Patients with Alzheimer’s disease are less likely to have cancer, and patients with cancer are less likely to have Alzheimer’s disease, according to data published online ahead of print July 10 in Neurology. Researchers conducted a cohort study of more than one million people in northern Italy. They derived cancer incidence using the local health authority’s tumor registry and calculated the incidence of Alzheimer’s dementia from registries of drug prescriptions, hospitalizations, and payment exemptions. The risk of cancer in patients with Alzheimer’s dementia was reduced by 50%, and the risk of Alzheimer’s dementia in patients with cancer was reduced by 35%. The investigators observed this relationship in almost all subgroup analyses, suggesting that anticipated potential confounding factors did not significantly influence the results.
Children exposed to antiepileptic drugs in utero may have an increased risk of adverse development within their first three years of life, according to research published online ahead of print July 19 in Epilepsia. From mid-1999 through December 2008, researchers followed children born to mothers who had been recruited at 13 to 17 weeks of pregnancy. Mothers reported their children’s motor development, language, social skills, and autistic traits at 18 months and 36 months. A total of 333 children were exposed to antiepileptic drugs in utero. At 18 months, exposed children had an increased risk of abnormal scores for gross motor skills and autistic traits, compared with nonexposed children. At 36 months, exposed children had an increased risk of abnormal scores for gross motor skills, sentence skills, and autistic traits.
The spatial pattern of amyloid deposition may be related to cognitive performance, according to a study published online ahead of print July 15 in Neurobiology of Aging. Researchers examined the spatial patterns of amyloid deposition throughout the brain using Pittsburgh Compound Blue PET data from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging. The group approximated spatial patterns of the temporal progression of amyloid plaque deposition from cross-sectional data. Results were consistent with patterns of progression known from autopsy studies. When the investigators categorized participants into subgroups based on longitudinal change in memory performance, they found significantly different spatial patterns of the estimated progression of amyloid deposition between these subgroups. This finding may affect the use of amyloid imaging as a biomarker in research and clinical applications, said the researchers.
A low frequency of physical activity may be associated with an increased risk of stroke, according to data published online ahead of print July 18 in Stroke. Researchers analyzed data for 27,348 participants in the Reasons for Geographic And Racial Differences in Stroke study who had no prior diagnosis of stroke. Participants reported their frequency of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity at baseline according to three categories. Physical inactivity was reported by 33% of participants and was associated with a 20% higher risk of stroke. Adjustment for demographics and socioeconomic factors did not affect the risk, but further adjustment for traditional stroke risk factors completely attenuated the risk. Effects of physical activity are likely to be mediated through the reduction of traditional risk factors, said the researchers.
FTY-720, an immunomodulator for treating multiple sclerosis, may alleviate existing cardiac hypertrophy, according to research published in the July 1 issue of Circulation: Heart Failure. Investigators subjected male C57/Bl6 mice to transverse aortic constriction (TAC) for one week. The researchers treated the mice with FTY-720 for two subsequent weeks while continuing to subject them to TAC. Mice treated with FTY-720 had significantly reduced ventricular mass, ameliorated fibrosis, and improved cardiac performance, compared with mice that received vehicle. Mechanistic studies suggested that FTY-720 appreciably inhibited nuclear factor of activated T-cells activity. In addition, pertussis toxin (Gi-coupled receptor inhibitor) substantially blocked the antihypertrophic effect of FTY-720 in primary rat and human cardiomyocytes. FTY-720 or its analogs could be a promising approach for treating hypertrophic heart disease, said the investigators.
For patients with cardiac arrest who require vasopressors, a combination of vasopressin, epinephrine, and methylprednisolone during cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and stress-dose hydrocortisone in postresuscitation shock may improve survival to hospital discharge and result in favorable neurologic status, according to data published in the July 17 JAMA. Researchers studied 268 consecutive patients with cardiac arrest requiring epinephrine. Patients received vasopressin plus epinephrine or saline placebo plus epinephrine for the first five CPR cycles after randomization, followed by additional epinephrine if needed. During the first CPR cycle after randomization, patients in the intervention group received methylprednisolone, and patients in the control group received saline placebo. Patients in the treatment arm had higher probability for return of spontaneous circulation of 20 minutes or longer and survival to hospital discharge with cerebral performance category score of 1 or 2.