Healio Cardiology Today (8/13, Dobkowski) reports, “Patients who had sustained hypertension in midlife to late life and those with midlife hypertension and late-life hypotension had an increased risk for dementia later in life compared with patients with normal BP in midlife and late life,” researchers concluded after analyzing “data from 4,761 patients (59% women; mean age at fifth visit, 75 years) aged 45 to 65 years.” The findings were published in JAMA.

Related Links:

— “Hypertension in midlife, late life increases risk for dementia, “Darlene Dobkowski, Healio Cardiology Today, August 13, 2019

According to HealthDay (8/13, Preidt), “researchers report they have identified 16 new genes linked to” autism spectrum disorder. After conducting “genetic analyses of 2,300 people from nearly 500 families with at least two children with autism,” investigators “pinpointed 69 genes that were associated with an increased risk of autism, 16 of which had not previously been linked to the disorder.” In addition, the scientists “found several hundred genes they suspect may increase the risk of autism based on their proximity to genes previously identified with an increased risk, and also identified several new biological pathways not previously identified in autism research.” The findings were published online Aug. 8 in the journal Cell.

Related Links:

— “Scientists Uncover More Autism Genes, “Robert Preidt, HealthDay, August 13, 2019

CNN (8/12, Azad) reports research examining over 20 studies on people between the ages of 10 and 24 “found that the odds of marijuana use were 3.5 times higher in people who vaped compared to those who didn’t.” Lead study author Dr. Nicholas Chadi said the findings indicate that “e-cigarettes really need to be considered in the broad category of addictive and harmful substances.” The findings were published online in JAMA Pediatrics.

HealthDay (8/12, Mundell) reports the investigators wrote, “Odds of using marijuana in youth with e-cigarette use were higher in adolescents age 12 to 17 [more than four times the risk] than young adults age 18 to 24 years [a 40% higher risk].” Moreover, the researchers “found that use of e-cigarettes typically comes before the use of marijuana in the young – suggesting that the vaping habit is a ‘gateway’ to the drug.”

Related Links:

— “Vaping linked to marijuana use in young people, research says, “Arman Azad, CNN, August 12, 2019

Healio (8/12, Demko) reports, “Veterans with a history of traumatic brain injury, or TBI, were twice as likely to die by suicide compared with veterans without history of TBI,” researchers concluded after looking at “the connections between TBI, suicide and suicide method among 215,610 veterans with a previous/current TBI diagnosis compared with 1,187,683 veterans without TBI receiving VHA care between 2006 and 2015.” The findings were published online July 30 in the Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation.

Related Links:

— “TBI may increase suicide risk among veterans, “Savannah Demko, Healio, August 12, 2019

Healio (8/12, Demko) reports research indicates that “more frequent social contact with friends at age 60 years was linked to lower risk of developing dementia over a 28-year follow-up and higher subsequent cognitive performance over a 15-year follow-up.” Investigators arrived at these conclusions after examining “the link between social contact frequency and dementia over a long period in a retrospective analysis of the Whitehall study, a prospective cohort study of English participants aged 35 to 55 years at baseline assessment in 1985 to 1988 and followed to 2017.” The findings were published online Aug. 2 in PLOS Medicine.

Related Links:

— “Social contact during midlife appears to lower dementia risk, “Savannah Demko, Healio, August 12, 2019