The Pill 'helps prevent you getting dementia': Effects on memory last for years after giving up use

Just a class effect:  Lower class people are less cautious about contraception.  All the medical speculation is unnecessary

The contraceptive Pill could prevent women getting dementia years after they have stopped taking it, according to research.

Women in their 50s who had been on the drug when they were younger performed far better in memory tests than those who had never taken it.

Experts think that the key hormone in the Pill, oestrogen, prevents the arteries hardening, which increases the blood supply to the brain, helping stave off the illness.

For some years scientists have known that HRT, which also contains oestrogen, seems to protect against dementia. But little was known about the potential benefits of the Pill.

American scientists looked at 261 women aged 40 to 65 who were surveyed on their health.

They underwent a series of tests on their memory, including naming  certain objects and listing as many words as they could on a given subject. Researchers from the University of Wisconsin found that women who had taken the Pill performed significantly better in some of the tests. They also found that the longer the women had been on the Pill, the higher their scores.

Although the study did not directly look at the risks of  dementia, adults whose brains  are sharper in middle age are thought to be far less at risk of the illness. Experts think that oestrogen, the main hormone in the Pill, helps maintain the function of the brain in two ways.

Firstly, they believe it prevents the arteries from becoming blocked, which keeps a steady flow of blood to the brain. They also suspect it may encourage the growth of certain cells in the brain and spinal cord.

Lead researcher Kelly Egan, whose study is published in  the Journal of Women’s Health, said: ‘Our analysis indicated  that hormonal contraceptive use may have a protective cognitive  [memory] effect, even years after use is discontinued. This is especially true in subjects with a longer duration of use.’

While the contraceptive Pill has been shown to protect against some cancers such as ovarian and bowel, it is thought to raise the risk of breast tumours.

SOURCE





Doctors are 'prejudiced' against overweight patients (and men are worse than women)

Given the vicious government propaganda about "obesity" this is no surprise

'Fattist’ doctors may be prejudiced against overweight patients, a U.S. study has found. Interestingly, male doctors likely to display more anti-fat bias than their female counterparts.  And even doctors who were overweight themselves admitted having negative thoughts about larger patients.

The researchers say this is the first study to show the anti-fat view prevalent in the general public is shared by many doctors.

In an online survey of nearly 400,000 people - 2,00 of whom were doctors - results showed implicit attitudes about weight were strong in both sexes, particularly men.

The study, published in the journal PLOS ONE, also revealed those who were underweight, normal or overweight had a strong anti-fat bias, whereas doctors who were obese themselves had only a moderate bias.

But it wasn't clear whether these attitudes reflected any differences in the quality of patient care.

Lead author Janice Sabin, of the University of Washington, said:  'We found that doctors' implicit and explicit attitudes about weight follow the same general pattern seen in the very large public samples that hold strong implicit and explicit anti-fat bias.

'We do not yet know how  doctors' anti-fat attitudes affect clinical behaviour, nor do we know whether implicit weight bias is related to how overweight patients experience health care interactions.

'It is important for physicians to be aware that this bias exists and to ensure that personal bias does not have a negative impact on the doctor-patient relationship.'

SOURCE