Are you one of the 20 million to 40 million people in the US suffering with migraine headaches? If so, here’s news worth noting: The FDA has just approved an over-the-counter nerve stimulation device that delivers mild electrical shocks to the forehead as a way to prevent or treat migraine headaches.

This might seem like an unlikely way to treat migraines, so how did we get here? And what’s the evidence that it works? Is this a game changer? Hype? Or a treatment that falls somewhere in between?

Our changing understanding of what causes migraines

Blood vessels throughout the body, including those near the brain, narrow (constrict) and open up (dilate) regularly, throughout the day. That’s normal, and it varies depending on the situation. Sleep, body temperature, physical activity, and many other factors affect this activity of blood vessels. Not long ago, conventional wisdom held that migraines were due to … Read the rest

Because of the pandemic, many college students are coming home to finish the semester, either because of cases on campus, or because colleges are sending everyone home for Thanksgiving and not having them come back until the next term.

This situation requires some thought and planning, so as to keep everyone safe — and sane. Here are some things families need to think about.

Will your college student bring the COVID-19 virus home with them?

Many colleges have been having outbreaks, and infections can be asymptomatic. How you handle the return of college students to your household depends on the situation at their school, the possibility of exposures, and how often they have been tested. If cases are low and they are tested regularly (once a week at least), the risk is far less than if the case numbers are high and testing is sporadic. Make sure you find out … Read the rest

It’s been more than 17 years since the FDA last approved an Alzheimer’s drug. Will Biogen’s drug, called aducanumab, end this drought? The FDA will decide by March 2021, based on its own analysis of clinical trial data and an advisory panel’s review of the evidence.

How does the drug work?

Aducanumab is a monoclonal antibody engineered in a laboratory to stick to the amyloid molecule that forms plaques in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s. Most researchers believe that the plaques form first and damage brain cells, causing tau tangles to form inside them, killing the cells. Once aducanumab has stuck to the plaque, your body’s immune system will come in and remove the plaque, thinking it’s a foreign invader. The hope and expectation is that, once the plaques are removed, the brain cells will stop dying, and thinking, memory, function, and behavior will stop deteriorating.

Will the FDA’s

The “battle of the bulge” gained a new foe this year: quarantine snacking. Sales of snack foods like cookies and crackers shot up in the early days of lockdowns, and recent consumer surveys are finding that people have changed their eating habits and are snacking more.

We don’t yet have solid evidence that more snacking and consumption of ultra-processed food this year has led to weight gain. While memes of the “quarantine 15” trended on social media earlier this year, only a few small studies have suggested a link between COVID-19-related isolation and weight gain. But you don’t need scientific evidence to know if your waistband is tighter.

Snacking is not just a weight risk

Regular junk food snacking brings many risks. Processed foods are typically filled with loads of unhealthy saturated fats and high amounts of salt, calories, added sugar, and refined (unhealthy) grains.

Eating too much of these … Read the rest