MikeLigalig.com

By: Nicholas Bakalar
iht.com

Caffeine and memory The caffeine in three cups of coffee or tea a day may help maintain mental sharpness in older women, but caffeine consumption appears to have no effect in men.

French researchers studied more than 7,000 men and women with an average age of 74, following them over four years. They determined coffee and tea intake by interview, and they measured mental acuity with widely accepted tests of visual skills and verbal recall. They also recorded information on education, income, depression, and alcohol and tobacco use, among other factors. The study appears in the August issue of Neurology.

After controlling for other variables, the scientists found that women at age 65 who drank three or more cups of coffee or tea a day were about one-third less likely to have a significant decline in verbal skills than those who drank a cup or less. By age 85, they were 70 percent less likely to suffer those deficits compared with women who drank less than a cup of coffee or tea. There were not enough cases to detect an effect on Alzheimer's disease.

Researchers studying 313 healthy Vietnam veterans have found that anger and hostility may increase the risk for cardiovascular disease, diabetes and high blood pressure.

Over a period of 10 years, the men had regular physical examinations involving a wide variety of medical tests. They also underwent psychological examinations using well-established questionnaires to determine their levels of hostility, anger and depression.

The researchers measured blood levels of a protein called C3, a marker for the inflammation that is a risk factor for cardiovascular illnesses. After controlling for other variables, the scientists found that those in the highest one-quarter in hostility, anger and depression showed a steady and significant increase in C3 levels, while those in the lowest one-quarter had no incre

Being quick to anger may raise health risks

"This may put those men at increased risk for hypertension, diabetes and coronary heart disease," said Stephen Boyle, the lead author of the study and a researcher at Duke University Medical Center in North Carolina.

Why these increases in C3 levels happen is unknown, but the authors speculate that anger in hostile and depressed men initiates a series of chemical responses in the immune system that lead to inflammation.

Taking steps to control hostility may be helpful. "There are interventions that appear to be useful in lowering levels of anger," Boyle said. "I don't know if their long-term effects on physiology have been tested, but if you're less angry and hostile, that in itself is a worthy goal."

Abstinence programs studied Abstinence programs for HIV prevention do not work, according to a review of randomized, controlled trials. The analysis, published in the August issue of The British Medical Journal, covered 13 studies involving more than 15,000 young Americans.

Most of the programs were based in schools and directed at children in grades five through eight. One was intended for adults ages 18 to 21. There were various control groups, including some in modified programs and in some cases in no program at all. Compared with those control groups, abstinence programs had no significant effect in either decreasing or increasing sexual risk behavior.

Seven of the trials tracked sexually transmitted infections, finding no significant short- or long-term benefit to abstinence programs. None of the programs made any significant difference in preventing pregnancy, reducing unprotected sex, or delaying sexual initiation.

"We hope our review encourages a closer look at the empirical research regarding HIV prevention programs," said Kristen Underhill, the lead author and a research officer at the University of Oxford.

"It appears that this evidence base is frequently neglected in debates over abstinence-based prevention."

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