News from the World of Medicine: Can AI Spot Skin Cancer? Can't Stop Stress Eating? and more

The Brainy Benefits of a Daily Multivitamin

Wouldn’t it be nice if there were a simple, safe pill you could take to ward off dementia? According to new research from Brigham and Women’s Hospital (part of Harvard Medical School) and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, that magic pill might be a daily multivitamin. In the final of three studies looking at multivitamins’ benefits for heart disease, cancer and other health issues, researchers found that “a daily multivitamin improved memory and slowed cognitive ageing,” says JoAnn Manson, MD, a leader of the study and chief of the division of preventive medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. The investigators estimated that taking the daily multi-vitamin over the three years of the study slowed cognitive ageing by approximately 60 per cent, which is the equivalent of ­almost two years of life.

Your Partner, Your Blood Pressure

If your partner has high blood pressure, you might be on your way to having high blood pressure too. That’s the finding of a large multinational study that set out to investigate “if many married couples, who often share the same interests, living environment, lifestyle habits and health outcomes, might also share high blood pressure,” says Jithin Sam Varghese, a faculty member at the Emory Global Diabetes Research Center in Atlanta. Varghese and the other scientists looked at thousands of couples across the United States, England, China and India, finding a clear link where blood pressure was concerned. Based on the results, which were published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, improving blood pressure, too, can be a family ­affair.

Can’t Stop Stress Eating?

If you’ve ever suspected that stress might be the reason for your weight gain, science has just found an explanation. According to a new study published in the journal Physiology & Behavior, stress can actually make food taste worse, reducing the ‘reward’ people get from eating. This may cause them to eat more to feel satisfied. In the study, 76 people were evaluated and placed in either a high-stress or low-stress group. Then they were given large amounts of two soups—one sweet and one savoury—and told to eat as much as they wanted. People who were highly stressed didn’t enjoy the taste of either soup as much as the people with low stress levels did. While there wasn’t a lot of difference in the amount eaten, the researchers say that in real life, not enjoying certain foods as much as expected could lead people to seek satisfaction by eating—and overeating—other foods.

Colon Cancer Risks

A survey of 1,000 adults done at Ohio State University found that many didn’t know about the lifestyle factors that can increase colon-cancer risk. Contributing factors to watch include obesity, drinking alcohol, lack of physical ­activity, and a diet high in fat and processed foods. And, of course, everyone should start having regular colonoscopies at age 45—or earlier if you have any known risk factors or if your doctor advises.

A Nutty Way to Better Health

Nearly a quarter of all deaths in India can be attributed to cardiovascular disease and at least one in three Indians suffer from metabolic syndrome—a cluster of conditions (high blood pressure, high blood sugar, excess fat around the waist, and abnormal cholesterol or triglyceride levels) that increase one’s risk for heart attack, stroke and diabetes. But it looks as if people who regularly eat walnuts have some protection. Iranian researchers writing in the journal Food Science & Nutrition looked at multiple studies and found that people who regularly ate walnuts tended to have better markers of metabolic health. Walnuts also seemed to combat some complications of diabetes. One study even found that walnut eaters had a 68 per cent lower risk of having diabetes compared to the non-walnut eaters. So go ahead and sprinkle some walnuts on your morning yogurt, but don’t go overboard. Walnuts are high in fat, and even though it’s healthy fat, they are still relatively high in calories. (With inputs by Ishani Nandi)

Vegan Diet Boosts Heart Health, Fast

A Stanford University study of 22 pairs of twins found that eating a vegan diet can improve cardiovascular health in just eight weeks. Using identical twins allowed the researchers to control for genetics and limit other factors since the twins grew up in the same households and reported similar lifestyles. Each twin was assigned to either a vegan or omnivore diet, with plenty of fruits, vegetables, legumes and whole grains. The vegan diet was completely plant based, while the omnivore diet included chicken, fish, eggs, dairy and other animal-sourced foods. At the end of eight weeks, those on the vegan diet had significantly lower low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels than those on the omnivore diet. Vegan participants also had a 20 per cent drop in fasting insulin, which lowered their risk for diabetes. While a vegan diet might not be for everyone, the study’s senior author, Christopher Gardner, says simply eating more plant-based foods can improve health by increasing gut bacteria and dietary fibre intake.

Can AI Spot Skin Cancer?

Artificial intelligence (AI) is on its way to becoming a helpful tool for assessing possible skin cancer. Trained on data from malignant and benign lesions, new AI software assesses a scan or photo for precancerous or cancerous spots. Software presented last October at the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology in Berlin had a 100 per cent detection rate for melanoma, the most serious type of skin cancer, and was 99.5 per cent accurate in detecting all types of skin cancer. Of 190 confirmed cases of skin cancer, the software missed one—a basal cell carcinoma that was caught by a dermatologist. And in January, the United States Food and Drug Administration authorized use of DermaSensor, an AI-powered device that can evaluate a suspicious lesion. It scans the spot and uses an algorithm to determine its cellular and below-the-skin characteristics. While the device is not meant to be a screening tool or to replace a physical exam, it can complement a physician’s evaluation by giving recommendation to either investigate further with a specialist or simply monitor, meaning no action is required.

A Stimulating Alzheimer’s Treatment

Brain stimulation is showing promise as a treatment to improve neuroplasticity in Alzheimer’s patients. Neuroplasticity is the brain’s ability to adapt by strengthening existing neural pathways and forming new ones. In Alzheimer’s patients these pathways are disrupted. The treatment, called transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), sends a low-intensity electrical current to the brain, via electrodes placed on the scalp, which stimulates the formation of neural pathways. In a study published in the journal General Psychiatry, researchers in China recruited 140 patients over the age of 65 with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease. The treatment group received tDCS—two daily 20-minute sessions for five days a week, over a six-week period—had significantly improved cognitive function compared to their baseline, measured at the start of the trial. Meanwhile, the control group received a placebo treatment and had no noticeable improvements. More research is needed, but results are encouraging.

Slowing Cellular Ageing

A new study published in Science of The Total Environment found that the cells of people who live in neighbourhoods with ample access to parks, gardens or lawns age slower than the cells of their urban counterparts with little to no green space. Specifically, the residents were found to have longer telomeres—structures that protect the ends of chromosomes. “A longer telomere is usually a younger telomere, or a more protective, helpful telomere,” said Aaron Hipp, professor of parks, recreation and tourism management at North Carolina State University and co-author of the study. “It is protecting that cell from the ageing process.” For every five per cent increase in green space, the authors noted a one per cent reduction in cellular ageing. However, certain factors, such as high pollution, negated any benefit the green space had on cellular ageing.

(Research by Meaghan Cameron, MS, and Patricia Varacallo, DO)