Sarah C. MacDonald, BSc, of the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, and colleagues, found that after adjusting for several confounders, women with epilepsy had a more than 10-fold increased risk of death during delivery hospitalization (adjusted odds ratio 11.46, 95% CI 8.64-15.19) compared with women without epilepsy (80 deaths per 100,000 pregnancies versus six deaths in 100,000 pregnancies).
via Epilepsy Increases Mortality Risk in Pregnant Women | Medpage Today.
Their findings build on last year’s discovery of the brain\’s own network of plumbing pipes – known as the glymphatic system – which carry waste material out of the brain.
via BBC News – Sleep ‘cleans’ the brain of toxins.
I sleep late a lot on weekends. The Boss complains, thinks I sleep too much. Now I can say my glymphatic system is working overtime. And your brain needs a good cleaning…
Older people who had impaired neurovascular coupling at baseline and drank two cups of cocoa a day for a month had significant improvement in cognitive function and blood flow in the brain.
via Cocoa May Boost Brain Function in Seniors.
Now I don’t feel so bad about eating a bunch of dark chocolate covered walnuts on Saturday evening.
MRI indicated silent cerebral ischemia lesions in 89% patients with paroxysmal Afib and 92% with persistent Afib compared with 46% of controls, which wasn’t significantly different between the two types of Afib but was for both versus controls (P<0.01).
The number of these lesions averaged 41 in persistent Afib, 33 in paroxysmal Afib, and 12 in controls, which was significantly different for all three groups.
The high prevalence of these lesions in the control group compared with what has been reported in the general population may have reflected the moderate to high cardiovascular risk among these patients referred for cardiovascular prevention or treatment, the researchers suggested.
The lesions can have either ischemic and embolic origins, but the peculiar “spotted” distribution of “small sharply demarcated lesions, often in cluster, with bilateral distribution, prevalently in the frontal lobe” seen in 50% and 67% of the paroxysmal and persistent Afib patients, respectively, strongly supported an embolic mechanism, they noted.
via Afib Linked to Silent Stroke.
If these findings are replicated in future studies, the question for underwriters is should any Afib risk be Standard mortality?
One in three older adults has Alzheimer’s disease or another type of dementia at the time of death. As the nation’s population ages, the number of people with the progressive neurological disorder could triple in the next 40 years, said a study published online Feb. 6 in Neurology.
via 1 in 3 Americans has dementia at time of death – amednews.com.
Epidemiologic data suggest that individuals at all stages of CKD have a higher risk of developing cognitive disorders and dementia. This risk is generally explained by the high prevalence of both symptomatic and subclinical ischemic cerebrovascular lesions.
via Cognitive Disorders and Dementia in CKD: The Neglected Kidney-Brain Axis.
2011-2012 Alzheimer’s Disease Progress Report | National Institute on Aging.
The report can be either read online or downloaded.
Multiple sclerosis: A comprehensive review for the physician assistant – JAAPA.
A good review source for underwriters too.
In neuroscience, the previous prevailing belief had been that the adult human brain is essentially “hardwired,” so that by the time we reach adulthood we are stuck with what we have. Now we understand that the adult brain retains impressive powers of “neuroplasticity”—the ability to change its structure and function in response to experiences real or imagined.
via How to Rewire Your Brain For Success | Experts’ Corner | Big Think.
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