A higher level of physical activity may not reduce a woman's risk of multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a study published online ahead of print September 28 in Neurology. Researchers calculated total metabolic equivalent hours of physical activity per week for women participating in the Nurses' Health Study (NHS) and NHS II. There were 341 confirmed MS cases with first symptoms after baseline. Participants also reported early-life activity. The investigators analyzed the data with Cox proportional hazards models. Compared with women in the lowest baseline physical activity quartile, women in the highest quartile had a 27% reduced rate of MS. This trend was not present in six-year lagged analyses, however. In NHS II, total early life activity at ages 12 to 22 was not associated with MS.
Youth with primary hypertension have significantly worse performance on neurocognitive testing, compared with normotensive controls, according to a study published online ahead of print September 27 in the Journal of Pediatrics. Seventy-five children with newly diagnosed, untreated hypertension and 75 frequency-matched normotensive controls had baseline neurocognitive testing as part of a prospective multicenter study of cognition in primary hypertension. The participants completed general intelligence, attention, memory, executive function, and processing speed tests. Parents rated participants' executive function and sleep disordered breathing. The study groups were well matched. Hypertension was independently associated with worse memory, attention, and executive function, compared with normotension. Results indicated a significant interaction between disordered sleep and hypertension on ratings of executive function. Hypertension heightened the association between increased disordered sleep and worse executive function.
Headache disorders may be associated with an increased risk for the development of new-onset hypothyroidism, according to a study published online ahead of print September 27 in Headache. This longitudinal retrospective cohort study used data from 8,412 participants enrolled in the Fernald Medical Monitoring Program. Participants underwent physical examinations and thyroid function testing every three years during the 20-year program. The primary outcome measure was new-onset hypothyroidism, defined as the initiation of thyroid replacement therapy or thyroid-stimulating hormone test value greater than or equal to 10 without thyroid medication. Headache disorders were present in about 26% of the participants, and new-onset hypothyroidism developed in approximately 7% of participants. The hazard ratio for the development of new-onset hypothyroidism was 1.21 for people with headache disorders.
People with epilepsy can face various psychosocial adversities and extensively report feeling discriminated against, compared with the general population, according to a study published online ahead of print September 16 in Epilepsia. The Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey 2007 included comprehensive interviews with 7,403 people. Overall, people with epilepsy were sevenfold more likely to have reported experiencing discrimination due to health problems than the general population without epilepsy. People with epilepsy also had greater odds of experiencing domestic violence and sexual abuse than the general population, although these associations were also found in people with other chronic conditions. There was less evidence of an association between epilepsy and a history of physical abuse or having a greater burden of other stressful life events.