HEALTH NOTES: Zoom calls stave off memory loss and can protect against dementia
Regular Zoom calls can protect against dementia, according to research.
Time spent online with loved ones, via video calls or social media, was directly related to the rate of memory loss over a 15-year period in more than 11,000 Britons aged over 50.
The researchers found it was particularly beneficial for maintaining episodic memory – the ability to recall meaningful events.
Time spent online with loved ones, via video calls or social media, was directly related to the rate of memory loss over a 15-year period in more than 11,000 Britons aged over 50
Impairment of this is one of the early signs of dementia.
Snorri Rafnsson, associate professor of dementia care at the University of West London and co-author of the study, said: ‘Learning to use online social technology can offer direct cognitive simulation to keep memory function active.’
Parkinson’s clue… up your nose
A nasal swab can spot signs of Parkinson’s years before symptoms appear, researchers have found.
Nearly half of those with the condition, which causes tremors and mobility problems, have traces of a protein called synuclein in their nasal cavity, compared with just ten per cent of those who don’t have it.
The scientists say the research should be used to develop a cheap screening tool for the condition. ‘Early diagnosis is going to be important in the future when we have better drugs,’ says Parkinson’s expert Alfonso De Simone from Imperial College London.
A nasal swab can spot signs of Parkinson’s years before symptoms appear, researchers have found
A fifth of women feel they are not taken seriously when seeking medical help for intimate problems, according to the women’s health charity The Eve Appeal, while one woman in ten said the same about visiting medics for non-intimate problems.
Previous research has found that women are 25 per cent more likely to have their pain dismissed by doctors, compared with men. Experts say this could discourage women from coming forward with symptoms. The charity’s chief, Athena Lamnisos, says the key to making gynaecological cancers a ‘disease of the past’ is ‘breaking down the veil of shame that surrounds these little-known cancers’.