Harvard Health Content API

A mild zap of electricity to part of the brain may help people to learn better, a new study suggests. Other researchers are hoping this approach someday may help people with Alzheimer’s disease. The study was done on seven people with epilepsy. They originally had electrodes implanted in their brains to help surgeons find the source of their seizures. The new study used these electrodes to stimulate parts of the brain involved in learning. People played a video game that had them take the role of taxi drivers in a small town. They searched for passengers and dropped them off at stores. They were given zaps of electricity when they learned how to find some stores, but not others. They could not feel the stimulation. People found stores faster and by more direct routes if they had learned where the stores were during brain stimulation.

Practicing tai chi may help people with Parkinson’s disease improve their movement and balance and reduce their risk of falls. In a new study, tai chi provided more benefits than two other exercise programs. Tai chi is an ancient Chinese art that involves slow, controlled movements. The study included 195 people with mild to moderate Parkinson’s disease. This disease causes tremors and problems with movement and balance. People in the study were randomly divided into 3 groups. They were assigned to do tai chi, resistance exercise or stretching. Sessions were an hour each, twice a week. The program lasted 24 weeks. The tai chi group showed more improvements than the other groups in balance, control of movement, and the length and speed of people’s stride when walking.

Sitting in coach class doesn’t increase your risk of a blood clot after a long flight, an expert group says. Some people have called these clots “economy class syndrome.” But people in first class have about the same risk, new guidelines say. The guidelines come from the American College of Chest Physicians. They include advice on preventing deep vein thrombosis. This type of clot occurs in the leg. It is more common after a long flight or another long period without movement. The guidelines also cover prevention of clots in the lungs and in arteries. The risk of deep vein thrombosis is very low, the guidelines say. The average risk is 1 out of 1,000 people each year. That risk doubles on flights of at least 8 hours. But you can help prevent these clots if you get up and move around on the flight. Some people have a greater risk.

Metformin is the best medicine to use first for people with type 2 diabetes, a doctors’ group says. The American College of Physicians issued the new guidelines February 6. The college is a professional group for doctors of internal medicine. The group’s new guidelines say that doctors should first recommend weight loss and regular exercise for people with type 2 diabetes. But if these changes don’t control blood sugar, metformin should be the first drug used, the guidelines say. The doctors’ group found that it lowers blood sugar the most, with the fewest side effects. Doctors should prescribe a second drug if metformin is not enough. But there’s not enough evidence to recommend one specific drug for this second treatment, the guidelines say. Besides its effect on blood sugar, metformin helped to reduce people’s risk of heart disease and early death.

Nearly 4,600 children had to stay in a U.S. hospital in 2006 because of child abuse, a new study says. About 300 of them died. The study was the first to estimate serious injuries from child abuse nationwide. It was based on numbers from the Kids’ Inpatient Database. It covers children under age 18. The study found that 6 out of every 100,000 children had a hospital stay for physical child abuse. The average stay was about a week. Injuries included head trauma, burns and broken bones. The rates were highest — 58 out of 100,000 — for infants age 1 or younger. That’s higher than the rate for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Hospital stays also were much higher in children on Medicaid. Other research has shown a spike in child abuse since the recession that began in late 2007. Researchers said economic stress often leads to more child abuse.

A smaller dose of the “morning after” birth control pill may help to control fibroids in the uterus as well. That’s the conclusion of two new studies. They were done in Europe, where the pill is awaiting approval. Fibroids are growths that can cause heavy bleeding, pain and fertility problems. Fibroids are not cancerous, but treatments often don’t work well. Esmya is a lower dose of the drugs in Ella, an emergency birth control pill. The new studies included a total of 550 women with fibroids. All had such severe symptoms that they were planning surgery. In one study, women were randomly assigned to take Esmya or placebo (fake) pills for 3 months. The other study compared Esmya with a monthly hormone-blocking shot. It controls fibroids, but can thin bones after long use. Women received either Esmya and a fake shot, or a real shot and a fake pill.