In “Science Now,” the Los Angeles Times (8/21, Kaplan) reports “new research suggests that taking care of your cardiovascular system will pay off for your brain.”

The New York Times (8/21, Bakalar) reports that in a 6,626-participant study, researchers found that “cardiovascular health in older people is associated with lower risk of dementia and lower rates of cognitive decline.” The findings were published in the Aug. 21 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

TIME (8/21, Park) reports the researchers found that people with good cardiovascular health, as measured by the American Heart Association’s Life’s Simple 7 Metrics, were less likely to have dementia.

MedPage Today (8/21, George) reports that in another study, also published in the Aug. 21 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association but involving “125 young adults in England,” researchers found “that better cardiovascular metrics were associated with higher cerebral vessel density and caliber, higher cerebral blood flow, and fewer white matter hyperintensities.” The authors of an editorial accompanying both studies observed that the two new studies examined the relationship between cardiovascular health and brain function in younger and older people, rather than middle-age people as most previous studies have. Healio (8/21, Tedesco) also covers the story.

Related Links:

— “The more you do to promote your cardiovascular health, the lower your risk of dementia,”Karen Kaplan, Los Angeles Times, August 21, 2018.

According to the Wall Street Journal (8/20, Reddy, Subscription Publication), research published online Aug. 8 in The Lancet Psychiatry examined how different exercise types may affect mental health. Included in the study were data on 1.2 million adults in the US who responded to a CDC survey. The study revealed that playing on a sports team and bicycling appeared to have the best effect.

Related Links:

— “The Exercise That Helps Mental Health Most,” Sumathi Reddy, The Wall Street Journal, August 20, 2018.

In a front-page article, the New York Times (8/18, A1, Goodnough) reported on the small group of hospitals “that have started initiating opioid addiction treatment in the” emergency department (ED). The facilities provide buprenorphine, “one of three medications approved in the United States to treat opioid addiction,” on demand, with the hope that it may push more addicts to seek addiction treatment. The change was inspired by a 2015 Yale-New Haven Hospital study that found “addicted patients who were given buprenorphine in the” ED “were twice as likely to be in treatment a month later as those who were simply handed an informational pamphlet with phone numbers.” Since it was published, “a few dozen hospital” EDs have implemented similar programs.

Related Links:

— “This E.R. Treats Opioid Addiction on Demand. That’s Very Rare., “Abby Goodnough, The New York Times, August 18, 2018.

Multiple Sclerosis News Today (8/16, Mumal) reports researchers found that one-third of Canadian patients with multiple sclerosis “report a need for mental health care, with symptoms of anxiety and depression…identified as predominant factors.” The findings were published in Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders.

Related Links:

— “MS Patients with Anxiety, Depression Symptoms More likely to Report Need for Mental Health Care, Study Shows, “Iqra Mumal, Multiple Sclerosis News Today, August 18, 2018.

McClatchy (8/16, Magness) reports that “exposure to DDE, which forms after the now-banned pesticide DDT breaks down, can as much as double the chance that a woman gives birth to” a child with autism, research indicated.

Newsweek (8/16, Gander) reports that researchers arrived at this conclusion after assessing “the blood taken from pregnant women to identify birth defects of 750 children with autism.” The findings were published online Aug. 16 in the American Journal of Psychiatry, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association.

MedPage Today (8/16, Monaco) reports, “Offspring of mothers who fell into the highest 75th percentile of environmental exposure to p, p’-dichlorodiphenyl dichloroethylene (p, p’-DDE) – a metabolite of the insecticide dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) – had 32% higher odds of autism following adjustment for maternal psychiatric history, age, and parity,” the study found. But, “this association only applied to male offspring (OR 1.35, 95% CI 1.02-1.80, P=0.04); it wasn’t significant among female offspring although the point estimate was not markedly lower (OR 1.19, 95% CI 0.67-2.13, P=0.55),” investigators found.

Psychiatric News (8/16) reports, “The authors proposed two reasons for why DDT appeared to be linked with autism.” The first reason is that “DDT exposure is also known to increase the risk of both premature birth and small birthweight – two known autism risk factors.” The second reason is that “DDT can reduce the production of androgen receptors, another autism risk factor.”

Also covering the study are the ABC News (8/16, Kalra) website, Nature (8/16, Reardon), HealthDay (8/16, Gordon), Medscape (8/16, Brooks, Subscription Publication), Healio (8/16, Demko), and MD Magazine (8/16, Gingerich).

Related Links:

— “This banned pesticide may double the chance women have a baby with autism, study says, “Josh Magness, The Miami Herald, August 16, 2018.