High BP may cause brain disease

Older people who have higher blood pressure (BP) may have more signs of brain disease, specifically brain lesions. Researchers also found a link between higher BP and Alzheimer's. As BP changes with aging and disease, they wanted to find out the impact it may have on the brain. They researched whether BP in later life was associated with signs of brain aging that include plaques and tangles linked to Alzheimer's disease, and brain lesions called infarcts. These are areas of dead tissue caused by a blockage of the blood supply, which can increase with age. These often go undetected and can lead to stroke. Healthy BP is less than 120/80 mmHg. High BP is above 140/90 mmHg. The higher number is called systolic BP, the pressure in the blood vessels when the heart beats. The lower is called diastolic BP, the pressure when the heart is at rest. Researchers found that the risk of brain lesions was higher in people with higher average systolic BP across the years. When looking for signs of Alzheimer's disease in the brain at autopsy, researchers found a link between higher average late-life systolic BP across the years before death and a higher number of tangles, but not plaques. The full findings are published in the journal Neurology.

Diabetics at high risk of lung disease

People with type-2 diabetes may be more at risk of developing restrictive lung disease (RLD) characterised by breathlessness, than non-diabetic patients, a study has found. Increased breathlessness, RLD and interstitial lung anomalies can be associated with type-2 diabetes, says a study expert. Previous findings from animal experiments also show a significant connection between restrictive lung diseases and diabetes. The study also showed that RLD is associated with albuminuria, a condition where urinary albumin levels are elevated. This may be an indication that lung disease and kidney disease may be associated with nephropathy, diabetic kidney disease. For the study, published in the journal Respiration, the team analysed data from 110 patients with long-term type-2 diabetes, 29 patients with newly diagnosed type-2 diabetes, 68 patients with pre-diabetes and 48 non-diabetic patients, who were the controls. The participants were examined for metabolic control, diabetes-related complications, breathlessness and lung function. The results showed that RLD was found in 27 per cent of patients with long-term type-2 diabetes, 20 per cent in patients with newly diagnosed diabetes, and nine per cent in patients with pre-diabetes. Further, patients with pronounced symptoms and RLD also showed CT-morphologically, a fibrosating interstitial lung disease. 

Stress and schizophrenics 

Stressful situations affect the brain and body differently in people with schizophrenia as compared to healthy people. A new CAMH study showed the relationship between two chemicals released when people experienced stress differs in schizophrenics. Experts found a disrupted stress response in schizophrenics, which did not occur in either healthy people or people at high risk for developing psychosis. As most schizophrenics experience psychosis, identifying differences between people at high risk for psychosis and those with schizophrenia may shed light on how schizophrenia develops and ways to prevent its onset. In the study, the new insights come from examining two important chemicals, dopamine and cortisol, in people under stress. Dopamine  carries signals from one brain cell, or neuron, to another. The experts focused on dopamine released in the prefrontal cortex, the region at the front of the brain involved in complex functions, including regulating emotions. In healthy people, both dopamine and cortisol levels typically increase when people experience stress. The full findings are present in the journal Brain.

10 new cancer risk genes identified

Using publicly available data, researchers have identified 10 new genes that are predisposed to ovarian and breast cancer among others, an advance that improve cancer diagnoses and prevention in the future. There are many genetic causes of cancer. While some mutations are inherited, others are acquired throughout life due to external factors or mistakes in copying DNA.  In the study, published in Nature Communications, researchers developed a new statistical method named ALFRED and identified 13 candidate cancer predisposition genes, of which 10 are new from tumour sequencing data. They applied their method to the genome sequences of more than 10,000 cancer patients with 30 different tumour types and identified known and new possible cancer predisposition genes. This method  allowed them find risk variants without a control sample, meaning they do not need to compare cancer patients to groups of healthy people. The results show that the new genes may have an important role in many cancers. For example, they were associated with 14 per cent of ovarian tumours, 7 per cent breast tumours and about one in 50 of all cancers. — Agencies