Low-Fat Vegan Diet Promotes Weight Loss by Lowering Dietary Energy Density

The secondary analysis of a randomized clinical trial found that a low-fat vegan diet reduced dietary energy density by approximately 30%, leading to lower energy intake and greater weight loss without prescribed calorie restriction. The study included 244 adults with overweight who were randomly assigned to either an ad libitum […]

Midlife Vascular Health Linked to Up to 12.6 More Dementia-Free Years

Maintaining optimal vascular health in midlife was associated with up to 12.6 additional years of life free from dementia between ages 55 and 95. The prospective analysis of 12,409 participants from the US Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study followed for a median of 26.3 years, evaluated three major midlife […]

Limiting Sugar in the First 1,000 Days of Life May Reduce Dementia Risk Decades Later

Restricting sugar intake during the first 1,000 days from conception was associated with a lower risk of dementia, delayed disease onset by about 2.5–2.9 years, and better brain health in later life. Using the end of UK sugar rationing in September 1953 as a natural experiment, researchers analyzed 64,737 UK […]

Incidental Coronary Calcium on Routine Chest CT Predicts Future Cardiovascular Risk as Well as Dedicated Heart Scans

Incidental coronary artery calcium (CAC) identified on routine nongated chest CT scans predicts future coronary heart disease (CHD) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) events with prognostic performance comparable to dedicated gated cardiac CT, supporting its incorporation into routine clinical practice for cardiovascular risk assessment. This study included 2,472 participants from the […]

Modifiable Cardiovascular Risk Factors Linked to More Vulnerable Coronary Plaques

The burden of modifiable cardiovascular risk factors—not just the total number of risk factors—is strongly associated with greater coronary plaque vulnerability, suggesting that controlling these risk factors may help reduce the development of high-risk plaques. In this US study of 131 patients who underwent 3-vessel optical coherence tomography imaging, researchers […]

Higher TMAO Levels Linked to Greater Risk of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm

Higher blood levels of the gut microbiome-derived metabolite trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) were independently associated with an increased risk of developing abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) and experiencing serious AAA-related events in apparently healthy older adults. Researchers measured plasma TMAO levels in 4,442 community-dwelling adults aged 65 years or older from the […]

Moderate Coffee Consumption May Benefit the Cardiovascular System, but High Doses Caffeine Can Be Harmful

Moderate consumption of naturally caffeinated beverages, particularly coffee, is generally associated with a lower risk of several cardiovascular diseases, whereas high doses of caffeine—such as those found in many energy drinks—may increase cardiovascular risk. Caffeine is one of the world’s most widely consumed psychoactive substances, and its cardiovascular effects vary […]

WHO Dementia Prevention Guidelines Updated

To reduce the risk of cognitive decline and/or dementia specifically, the WHO just released updated guidance and dementia-specific recommendations: cognitive training may be offered to older adults with normal cognition or mild cognitive impairment and engagement in cognitive stimulation may be encouraged. Engagement in social activity interventions may be recommended. […]

Salivary Cortisol Patterns May Indicate Cognitive Aging

Older adults with higher cumulative daily cortisol levels experienced faster cognitive decline, while healthier day-to-day cortisol variability was linked to slower decline, suggesting that salivary cortisol may serve as an early biomarker of cognitive aging, although it was not associated with short-term Alzheimer’s disease (AD) risk. In this US prospective […]

Ketogenic Diet Beneficial in Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder

A randomized controlled trial found that a ketogenic diet significantly improved metabolic health, cognitive performance, and psychiatric symptoms in people with schizophrenia-spectrum and bipolar I disorders, with improvements in depressive symptoms linked to ketosis rather than weight loss. In this study, 58 outpatients were randomized to either a ketogenic diet […]