Brain health Archive

News briefs

Last month we told you about new medications to treat migraine headaches. Now a small Harvard study published Aug. 8, 2019, in The American Journal of Medicine offers a reminder about the importance of limiting migraine triggers. For six weeks, 100 adults with frequent migraines were asked to record daily intake of caffeinated coffee, tea, soda, and energy drinks; alcohol intake; activity levels; stress; and sleep times. They also recorded their headache episodes. Researchers looked at each study participant's risk of having a headache on a given day in relation to his or her consumption of caffeinated beverages. Having three or more servings of caffeinated drinks in a day was associated with higher odds of having a migraine on that day or the following day. However, having one to two servings of caffeinated beverages was not associated with migraines. Does that mean people prone to migraines can safely enjoy up to two caffeinated drinks per day? Not quite. The study is only observational and doesn't prove that any amount of caffeine will or won't cause migraines. But if you are prone to migraines, watch your headache triggers, and perhaps keep a journal of daily activity (including caffeine intake) to help discover your trigger limits.

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In the journals

A new study found that a simple blood test can detect beta-amyloid protein buildup in a person's brain years before Alzheimer's disease symptoms appear. The results were published online Aug. 1, 2019, by the journal Neurology.

High amounts of beta-amyloid can clump together and form plaques on the brain, which is strongly associated with Alzheimer's disease. Other research has found that amyloid plaques can appear as early as 20 years before the first sign of Alzheimer's symptoms, such as cognitive decline and memory loss.

Most children have an occasional headache, but some children get recurrent headaches. These often run in families and may be migraine or tension headaches or might stem from other causes.

Can a blood test tell whether or not you have a concussion? It’s not quite that simple. There is a test that indicates the presence of substances released into the blood after a brain injury, but for now it is more useful for identifying situations when a CT scan is not necessary.

Doctors say three recently approved migraine prevention drugs are helping people have fewer headaches.

For people with frequent, debilitating migraine headaches, 2018 brought encouraging news. The FDA approved three new medications — erenumab (Aimovig), fremanezumab (Ajovy), and galcanezumab (Emgality) — the first drugs designed specifically to prevent migraines and reduce their frequency, intensity, and duration.

It was a big development, since other medications used to stop migraines were created to control other conditions, such as seizures, depression, high blood pressure, or an irregular heartbeat. But their side effects (such as weight gain, dizziness, or fuzzy thinking) often cause people to skip treatment.

But some experts say limitations of the study raise questions about the results.

Could one of your regular pills raise your risk of dementia? A study published online June 24 by JAMA Internal Medicine found that people over age 55 who took a daily dose of certain common drugs for approximately three years had a 50% higher risk of developing dementia.

The medicines in question are in a category known as anticholinergics, which are used to treat conditions as diverse as depression, urinary incontinence, allergies, and Parkinson's disease. The study's authors say the findings should prompt doctors to use caution or potentially even avoid prescribing certain medications to people over age 45 on a long-term basis if there are other options available.

People who experience chronic migraine headaches may benefit from treatment with botulimun neurotoxin (Botox), though other treatments such as medication are usually tried first.

Clinical trials for drugs to stop or slow the progression of dementia have not been successful. A recent study attempted to determine how much influence, if any, genetic and lifestyle factors may have on the development of dementia.

Research we're watching

Eating ultra-processed foods — such as packaged snacks, sugary cereals and drinks, chicken nuggets, and instant soup — may leave people more prone to heart disease and an early death, two new studies suggest. Both were published May 29 in The BMJ.

One study followed more than 105,000 adults for just over five years. Researchers found that for every 10% increase in the amount of ultra-processed foods people ate, their risk of a heart attack, stroke, or other serious cardiovascular event was 12% higher. The other study tracked nearly 20,000 people over an average of 10 years. People who ate more than four servings of ultra-processed foods daily had a 62% higher risk of dying from all causes compared with those who ate only two servings per day.

Research we're watching

Infections — especially those in the urinary tract, known as UTIs — may raise the risk of a stroke, a new study finds.

Researchers examined the electronic medical records of more than 191,000 stroke patients to see if they'd been hospitalized or gone to an emergency room for an infection shortly before the stroke. They tracked infections of the abdomen, blood, respiratory tract, skin, or urinary tract.