Science and Your Health

A new study has given hope to researchers that brain damage caused by Alzheimer's disease may not only be slowed down, but reversed. In their study, published in the journal Science, University of Minnesota neurology professor Karen Ashe and her colleagues bred mice with a human gene linked to dementia. When they activated the gene, the mice revealed signs of dementia through a decreased ability to swim through a water maze. But when the researchers de-activated the gene, not only did the signs of dementia decline, but the mental functions of the mice were actually restored. The researchers found that by blocking the production of tau--a mutant protein that's been linked to Alzheimer's--some of the affected neurons were able to recover. Researchers have been unable to pinpoint the cause of Alzheimer's, a creeping brain degeneration that affects about 4.5 million Americans.

Could the findings affect how the disease is treated? The findings give hope that it may one day be possible to save sick cells by protecting them from the protein. Alzheimer's drugs available today only treat the symptoms of the disease.

Save Your Teeth: Stop Smoking

Smokers are about six times more likely to develop gum disease than non-smokers, according to new research published in the in the Journal of Clinical Periodontology. Kicking the habit, though, can keep smokers from losing their teeth.

For a year, British scientists studied 49 smokers who suffered from chronic gum disease, which is marked by a build-up of bacteria that causes the gums to recede and bleed. The risk of developing the disease increases with the number of cigarettes smoked daily. In severe cases of the disease, a patient's teeth may fall out or need to be pulled.

In the study, the researchers at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne noticed a significant improvement in the gums of the one-fifth of smokers who quit, compared to those who did not.

About 15 million people in the United States suffer from gum disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Need more reasons to quit? In addition to increasing the odds of developing chronic gum disease, smoking is the leading cause of lung cancer and other respiratory illnesses and a major risk factor for heart disease.

Tiny Babies May Have Big Problems

Thanks to modern medical innovations, up to 80 percent of U.S. babies born weighing less than two pounds can survive. But a new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association shows that most of them will have special health or educational needs when they reach school age.

For the study, researchers at Case Western Reserve University tracked 219 extremely low birth weight babies through the age of eight, comparing them to a group of children born within the normal weight range. The researchers recorded medical problems and any development difficulties or functional limitations that the children developed as they grew. They found that extremely low birth weight children had double the rate of emotional, learning, visual and hearing problems--and some more severe complications like difficulty in walking, talking or washing themselves--compared to those born in the normal weight range. Sixty-four percent of the babies born at extremely low weights had a functional limitation ranging from mild to severe, compared to just 20 percent of the normal birth weight children, while nearly two-thirds of the extremely low birth weight children had special healthcare needs, compared to 27 percent of the normal birth weight children.

Can the problems be overcome? Researchers also pointed out that, despite their limitations, most of the children were able to function remarkably well. They go to school, and are often in regular classes, say researchers, but a lot of them may need extra help in the educational system.