World of Medicine

Yo-Yo Diets Pose Heart Risks

A study of 158,063 postmenopausal women found that repeatedly losing and regaining weight raised the risk of sudden cardiac death more than threefold among the subjects who started at a ‘normal’ weight (which usually means a body mass index between 18.5 and 24.9). Wild fluctuations in blood glucose, blood pressure and other cardiovascular factors might explain the added strain on the circulatory system.

Mental Health Can Affect Cancer Treatment

Clinically depressed patients may not respond as well to chemotherapy as non-depressed people do, and a Chinese study found a possible explanation. Depression sufferers had lower levels of a protein called brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in their blood. Low levels make people less responsive to cancer drugs and less tolerant of their sideeffects. With or without a depression medication, cancer patients are advised to look after their emotional wellbeing – for example, by seeing a counsellor.

New Drug Attacks Root Cause of Multiple Sclerosis

More than two million people worldwide have multiple sclerosis, a disease in which the immune system attacks the central nervous system, including the brain. In May this year the FDA approved ocrelizumab as the first medication for both relapsing and primary progressive forms of multiple sclerosis, the forms of the disease that most MS patients have at diagnosis.

Inactivity and Dementia Risk

Yet another reason to get off the couch: people who don’t exercise regularly are twice as likely to develop Alzheimer’s as those who exercise three or more times per week – the same dementia risk faced by carriers of the apolipoprotein E (APOE) e4 gene, according to a Canadian study of 1646 older adults.