Harvard Health Content API

A season of contact sports may affect memory and thinking, even if no concussion occurs, a new study suggests. The study included 80 college football and ice hockey players who did not have prior concussions. During a season of play in their sports, they wore helmets that recorded all blows to the head. These players were compared with 79 college athletes in non-contact sports such as track and crew. All players received brain scans and tests of memory and learning ability before and after the season. The 5 athletes who had concussions during the season were dropped from the study. Among the rest, about 20% of athletes in contact sports performed worse than expected on their tests after the season. About 11% of the non-contact athletes had such a result. Brain scans showed more abnormal areas among those who had lower test scores and more head impacts as recorded by their helmets.

Popular films rated PG-13 may not be appropriate for teens, a new study says. Researchers studied almost 400 popular movies released between 1985 to 2010. They looked at violence in the movies, as well as other risky behaviors, like smoking, drinking and sex. The researchers found that violent characters often took part in these other risky behaviors. This occurred in R-rated films, which require an adult to be present with their teen. But it also occurred in PG-13 movies. These movies are technically considered okay for kids and teens to see. (Parental caution is strongly advised, however). The researchers urge further studies on the effect such movies can have on teenagers. The journal Pediatrics published the study online. HealthDay News reported on it December 9.

People who take drugs to prevent acid reflux may have a higher risk of vitamin B12 deficiency, a new study finds. The study compared data on 2 groups of people. Nearly 26,000 had a vitamin B12 deficiency. The other 185,000 did not. About 12% of those with low vitamin B12 had taken drugs called proton pump inhibitors for more than 2 years. These are the most powerful drugs to prevent acid reflux. They include lansoprazole (Prevacid), esomeprazole (Nexium) and omeprazole (Prilosec). Among those with normal vitamin B12 levels, only 7.2% took these drugs. That means the long-term users of the medicines had a 65% higher risk of vitamin B12 deficiency. Risk was about 25% higher for people who took different anti-reflux drugs, known as H2 blockers. The study only shows a link between these drugs and low vitamin B12. It does not prove that one causes the other.

Rates of heart disease, strokes and limb amputations are down sharply among older adults with diabetes today, compared with the 1990s, a study finds. But now hypoglycemia (episodes of low blood sugar) is one of the top problems for this group. Researchers said doctors may need to adjust drug doses as people get older in order to prevent low blood sugar. The study included more than 72,000 adults age 60 or older. They were all patients of the same managed care system. Cases of heart and blood vessel disease increased with age, and with how long people had diabetes. Overall, though, heart problems were only about one-seventh as common as another study found in the 1990s. Dangerous levels of high blood sugar and amputations also declined. But in the new study, low blood sugar became a more common problem among those who had diabetes longer.