Harvard Health Content API

Boys with autism or attention disorders may be more likely to become addicted to video games, a small study suggests. The study included 56 boys with autism spectrum disorder and 44 boys with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Their parents answered questions about video game habits. They also were asked about the boys’ autism or ADHD symptoms. Parents of 41 boys with more typical development also were asked about video game habits. The boys’ ages ranged from 8 to 18. Habits linked with video game addiction were more common among boys with autism or ADHD. Attention problems also were linked with problem video game use. Among boys with autism, signs of addiction were more common for those who preferred role-playing games. Boys with autism played video games an average of 2.1 hours daily.

In another blow to the potential treatment of Alzheimer’s disease, human testing of a drug called semagacestat has been halted. It was hoped that the drug would block gamma secretase, an enzyme that makes beta amyloid. Beta amyloid is a protein that appears to “clog” the brains of people with Alzheimer’s. The study included more than 1,500 patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s. Those taking the test drug had a faster mental decline than people taking the placebo or fake medicine. Those on the test drug also had serious side effects. But there is a silver lining. The drug maker, Eli Lilly, made all its results public. This can help other researchers. The study appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine. Health Day News wrote about it on July 24.

Maybe we don’t need any more health studies. Maybe we just need to follow mom’s advice: “Eat your vegetables. Go outside and play. Don’t skip breakfast.” A new study of nearly 27,000 men found that those who regularly ate breakfast had a 27% lower risk of heart attack over the 16-year period of the study. The study also found bad news for late-night eaters. Those men had a 55% higher risk of heart disease. They also weighed more, were more likely to have high blood pressure and higher cholesterol, and they were more likely to have diabetes. The study was from the Harvard School of Public Health and reported by the AP.

Stopping your cholesterol-lowering drugs may increase your risk of Parkinson’s disease, a new study suggests. The study involved 43,810 people in Taiwan who were taking statins and did not have Parkinson’s disease when the study began. Researchers used pharmacy records to verify statin use. People who stopped taking certain statins had a 58% higher risk of Parkinson’s disease than those who continued taking their statin medicine. Only statins such as simvastatin and atorvastatin were associated with a reduced risk of Parkinson’s disease. These are “fat soluble.” They tend to deposit in fat-containing tissues and are thought to get into brain tissue more easily than other statins. People who took water-soluble statins, such as pravastatin and rosuvastatin, did not have a lower risk of Parkinson’s disease compared to those who stopped the drug.