Magnesium vs brain shrinkage

Getting at 550 mg of magnesium a day seems to reduce a person’s risk of dementia and make their brain younger — that’s according to Aussie researchers’ study of about 6,000 people.

[P]eople who consume more than 550 milligrams of magnesium each day have a brain age that is approximately one year younger by the time they reach 55 compared with someone with a normal magnesium intake of about 350 milligrams a day.

It doesn’t make magnesium a cure, but it does imply that “a higher intake of magnesium in our diets from a younger age may safeguard against neurodegenerative diseases and cognitive decline by the time we reach our 40s.”

Long Covid notes

Risk factors

There are plenty of mysteries around long Covid — who gets it, why the symptoms are so varied, how to treat it — but a new analysis by British researchers may have some clues.

Based on 41 studies of more than 860,000 patients, they’ve teased out who’s most at risk.

[insert drumroll here]

The answers, in order of the amount of risk (per the study, not the news article):

1. Previous hospitalization with Covid
2. Other medical conditions (e.g., immunosuppressive conditions, COPD, heart disease, asthma, anxiety, depression, chronic kidney disease, or diabetes)
3. Being female
4. Being over 40
5. Obesity
6. Smoking

And, not surprisingly, being vaccinated cut the risk substantially.

Nirmatrelvir helps

The antiviral that’s half of Paxlovid can cut the risk of long Covid by 26% in patients who had at least one risk factor (see above, although gender wasn’t a factor).

It can also cut their risk of death by 47%, which implies that, when it comes to Paxlovid, nirmatrelvir is doing a lot of the heavy lifting.

It’s changing our genome

Specifically, it’s messing with the chromatin architecture of cells — that’s what holds the genetic material together. When the chromatin is changed by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, that’s “known to exert long-term effects on gene expression and phenotypes,” as the University of Texas researcher explained.

More research is needed (always!), but they’re thinking this might be a clue to what causes long Covid.

Take note, but maybe not worry

The headline: “Hormonal Birth Control, No Matter Which Kind, Linked to Breast Cancer”.

The reality: Progestin-only contraceptives are linked to a slight increase in the risk of breast cancer. Previous studies had found that same slight risk with progestin/estrogen combos.

Better sleep, less harm

Young people at risk of suicide or self harm might do well to take melatonin to get better sleep. Swedish researchers doing an observational study found a connection between melatonin use and reduced self-harm rates.

The risk of self-harm increased shortly before melatonin was prescribed and decreased by about half in the months following the initiation of treatment. Risk reduction was particularly evident among adolescent girls with depression and/or anxiety disorders.

They were careful to point out that they’ve only found an association between reduced self-harm and melatonin, so they can’t assign cause and effect. You know the drill: More research is needed.

Yesterday, bird flu; today, cat poop

While you’re thinking about the possibility of bird flu jumping to humans, here’s another concern. Scientists in California have found a “particularly unusual strain” of Toxoplasma gondii — a parasite common in cat poop (and that pregnant women need to be wary of).

Unusual in the fact that it “appears to be capable of rapidly killing its host.” And when it doesn’t, T. gondii in humans is “linked to higher rates of suicide, rage, traffic accidents and schizophrenia.”

The new strain has already infected sea otters, so … yeah, add it to the list.

Short Takes

Elsewhere: And then there were 40

North Carolina became the 40th state to expand Medicaid to more lower-income people.

Dogs are getting resistant hookworms

Dogs in the U.S. are increasingly being infected by parasitic hookworms that are resistant to the normal benzimidazole treatment. (Benzimidazole is also used to treat hookworm infections in humans, although those worms are a different species.)