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In most cases, Alzheimer’s Disease is an affliction that cripples elderly patients, and the condition is only detected once several symptoms appear late into one’s life.  However, a new study brings troubling prospects for individuals whose parents have both had Alzheimer’s Disease; according to the research, these patients may be detected with signs of Alzheimer’s by means of brain scans, well before the onset of symptoms.

Researchers from the New York University School of Medicine analyzed a total of 52 subjects ranging in age from 32 to 72, who showed no signs of dementia.  The subjects were then divided into four groups – a group of people whose mothers had Alzheimer’s, a second group whose fathers suffered from the disease, a third group where both parents had the condition, and a fourth group where neither parent, or even relatives had suffered from the condition.  All 52 individuals were then given brain scans, including positron emission tomography (PET) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans.  As it turned out, those from the third group, or those whose mother and father both had Alzheimer’s, had 5 to 10 percent more brain plaques in specific parts of the brain, and more pronounced brain abnormalities than those who only had one parent suffer from Alzheimer’s, or no family members with the disease.

In other takeaways from the study, people who had mothers with Alzheimer’s Disease had more biomarkers of the disease found in their brain scans, as compared to individuals whose fathers were afflicted by the disease.  This backs up previous studies that showed similar findings, where individuals whose mothers had Alzheimer’s are more likely to have the disease later in life than those whose fathers had it.  In all, the researchers believe that there may be genes that are conducive to the development of Alzheimer’s Disease in an individual, based on which parents, or on whether both parents, have the condition or not.

“We do not yet know which genes, if any, are responsible for these early changes, and we hope that our study will be helpful to future genetic investigations,” commented study head Lisa Mosconi.  She added that by the time most individuals come in for a diagnosis, there is a possibility that they may have suffered a significant amount of irreversible brain damage.  “This is why it is ideal that we find signs of the disease in high-risk people before symptoms occur,” she warned.

Results of the NYU School of Medicine’s findings were published in greater detail a few days ago on the Neurology journal.

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Experts from the American Heart Association said late last week that three distinct smoking cessation therapies are not serious risks to one’s heart health.  This hopes to allay ongoing concerns that these products, which include nicotine replacement patches, may not result in any additional risk of heart attack, similar heart ailments, or stroke.

63 clinical trials and a total of 30,508 patients quitting smoking were analyzed by researchers, and these individuals had been using either one of the following as smoking cessation methods – nicotine patches/gum, nicotine addiction treatment medicine vareniciline (Chantrix), or antidepressant bupropion (Wellbutrin).  According to the results of the evaluation, there was no evidence found connecting the above mentioned smoking cessation treatments to the chances of serious heart events.  Separate data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that about 45.3 million Americans smoke cigarettes, and that smoking causes about 443,000 deaths per year, or one in every five deaths.  Fortunately, the CDC’s data also shows that there are more former smokers than current smokers in the U.S. as of the present.

Smoking cessation, in general, is said to improve one’s quality of life, which may include a greater life expectancy and improved heart health.  But quitting smoking, as many current or former smokers would immediately say, is often a case of “easier said than done”, and the CDC admits that nicotine dependency may often need several interventions to cure.  Individuals trying to quit smoking experience a number of symptoms related to nicotine withdrawal, such as anxiety, poor concentration, irritability, and unnatural food cravings.  Popular smoking cessation therapies like nicotine patches and gum, are known to cause a racing or irregular heartbeat, and the use of multiple therapies, such as wearing a patch and chewing gum, may be more effective, but more likely to bring about side effects.

The study’s authors did stress that they feel the use of multiple smoking cessation therapies at  the same time might not be a wise choice for smokers.  “These more minor risks are well known to clinicians and usually pass with time,” said study co-author Edward J. Mills, an associate professor of medicine at Stanford University.  “They occur most often when people are taking nicotine replacement therapy and smoking at the same time, which is a bad idea.”  Still, he added that there are myriad benefits to quitting smoking, and that they “outweigh any potential risks from smoking cessation therapies.”

Separate from the American Heart Association and the CDC, figures also suggest that Americans under the legal age are more likely to start a smoking habit.  Earlier in the month, it was revealed in a U.K. study that 600 below-18 individuals per day in the U.K. take up smoking, which is still below the CDC’s findings that about 1,000 Americans below 18 take up smoking per day.