Healio (7/30, Gramigna) reported, “Approximately 50% of women experiencing homelessness or unstable housing during the COVID-19 pandemic had depression or anxiety symptoms,” researchers concluded after conducting “a cross-sectional study between July 2020 and December 2020 among 128 women (40% Black; median age, 56 years) in San Francisco, whom they recruited from homeless shelters, street encampments, free meal programs and low-income hotels.” The findings were published online July 14 in a research letter in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Half of women without stable or any housing during pandemic report depression, anxiety “Joe Gramigna, Healio, July 30, 2021

MedPage Today (7/29, Hamza) reports, “The number of alcoholic hepatitis patients getting liver transplant more than tripled during the COVID-19 pandemic,” investigators concluded in a “difference-in-difference analysis from June 2020 to February 2021.” That analysis revealed that “liver transplants for acute alcohol-associated hepatitis more than tripled (268.5% increase) compared with expected trends, while the rate of patients with acute alcohol-associated hepatitis added to the transplant waiting list more than quadrupled (325% increase).” The findings were published online in a research letter in JAMA Network Open.

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— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

Healio (7/29, Gramigna) reports, “Total sugar intake may affect cognitive function over time, with higher amounts potentially increasing risk for Alzheimer’s disease,” researchers concluded after analyzing “data of 837 participants of the Rush Memory and Aging Project to assess the association between sugar intake and cognition.” The study revealed “an inverse relationship between continuous quintile of sugar intake and global cognition, episodic memory, semantic memory, working memory and perceptual speed in adjusted linear random effect models.” The findings were presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference.

Related Links:

— “High sugar intake may increase risk for Alzheimer’s disease “Joe Gramigna, Healio, July 29, 2021

HealthDay (7/29, Preidt) reports research indicates that “lonely seniors are much more likely to take opioid” analgesics, “sedatives, anti-anxiety drugs and other medications,” thereby putting them “at increased risk for drug dependency, attention problems, falls, accidents and mental decline,” investigators concluded after surveying some “6,000 U.S. seniors (average age: 73).” The findings were published online July 26 in a research letter in JAMA Internal Medicine.

Related Links:

— “Loneliness Raises Opioid Dangers in Seniors: Study “Robert Preidt, HealthDay, July 29, 2021

Healio (7/28, Gramigna) reports, “Physical activity may reduce age-associated risk for all-cause dementia among older adults,” investigators concluded after analyzing “data of 8,270 participants (55.6% women; mean age, 63.9 years) of the English Longitudinal Study of Aging who had available follow-up data between 2002 and 2019.” The findings of the “population-based cohort study” were presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference.

Related Links:

— “Physical activity may reduce older adults’ all-cause dementia risk “Joe Gramigna, Healio, July 28, 2021