Frontline: Flu or cold symptoms; Psoriatic arthritis risk; Dementia risk
Detect a Flu or Cold Before Symptoms Appear
A wrist-worn wearable device has been successful in detecting both the flu and common cold in 31 participants (22.6 percent women) inoculated with H1N1 and 18 participants (31.1 percent women) inoculated with rhinovirus, according to a study published in JAMA Network Open Sept. 29, 2021. Participants were inoculated with diluted intranasal drops. Infection detection and severity prediction models were used to measure data on wearable devices. The models were able to distinguish between infection and noninfection with a 92 percent accuracy for H1N1 and an 88 percent accuracy for rhinovirus. Twenty-four hours prior to symptom onset, the models uncovered mild and moderate infection with 90 percent accuracy for H1N1 and 89 percent accuracy for rhinovirus.
Biologic Therapy Reduces Psoriatic Arthritis Risk
Among people with severe psoriasis, biologic therapy, including TNF inhibitors, IL-12/IL-23 inhibitors, IL-17 inhibitors, and IL-23 inhibitors, were found to reduce the risk of developing psoriatic arthritis over a 10-year follow-up period among people with severe psoriasis, as compared with people who were not undergoing biologic therapy. A biologic is any pharmaceutical drug that is derived from a biological source (such as a vaccine). Researchers used electronic medical record data to evaluate 1,326 Israeli patients with severe psoriasis. The retrospective study was published in Arthritis & Rheumatology, Aug. 23, 2021. To qualify for therapy, people should have had little to no success with two other forms of systemic therapy, such as phototherapy, for example.
Dementia Risk Lowers with Mentally Stimulating Jobs
People in cognitively stimulating jobs may have a lower risk of dementia, according to a recent analysis published in The BMJ, Aug. 18, 2021. Researchers reviewed data on nearly 108,000 people, who were free of dementia and were surveyed about their occupations. During an average follow-up period of nearly 17 years, 1,143 of the participants were diagnosed with dementia. After accounting for educational level and an array of risk factors, the study authors reported that, compared with people in low‑stimulating jobs, those whose occupations were deemed cognitively stimulating were significantly less likely to develop dementia in older age. Cognitively stimulating jobs also were associated with lower levels of blood proteins that may inhibit the formation of new connections between brain cells, the study found.
The post Frontline: Flu or cold symptoms; Psoriatic arthritis risk; Dementia risk appeared first on University Health News.
Read Original Article: Frontline: Flu or cold symptoms; Psoriatic arthritis risk; Dementia risk »
