Healthwrap - Dementia, SIDS, Breast Cancer

According to new research in the medical journal the lancet, the number of people that have dementia--the common form is Alzheimer’s disease--is going to double every twenty years. Given that 24 million worldwide have dementia today, that number will go up to 42 million by 2020, and 81 million by 2040. Now, 61 percent of these patients live in developed countries, like the U.S. But that number is going to go up to 71 percent by 2040

The authors say that until we get better medications to treat the problem, the best approach will be prevention: reducing risk factors for vascular disease especially, including high blood pressure, smoking, diabetes, and elevated cholesterol levels. And staying mentally active, either by working or through hobbies is also important in holding off dementia.

New research shows women who have a baby that dies of sudden infant death syndrome, or SIDS, have an increased risk of preterm delivery and other complications in later pregnancies. In a study of more than 250,000 Scottish women, those whose previous infant died were two to three times more likely to deliver an infant who was small for their gestational, or in uterus, age, and two to three times more likely to have a preterm delivery.

These complications are risk factors for SIDS, and the authors say they could explain why some women have recurring SIDS in their family. And important new research finds that after a lumpectomy for breast cancer--which is when only the worrisome tissue is removed along with a very small amount of normal surrounding tissue, and the rest of the breast is kept intact--radiation therapy to the remaining breast tissue can improve the chances of long term survival.

The study looked at 40,000 women with early stage breast cancer. After this type of breast conserving surgery, the risk of local cancer recurrence was 26 percent within five years. But the risk after radiation therapy was only seven percent!

Although guidelines in the U.S. call for radiation after breast conserving therapy, the authors point out that this isn’t always done, partly because of the side effects of radiation therapy, and partly because there was no evidence--that is, until now--that it actually benefited in terms of survival. For every four recurrences avoided by radiation, about one breast cancer death is avoided.