardison, including screwing on the bones of the nose and chin as well as delicate surgery to make sure the nerves of the eyelids and other critical facial functions would be preserved.

Within a month, Hardison had begun to grow scalp and facial hair — the first since his accident, Rodriguez said.

Now, three months out from the surgery, doctors are cutting back on the immune-suppressive drugs that Hardison must take to keep his body from rejecting his new face, Rodriguez said.

“Patrick is now out of the hospital, and we have yet to see an acute rejection episode,” he said.

More information

To learn more about the transplant, visit NYU Langone Medical Center.

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Here’s How You Can Fake Natural-Looking Freckles

Photo: Instagram

Creating freckles with makeup isn’t as easy as it sounds. Dotted eyeliner never quite stays put or looks inherently natural. Enter Freck Yourself, a temporary tattoo-like kit that delivers a smattering of freckles in an organic-looking way.

The company is brand, spankin’ new. So new that they’ve launched a Kickstarter campaign to get going. Donate $28 and your Freck Yourself kit will be delivered to your door some time in February.

The technique is pretty cool. All you have to do is arrange the provided stencils on your face, press ’em in place, then apply a formula over the stencil. Remove the sheet and it’s hello freckles. They last for two days but if you apply a layer daily those beauties will stay put for anywhere from four to six weeks.

This post originally appeared on MIMIchatter.com.

 

More from MIMI:

The Most Powerful Body-Positive Celeb Selfies We’ve Ever Seen

The Prettiest Lipstick Tutorial You’ll Actually Want to Try

 

 

 

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Failing Sense of Smell Might Be Alzheimer’s Warning

By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, Nov. 16, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Losing your sense of smell may mark the start of memory problems and possibly Alzheimer’s disease, a new study suggests.

Researchers found that older adults who had the worst smell test scores were 2.2 times more likely to begin having mild memory problems. And if they already had these memory problems, they were more likely to progress to full-blown Alzheimer’s disease, said lead researcher Rosebud Roberts, a professor of neurology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

“The findings suggest that doing a smell test may help identify elderly, mentally normal people who are likely to progress to develop memory problems or, if they have these problems, to progress to Alzheimer’s dementia,” Roberts said.

“Physicians need to recognize that this may be a possible screening tool that can be used in the clinic,” she added.

But Roberts also cautioned that the findings do not apply to people who have always had difficulty with smell because of chronic respiratory tract conditions.

The report was published online Nov. 16 in JAMA Neurology.

Roberts theorized that, as dementia begins and progresses, the parts of the brain that distinguish odors start to deteriorate.

For the study, she and her and colleagues collected data on more than 1,400 mentally normal adults who were an average of 79 years old.

Over an average of 3.5 years of follow-up, 250 people developed memory problems (mild cognitive impairment). In addition, 64 among 221 people with the most serious memory problems developed dementia, the findings showed.

The smell test included six food-related and six nonfood-related scents (banana, chocolate, cinnamon, gasoline, lemon, onion, paint thinner, pineapple, rose, soap, smoke and turpentine), according to the study.

As the inability to identify smells increased, so did the likelihood of increasing memory problems and Alzheimer’s disease, Roberts said.

However, the association seen in the study did not prove a cause-and-effect relationship. And no link was found between a decreased sense of smell and other thinking problems associated with mild cognitive impairment, the researchers reported.

More information

For more about Alzheimer’s disease, visit the Alzheimer’s Association.

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A New Vaccine Could Prevent High Cholesterol, Study Suggests

Photo: Getty Images

It’s still in its early stages, but researchers at the University of New Mexico and the National Institutes of Health are in the process of developing a vaccine to prevent high cholesterol that’s shown promise among mice and monkeys.

Millions of people regularly take cholesterol-lowering statins to prevent heart-related illness. But in a new study published in the journal Vaccine suggests there might be an injectable way to prevent bad cholesterol build up in the future.

The vaccine targets a protein called PCSK9 that’s involved the management of cholesterol levels in the blood. By interfering with PCSK9, the researchers are able to lower cholesterol in the blood, and have shown that just one vaccination has significantly cut down on LDL cholesterol (considered the bad type of cholesterol) levels in lab animals.

“One of the most exciting things about this new vaccine is it seems to be much more effective than statins alone,” study author Dr. Bryce Chackerian from the University of New Mexico said in a statement.

The protein PCSK9 is a common target for drug makers to lower cholesterol. Recently, a new class of drugs called PCSK9-inhibitors were approved in the United States. They’re thought to be possible game-changers for cholesterol treatment. Statins can have side effects, which is why researchers have looked for other options, including the vaccine.

More research will be needed to determine if a vaccine for lower cholesterol is a viable option for humans.

Read more: This New FDA-Approved Cholesterol Drug Is a Game Changer

 

This post originally appeared on Time.com.

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