Harvard Health Content API

Doctors need to talk about sex with their heart patients. That’s the new advice from the American Heart Association and the European Society of Cardiology. For most people, sex is safe even after a heart attack, the statement says. But patients hesitate to bring up the subject. So do doctors, but that needs to change, the statement says. It suggests specific steps for doctors to take after someone has a heart attack, stroke or other serious event. They should check to see if the patient is healthy enough for sex, ordering tests if necessary. Counseling should be geared toward each person’s needs. If there’s any need for restrictions, doctors should suggest specific positions or how to be intimate without having sex. There are also suggestions for patients.

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.