Adults with a higher level of daily physical activity may have a decreased risk of Alzheimer’s disease, according to research published in the online April 18 Neurology. Researchers objectively measured the continuous exercise and nonexercise physical activity of 716 older subjects without dementia by using actigraphy monitoring for up to 10 days. During an average follow-up of four years, 71 persons were diagnosed with clinical Alzheimer’s disease, and the investigators identified an inverse association between total daily physical activity and Alzheimer’s disease (hazard ratio, 0.477) after adjusting for age, sex, and education. This association remained following further adjustments for self-reported physical, social, and cognitive activities; APOE allele status; and current level of motor function, depressive symptoms, and chronic health conditions. “A higher level of total daily physical activity is associated with reduced risk of Alzheimer’s disease,” the investigators concluded.
The herpes zoster vaccine is associated with a small increased risk of allergic reactions in the week following vaccination but is generally safe and well tolerated, according to a study published in the May Journal of Internal Medicine. Researchers analyzed data from 193,083 persons ages 50 and older who had received a zoster vaccine from January 2007 to December 2008 and who were included in the Vaccine Safety Datalink project. A case-centered approach and a self-controlled case series approach were used for analysis. Although results showed that risk of allergic reaction significantly increased within one to seven days of vaccination (RR, 2.13), the investigators identified no increased risk for cerebrovascular or cardiovascular events, meningitis, encephalitis, encephalopathy, Ramsay–Hunt syndrome, or Bell’s palsy. According to the study authors, this research supports the safety results from the zoster vaccine’s prelicensure clinical trials.
Consumption of low-fat dairy products may reduce the risk of stroke, according to research published in the online April 19 Stroke. In a prospective cohort study, researchers followed 74,961 Swedish women and men who were free from cancer and cardiovascular disease. During a mean 10.2-year follow-up, 4,089 cases of stroke were recorded among the cohort, including 3,159 cerebral infarctions, 583 hemorrhagic strokes, and 347 unspecified strokes. Analysis showed an inverse association between consumption of low-fat dairy food and risk of total stroke and cerebral infarction, with multivariable relative risks for the highest compared with the lowest quintile of low-fat dairy consumption of .88 for total stroke and .87 for cerebral infarction. “These results suggest that low-fat dairy consumption is inversely associated with the risk of stroke,” the researchers concluded.
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