Low blood pressure could be a culprit in dementia, studies suggest

Kenneth McLeod, Binghamton University, State University of New York

Decline in brain function often occurs as people age. People often worry that declining brain function is an inevitable part of growing old and will lead to dementia, but it is not. Many people do not experience age-related cognitive decline.

Clinical studies that have followed older individuals over many years have consistently demonstrated that chronically low blood pressure increases the risk of age-related cognitive decline. For example, a study published in 2017 followed more than 24,000 people for up to 27 years. This study showed that low blood pressure is a significant predictor of cognitive decline and the probability of developing dementia. This was independent of age, gender, weight, cardiovascular, kidney or diabetic status.

Kent Willis, University of Tennessee

Born after just 23 of the normal 40 weeks of pregnancy, the extremely preterm baby is small enough to fit in the palm of my hand and weighs just one and a quarter pounds. I am a neonatologist, a physician that cares for these preterm babies in intensive care. Most of these preterm infants, particularly the smallest and sickest who require oxygen to help them breathe, are at high risk of developing lung inflammation and scarring.

This early damage will lead to a chronic lung disease called bronchopulmonary dysplasia. Bronchopulmonary dysplasia can be one of the most severe and long-lasting complications of being a preterm baby. Many require oxygen for years and often have severe asthma-like episodes during which they are hospitalized for difficulty breathing.

A large clinical study known as ASPREE (ASPirin in Reducing Events in the Elderly) has resulted in some very surprising findings about the value of taking a daily low-dose aspirin.

Summer time is here, and that usually means more days spent outside, and with the longer summer days, more hours spent in the sun. That means it is time to think about protecting your skin from the damaging affects of over-exposure to sunlight.

According to the Surgeon Generals Skin Cancer: Quick Facts website, there are more than 63,000 new cases of the deadliest form of skin cancer diagnosed in the US each year, resulting in approximately 9,000 deaths: