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About ALS, the Disease That Killed Actor Eric Dane
Eric Dane, known for his roles on "Grey's Anatomy" and "Euphoria," died this week from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis at age 53.The fatal nervous system disease, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, killed Dane less than a year after he announced his diagnosis. According to...
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Study: Advanced CTE Quadruples Risk for Dementia
For years, families of athletes and military veterans have watched loved ones slip into memory loss, suspecting the culprit was a lifetime of blows to the head. Now, a major study from the Boston University CTE Center provides the data to back those suspicions: Advanced...
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Blood Test Estimates Onset of Alzheimer's Symptoms
Imagine knowing exactly when your brain might start to fail. It sounds like a plot from a futuristic movie, but a new "biological clock" developed by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis may make it a reality. By analyzing a blood sample,...
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Sweetened Drinks Linked to Higher Anxiety in Teens
While parents have long worried that too much sugar leads to cavities and weight gain, new research suggests that sugar rush might be followed by a worry crash. A study from Bournemouth University in the U.K. has identified a troubling link between high-sugar drinks and...
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Dr. Small: Mental Health Benefits of Yoga
Yoga has long been praised for improving flexibility, strength, and balance. But experts say its benefits extend well beyond the physical - and may even help keep your brain sharp as you age. Dr. Gary Small, brain health expert and chair of psychiatry at Hackensack...
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Robotic Pets Shorten Dementia Patient Hospital Stays
For a person living with dementia, a hospital stay can be a terrifying whirlwind of strange faces, loud noises and confusing tests. This disorientation often leads to a condition called delirium, which can slow down recovery and lead to more time spent in medical...
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Study: Lifetime Learning Lowers Alzheimer's Risk
"Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at 20 or 80," American entrepreneur Henry Ford once said. "Anyone who keeps learning stays young. "There's something to that, a new study says. People who engage in a lifetime pursuit of learning have a lower risk of Alzheimer's...
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Swapping TV for Activity Wards Off Depression
Want an easy way to head off the blues Stash the TV remote. Dutch researchers who followed more than 65,000 adults for four years found that replacing 60 minutes of TV with something more active cut depression risk by 11% - and nearly 19% in middle-aged adults.And more is...
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Study Uncovers What Drives Compulsive Behavior
A new study is challenging long-held beliefs about what drives compulsive behavior. In the research, scientists observed that certain rats continued performing repetitive actions even after those actions no longer produced a reward. Traditionally, such behavior has been...
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Brain Implant Reads Parkinson's Patients Movements
A new advance might help doctors improve movement in people with Parkinson's disease by tracking their gait-related brain waves in real time. An experimental brain implant can capture the signals of movement-related brain regions while Parkinson's patients perform daily...
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Some Push to Make Profound Autism Its Own Diagnosis
Connor Murphy walked in circles around his dad, then flopped down on the kitchen floor, got up and walked in circles again. His dad turned the 9-year-old's repetitive behavior into a chance to connect. "Want me to pick you up" Matthew Murphy asked, lifting, tickling and...
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Stopping Antidepressants While Pregnant Doubles Risk
Women who stop taking prescribed antidepressants during pregnancy are playing games with their mental health, a new study says. Pregnant women who quit their antidepressants are nearly twice as likely to experience a mental health emergency compared to those who keep taking...
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How to Reduce Fatigue Naturally
Fatigue is not the same as simply feeling tired. When you're tired, a good night's sleep usually restores your energy. Fatigue, however, is a deeper state of physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion that can make everyday life feel overwhelming. Before trying to manage...
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Smartwatches May Soon Predict a Depression Relapse
Your smartwatch might soon do more than just count your steps or check your heart rate: It could serve as a literal early-warning system for your mental health. New research from McMaster University suggests that wearable trackers can detect the subtle signs of a depression...
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'Cognitive Shuffling' Can Calm a Busy Brain
If your busy brain is making it difficult to sleep at night, try this science-backed way to summon the sandman. It's called cognitive shuffling and was developed by Luc Beaudoin, a cognitive scientist at Simon Fraser University in Canada. This technique helps calm the mind...
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Brief Exercise Beats Relaxation for Panic Attack
While relaxation techniques are often recommended for panic disorder, leaning into those intense physical sensations through exercise may be the superior treatment. A study published Feb. 8 in the journal Frontiers in Psychiatry found that brief, intermittent bouts of...
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Brain Stimulation Prompts Less Selfish Behavior
What does it take to make others behave less selfishly and put others' needs before their own Electrical zaps to the brain can do the trick, a new study shows. Stimulating two brain areas increased people's ability to behave altruistically, researchers reported Feb. 10 in...
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NFL Launches Contest to Redesign Football Helmets
The National Football League is asking inventors, engineers and researchers to help make football helmets safer, starting with the facemask. At a Super Bowl innovation event last week, the league announced a new HealthTECH Challenge focused on redesigning helmet facemasks to...
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Study: Caffeinated Beverages May Protect the Brain
Drinking a few cups of caffeinated coffee or tea every day may help in a small way to preserve brain power and prevent dementia, researchers reported on Monday. People with the highest daily intake of caffeinated coffee had an 18% lower risk of developing dementia compared...
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1 in 4 Young People at Risk From Psychiatric Drugs
About 1 in 4 young people could be at risk from prescription medicines they're taking for psychiatric conditions, new research shows. About 26% of children and young adults taking these meds have been prescribed a combination that could cause serious drug interactions,...
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Full-Fat Cheese May Lower Dementia Risk
A 25-year Swedish study found that people who ate full-fat cheese and did not carry a genetic risk for Alzheimer's disease were 13% to 17% less likely to develop the condition. According to Science Daily, researchers followed nearly 25,000 participants, of whom 3,208...
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Dr. Small: Common OTC Meds May Harm Your Memory
Many people don't realize that some of the most commonly used over-the-counter medications - often taken for allergies, sleep, or motion sickness - may interfere with short-term memory. Research suggests these drugs can also raise the risk of dementia, with older adults...
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Horse Breathing Calms Stress
Sometimes, the best way to relieve stress is to do something a little silly. One of the latest wellness trends gaining traction on TikTok is called horse breathing - and fans say it can help calm the nervous system and lower stress almost instantly. Chloë Bean, licensed...
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Autism May Be Equally Common in Males, Females
Autism might be just as common in females as in males, according to a study published on Wednesday that counters prevailing estimates of the disorder's prevalence. While the neurological and developmental condition is known to be more common in boys at younger ages, the...
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Mediterranean Diet Can Lower Stroke Risk
People who follow a Mediterranean diet might lower their risk of stroke, a new study reports. Overall, women who stuck most closely to an eating pattern resembling the Mediterranean diet had an 18% lower risk of any sort of stroke, researchers reported Feb. 4 in the journal...