Medical Bulletin 29/November/2023

Here are the top medical news of the day:

Allergic responses to common foods could increase risk of heart disease, cardiovascular death

Allergic responses to common foods such as dairy and peanuts can increase the risk for heart disease and cardiovascular death as much or more than smoking, new research suggests in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. These dangerous allergic responses can strike both people with food allergies and those with no obvious allergy symptoms.

Approximately 15% of adults produce IgE antibodies in response to cow's milk, peanuts and other foods. While these antibodies cause some people to have severe food allergies, many adults who make these antibodies have no obvious food allergy.

Reference: Corinne Keet, Emily C. McGowan, David Jacobs, Wendy S. Post, Nathan E. Richards, Lisa J. Workman, Thomas A.E. Platts-Mills, Ani Manichaikul, Jeffrey M. Wilson. IgE to common food allergens is associated with cardiovascular mortality in the National Health and Examination Survey and the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 2023; DOI: 10.1016/j.jaci.2023.09.038

Childhood trauma linked to headaches in adulthood

People who have experienced traumatic events in childhood such as abuse, neglect or household dysfunction may be more likely to experience headache disorders as adults, according to a meta-analysis published in the October 25, 2023, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

The meta-analysis involved 28 studies, including 154,739 participants across 19 countries. Of the total participants, 48,625 people, or 31%, reported at least one traumatic childhood event, and 24,956 people, or 16%, were diagnosed with primary headaches

Among participants with at least one traumatic childhood event, 26% were diagnosed with a primary headache disorder, compared to 12% of participants that had no traumatic childhood events

Reference: Claudia Sikorski, Anna C Mavromanoli, Karishma Manji, Danial Behzad, Catherine Kreatsoulas. Adverse Childhood Experiences and Primary Headache Disorders: A Systematic Review, Meta-analysis, and Application of a Biological Theory. Neurology, 2023; 10.1212/WNL.0000000000207910 DOI: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000207910

Study indicates possible link between chronic stress and Alzheimer's disease

Some 160,000 people have some form of dementia in Sweden, Alzheimer's disease being the most common, a figure that is rising with our life expectancy.

Researchers from Karolinska Institutet have published a study in Alzheimer's Research & Therapy that addresses possible associations between chronic stress, mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease. The study shows how people aged between 18 and 65 with a previous diagnosis of chronic stress and depression were more likely than other people to be diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment or Alzheimer's disease.

The study shows that the risk of Alzheimer's disease was more than twice as high in patients with chronic stress and in patients with depression as it was in patients without either condition; in patients with both chronic stress and depression it was up to four times as high

Reference: Johanna Wallensten, Gunnar Ljunggren, Anna Nager, Caroline Wachtler, Nenad Bogdanovic, Predrag Petrovic, Axel C. Carlsson. Stress, depression, and risk of dementia – a cohort study in the total population between 18 and 65 years old in Region Stockholm. Alzheimer's Research & Therapy, 2023; 15 (1) DOI: 10.1186/s13195-023-01308-4