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Doctors Explore Estrogen Therapy as a Preventive Measure for Women’s Dementia

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For many years, healthcare professionals have been intrigued by the fact that women are diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease at nearly double the rate of men.

According to estimates, approximately seven million individuals in the U.S. suffer from Alzheimer’s disease, and this number is projected to rise to nearly 13 million by 2050. Notably, around two-thirds of these cases involve women.

Emerging research indicates that estrogen, the principal female hormone, may have a significant role, particularly during the transition from perimenopause to menopause when natural hormonal levels begin to decline.

Estrogen serves various functions in the body, including enhancing cardiovascular health and sustaining bone density. Moreover, it is crucial for brain health, exhibiting neuroprotective qualities that shield brain cells from inflammation, stress, and various forms of cellular damage.

Researchers focusing on Alzheimer’s disease are turning their attention to early perimenopause, which typically occurs in a woman’s early to mid-40s, as a key period for hormone replacement therapy aimed at sustaining estrogen levels and potentially preventing dementia in certain women decades later.

“This interest stems from many years of preclinical research, animal studies, and fundamental science showing that menopause represents a critical juncture in Alzheimer’s disease,” remarked Lisa Mosconi, head of the Alzheimer’s Disease Prevention Program at Weill Cornell Medicine.

Mosconi leads a new $50 million global initiative named CARE, aimed at minimizing women’s Alzheimer’s disease risk through endocrinology research. This venture will examine biomarkers in around 100 million women, promising to be the most extensive analysis of why women face a heightened risk of Alzheimer’s disease.

The relationship between estrogen and dementia has recently attracted renewed interest following the Food and Drug Administration’s decision to lift a long-standing black box warning on hormone replacement therapy, potentially encouraging more prescriptions for women in their 40s and 50s.

Healthcare providers believe that relaxing these regulations could help destigmatize hormone therapy. The FDA’s action may also facilitate further research into whether hormone replacement therapy offers additional advantages, such as dementia prevention.

Reduction of Reproductive Hormones

Menopause is defined by a gradual decline in the production of estrogen and progesterone by the ovaries, which are essential for regulating the menstrual cycle. These sex hormones are present in women and, to a lesser extent, in men, and they play vital roles in sexual and reproductive development.

Most women experience menopause between the ages of 45 and 55, according to Dr. Monica Christmas, a gynecologist and director of the Menopause Program at the University of Chicago Medicine. The transition may commence years earlier, during perimenopause, which usually starts in a woman’s mid-40s, often accompanied by symptoms such as hot flashes, night sweats, mood swings, and sleep disruptions.

It is believed that menopausal symptoms arise from the reduced levels of estrogen and progesterone. For instance, when estrogen levels drop, the thermostat in the body, governed by the hypothalamus, fails to work correctly. The brain senses an increase in body temperature and signals sweating to cool down, leading to hot flash experiences. Hormone therapy can restore these levels, helping to regulate body temperature.

What Role Does Estrogen Play?

Rachel Buckley, an associate professor of neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital, whose research investigates gender disparities in Alzheimer’s disease, notes that receptors for this sex hormone are distributed throughout the brain.

“Estrogen is an extremely potent hormone,” she said. “It resides in a region called the hippocampus,” which is closely linked to memory and learning.

Estrogen also facilitates healthy blood flow in the brain, allowing for more efficient energy utilization, she mentioned. However, during menopause, estrogen levels begin to decrease, potentially rendering the brain more vulnerable to damage.

“When the brain loses the protective benefits of estrogen and other sex hormones, this marks a critical phase where Alzheimer’s disease can begin to accumulate in the brain,” Mosconi explains.

Can Hormone Replacement Therapy Combat Dementia?

Hormone replacement therapy is available in numerous formats, including patches, creams, and tablets, which may contain estrogen, progesterone, or both. If estrogen aids in safeguarding the brain, it stands to reason that adjusting estrogen levels through hormone therapy could offer some advantages.

Nevertheless, experts indicate that the reality is more complex, as the evidence surrounding hormone replacement therapy remains varied and ongoing.

Dr. Kellyanne Niotis, a preventive neurologist in Florida and a faculty member at Weill Cornell Medical College, noted that research suggests the perimenopausal transition is a crucial window for treatments that may help some patients prevent dementia.

“The central idea is that during the perimenopause phase, hormones fluctuate significantly, leading to rapid drops in [estrogen] which can be detrimental to brain health,” Niotis stated.

“The goal is to maintain consistent hormone levels to ease those fluctuations.”

A comprehensive analysis led by Mosconi and her team is set to be published in Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience in 2023, indicating there might be an optimal moment to commence HRT for women facing cognitive decline.

Her research evaluated over 50 studies and found that individuals undergoing estrogen therapy in midlife, within ten years following their last menstrual period, experienced a notably reduced risk of dementia.

Conversely, initiating combination hormone therapy after age 65 correlated with an increased risk of dementia.

Another large-scale review of 50 studies presented recently at the American Academy of Neurology Annual Meeting revealed that women who began HRT within five years of menopause had up to a 32% lower risk of Alzheimer’s disease compared to those receiving a placebo or no treatment. This study has yet to undergo peer review or publication in a scientific journal.

This investigation, conducted by researchers in India, also indicated that women who delayed treatment until 65 or older exhibited a 38% increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease.

However, much of the existing research is observational and does not establish a direct cause-and-effect relationship, according to Christmas. More in-depth studies, including large clinical trials, are necessary, she emphasized.

It should also be noted that prescribed hormone therapy may not function identically to the naturally produced estrogen, necessitating further investigation, she added.

Why Timing of Hormone Therapy Matters

The notion that there is a critical period for initiating hormone replacement therapy is possibly linked to estrogen receptors in the brain, according to Mosconi. Her research indicates that during the transition to menopause, the density of estrogen receptors on brain cells gradually increases, a finding supported by her studies.

This increase occurs as the brain attempts to compensate for declining estrogen levels by boosting available receptors to utilize any remaining estrogen effectively, she explained.

However, there comes a point when estrogen levels fall permanently, leading the brain to stop trying and the estrogen receptors disappear, she added.

“Once the estrogen receptors are absent, administering estrogen becomes futile as there would be nothing to bind to; that’s when the window closes,” stated Mosconi.

Numerous questions remain unanswered, such as how long women should stay on hormone replacement therapy and whether estrogen provides more protection for those with a genetic susceptibility to Alzheimer’s disease. It remains unclear how the brain responds to natural estrogen versus that received through hormone replacement therapy.

Conversely, men possess biologically different brains with significantly fewer estrogen receptors, which diminishes their need for the hormone, according to Buckley.

It is also uncertain whether testosterone replacement therapy in men might have benefits in Alzheimer’s disease prevention, as Dr. Niotis pointed out. While some research suggests a correlation between low testosterone in men and dementia, further studies are necessary before definitive assertions can be made.

Experts caution that it’s premature to advocate for hormone replacement therapy as a preventive measure for Alzheimer’s disease.

“We currently do not utilize hormone therapy for Alzheimer’s disease prevention,” remarked Mosconi. “Current clinical guidelines do not endorse hormone therapy solely for this purpose.”

Instead, HRT should be primarily prescribed to alleviate moderate to severe menopausal symptoms that impact quality of life, such as hot flashes, night sweats, sleep disturbances, and mood changes.

According to Niotis, individuals with good sleep quality tend to feel better and think more clearly, suggesting that alleviating these symptoms could enhance cognitive function.

Nonetheless, she remains hopeful that future research will yield more conclusive insights.

“The aspiration is that with the removal of the black box warning, more women will opt for treatment without reservations, and physicians will feel more confident prescribing it,” Niotis expressed.

Source: www.nbcnews.com

Smart Devices Can Accurately Measure Breastfed Babies’ Intake

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Measuring the Amount of Breast Milk in Breastfeeding

Lebedinskaia Natalia/Getty Images

Parents may soon be able to monitor how much breast milk their baby consumes through devices that provide real-time notifications to their smartphones.

“The anxiety surrounding breastfeeding often stems from the uncertainty about how much milk a baby is receiving,” explains Daniel Robinson from Northwestern University, Illinois. “This can heighten stress for nursing mothers, parents, and healthcare professionals.” Insufficient nutrition can lead to slower weight gain in infants and, in severe cases, dehydration.

Clinicians typically evaluate breastfeeding effectiveness by comparing weights before and after feeds and monitoring diaper changes. However, these methods are somewhat cumbersome and imprecise, according to Robinson.

To create a more precise measurement system, he and his team engineered a device featuring four electrodes, each 4 cm wide, that attach to the breast away from the nipple. Two electrodes transmit a very low electrical current across the breast, while the other pair receives it.

This device relays recordings to a smartphone app, leveraging the weaker electrical signals produced as milk is released, enabling real-time calculations of milk volume, Robinson shares.

Researchers tested this system with breastfeeding mothers who expressed milk into a bottle for approximately 15 minutes. The device’s average milk collection was within 2 ml of the actual amount, as each participant expressed about 50 ml.

This innovation could allow parents to monitor their baby’s nutrition more effectively, potentially leading to timely adjustments such as supplementing with formula under medical guidance, Robinson notes.

The device consists of sticky electrodes that adhere to the breast

Northwestern University

In another trial, a woman used the device while nursing, and the app reported that her baby consumed 24 ml of milk. This closely matched the 20 ml estimation derived from traditional weight measurements taken before and after feeding, Robinson notes.

“A prevalent reason many mothers discontinue breastfeeding is the belief that their milk supply is inadequate, making this technology crucial for determining its accuracy,” states Mary Fewtrell from University College London.

However, to ensure the credibility of this device, further research is necessary to understand any potential impacts on milk production, long-term side effects, and whether parents find it desirable, observes Amy Brown from Swansea University, UK.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Quantum entanglement used by physicists to measure Earth’s rotation

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Physicists at the University of Vienna have used a maximally entangled quantum state of light paths in a large interferometer to experimentally measure the speed of the Earth’s rotation.

Silvestri othersThey have demonstrated the largest and most precise quantum-optical Sagnac interferometer to date, sensitive enough to measure the Earth’s rotation rate. Image courtesy of Marco Di Vita.

For over a century, interferometers have been key instruments for experimentally testing fundamental physical questions.

They disproved the ether as a light-transmitting medium, helped establish the theory of special relativity, and made it possible to measure tiny ripples in space-time itself known as gravitational waves.

Recent technological advances allow interferometers to work with a variety of quantum systems, including electrons, neutrons, atoms, superfluids, and Bose-Einstein condensates.

“When two or more particles are entangled, only the overall state is known; the states of the individual particles remain uncertain until they are measured,” said co-first author Dr. Philip Walther and his colleagues.

“Using this allows us to get more information per measurement than we would without it.”

“But the extremely delicate nature of quantum entanglement has prevented the expected leap in sensitivity.”

For their study, the authors built a large fiber-optic Sagnac interferometer that was stable with low noise for several hours.

This allows the detection of entangled photon pairs with a sufficiently high quality to exceed the rotational precision of conventional quantum-optical Sagnac interferometers by a factor of 1000.

“In a Sagnac interferometer, two particles moving in opposite directions on a rotating closed path reach a starting point at different times,” the researchers explained.

“When you have two entangled particles, you get a spooky situation: they behave like a single particle testing both directions simultaneously, accumulating twice the time delay compared to a scenario where no entanglement exists.”

“This unique property is known as super-resolution.”

In the experiment, two entangled photons propagated through a 2 km long optical fiber wound around a giant coil, creating an interferometer with an effective area of ​​more than 700 m2.

The biggest hurdle the team faced was isolating and extracting the Earth’s stable rotation signal.

“The crux of the problem lies in establishing a measurement reference point where light is not affected by the Earth’s rotation,” said Dr Raffaele Silvestri, lead author of the study.

“Since we can’t stop the Earth’s rotation, we devised a workaround: split the optical fiber into two equal-length coils and connect them through an optical switch.”

“By switching it on and off, we were able to effectively cancel the rotation signal, which also increased the stability of larger equipment.”

“We’re basically tricking light into thinking it’s in a non-rotating universe.”

The research team succeeded in observing the effect of the Earth’s rotation on a maximally entangled two-photon state.

This confirms the interplay between rotating reference systems and quantum entanglement, as described in Einstein’s special theory of relativity and quantum mechanics, and represents a thousand-fold improvement in precision compared to previous experiments.

“A century after the first observations of the Earth’s rotation using light, this is an important milestone in that the entanglement of individual quanta of light is finally in the same region of sensitivity,” said co-first author Dr Haokun Yu.

“We believe that our findings and methods lay the foundation for further improving the rotational sensitivity of entanglement-based sensors.”

“This could pave the way for future experiments to test the behaviour of quantum entanglement through curves in space-time,” Dr Walther said.

Team work Published in a journal Scientific advances.

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Raffaele Silvestri others2024. Experimental Observation of Earth’s Rotation through Quantum Entanglement. Science Advances 10(24); doi: 10.1126/sciadv.ado0215

Source: www.sci.news

Physicists at CERN successfully measure a key parameter of the Standard Model

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Physicists from the CMS Collaboration at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC) have successfully measured the effective leptonic electroweak mixing angle. The results were presented at the annual general meeting. Rencontre de Morion Conference is the most accurate measurement ever made at the Hadron Collider and is in good agreement with predictions from the Standard Model of particle physics.

Installation of CMS beam pipe. Image credit: CERN/CMS Collaboration.

The Standard Model is the most accurate description of particles and their interactions to date.

Precise measurements of parameters, combined with precise theoretical calculations, provide incredible predictive power that allows us to identify phenomena even before we directly observe them.

In this way, the model has succeeded in constraining the masses of the W and Z particles, the top quark, and recently the Higgs boson.

Once these particles are discovered, these predictions serve as a consistency check on the model, allowing physicists to explore the limits of the theory’s validity.

At the same time, precise measurements of the properties of these particles provide a powerful tool for exploring new phenomena beyond the standard model, so-called “new physics.” This is because new phenomena appear as mismatches between different measured and calculated quantities.

The electroweak mixing angle is a key element of these consistency checks. This is a fundamental parameter of the Standard Model and determines how unified electroweak interactions give rise to electromagnetic and weak interactions through a process known as electroweak symmetry breaking.

At the same time, we mathematically connect the masses of the W and Z bosons that transmit weak interactions.

Therefore, measurements of W, Z, or mixed angles provide a good experimental cross-check of the model.

The two most accurate measurements of the weak mixing angle were made by experiments at CERN’s LEP collider and by the SLD experiment at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC).

These values ​​have puzzled physicists for more than a decade because they don’t agree with each other.

The new results are in good agreement with standard model predictions and are a step towards resolving the discrepancy between standard model predictions and measurements of LEP and SLD.

“This result shows that precision physics can be performed at the Hadron Collider,” said Dr. Patricia McBride, spokesperson for the CMS Collaboration.

“The analysis had to deal with the challenging environment of LHC Run 2, with an average of 35 simultaneous proton-proton collisions.”

“This paves the way for even more precise physics, where more than five times as many proton pairs collide simultaneously at the high-luminosity LHC.”

Precise testing of Standard Model parameters is a legacy of electron-positron collider such as CERN’s LEP, which operated until 2000 in the tunnel that now houses the LHC.

Electron-positron collisions provide a clean environment ideal for such high-precision measurements.

Proton-proton collisions at the LHC are more challenging for this type of research, even though the ATLAS, CMS, and LHCb experiments have already yielded numerous new ultra-high-precision measurements.

This challenge is primarily due to the vast background from physical processes other than those studied, and the fact that protons, unlike electrons, are not subatomic particles.

With the new results, it seemed impossible to reach accuracy similar to that of the electron-positron collider, but now it has been achieved.

The measurements presented by CMS physicists use a sample of proton-proton collisions collected from 2016 to 2018 at a center of mass energy of 13 TeV and a total integrated luminosity of 137 fb.−1 or about 11 billion collisions.

“The mixing angle is obtained through analysis of the angular distribution in collisions in which pairs of electrons or muons are produced,” the researchers said.

“This is the most accurate measurement ever made at the Hadron Collider and improves on previous measurements by ATLAS, CMS, and LHCb.”

Source: www.sci.news

Using small magnets to measure gravity at a quantum level

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All objects, no matter how small, exert gravity.

Karl Drenck/BeholdingEye/Getty Images

A device that can measure the force of gravity on particles lighter than a single grain of pollen could help us understand how gravity works in the quantum world.

Despite being stuck to the ground, gravity is the weakest force known to us. Only very large objects, such as planets and stars, generate enough gravity to be easily measured. Doing the same for a very small object at a fraction of the distance and mass in the quantum realm is also possible because the size of the force is so small, but a nearby larger object could overwhelm the signal. It is very difficult because there is

now hendrik ulbricht and colleagues at the University of Southampton in the UK have developed a new way to measure gravity on a small scale, using tiny neodymium magnets weighing about 0.5 milligrams that are suspended in a magnetic field that opposes Earth's gravity.

Small changes in the magnetic field of a magnet caused by the gravitational influence of nearby objects can be converted into a measure of gravity. The whole thing is cooled to near absolute zero and suspended on a spring system to minimize external forces.

This probe can measure the gravitational pull of objects weighing just a few micrograms. “We can increase the sensitivity and push the study of gravity into a new regime,” Ulbricht says.

He and his team found that a 1-kilogram test mass rotating nearby could measure a force of 30 atton-Newtons on a particle. An atnewton is one billionth of a newton. One limitation is that the test mass must be moving at a suitable velocity to cause gravitational resonance with the magnet. Otherwise, it will not be strong enough to pick up the force.

The next stage of the experiment will reduce the test mass to the same size as the magnetic particles so that gravity can be tested while the particles exhibit quantum effects such as entanglement and superposition. Ulbricht said this would be difficult because with such a small mass, all other parts of the experiment would need to be incredibly precise, such as the exact distance between the two particles. Masu. It may take at least 10 years to reach this stage.

“The fact that they even attempted this measurement is appalling to me,” he says. julian starlingis a UK-based engineer, as it is difficult to separate other gravitational effects from the exploration mass. Professor Starling said that in this experiment, the anti-vibration system appeared to have had a small but significant effect on airborne particles, so researchers need to find ways to minimize the gravitational effects of the anti-vibration system. It states that there is.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Amazon’s New Echo Frames Don’t Measure Up to Ray-Ban Meta

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This April marked: Tenth One year since Google released the first generation of Glass. It may be hard to believe in retrospect 10 years later, but the limited release Explorer’s Edition was a coveted item. They felt like the future, at least for a while. But the past decade for smart glasses has been a very mixed bag. There have been more misses than hits, and it seems like it will be years before we can reach any kind of agreement on form or function. Google Glass has never reached the critical mass needed to launch a commercial product, but the company seems content to try again every few years.

Meanwhile, AR’s success has been largely confined to smartphone screens, but it’s not for lack of trying. Magic Leap, Microsoft, and Meta have all introduced their AR products to varying degrees of success, but next year’s Apple Vision Pro release is sure to shake things up. However, technical limitations limit these solutions to significantly larger form factors. Shrinking this kind of technology down to the size of regular glasses is a great goal, but it’s still a long way off.

It’s telling that at Meta’s recent hardware event he released two head-mounted devices. The first was the Quest 3, a VR headset that offers an AR experience thanks to pass-through technology. The other Ray-Ban Meta makes no pretense of offering augmented reality, but fits nicely into a standard glasses form factor. Image credits: brian heater Like Snapchat Spectacles before it, Ray-Ban Meta is all about capturing content. A camera built into the frame allows wearers to shoot quick videos for social media or livestream. When it comes to content consumption, there are speakers built into the temples that direct music and podcast audio into the wearer’s ears.

However, unlike the Ray-Ban, Amazon’s Echo Frames 3 don’t do video capture (you can almost hear the collective sigh of relief from privacy advocates around the world). However, it offers similar audio settings. The speaker is located just in front of the tip of the temple. The company didn’t opt ​​for bone conduction here, which is probably for the best (though neat, the technology is generally a passing grade at best). Unlike most headphones and earbuds, they do not cover the entrance to your ear canal. This is great for situational awareness, but not so great for immersive sound.

This is not a bad option if you want to focus on the world around you while walking down the street or riding a bike while listening to music. Image credits: brian heater They’re pretty loud when held close to your ear, and their directional nature means they’re hard to hear when you’re not wearing them (though they’re not completely silent to others). On the other hand, the actual audio quality still leaves a lot of room for improvement. They can help in a pinch for music, but I’d rather not rely on them as a daily driver of any kind.

However, as the name suggests, the real highlight here is the Echo feature. Frames are yet another form factor for invoking Alexa. This makes a lot of sense at first glance, being a hands-free voice assistant that you can take with you anywhere as long as your phone is properly connected. First, you can play/pause, make calls, and set reminders. All of these things can be done in your earbuds using a connected voice assistant. Image credits: brian heater There are five styles: black square, black rectangle, blue circle, brown cat’s eye, and gray rectangle. The first ones Amazon sent were similar to your typical Buddy Holly/Elvis Costello glasses, but with electronics inside, a plastic-like design, and large temples.

They fit me well enough, and while they’re not something I would choose over, say, a Warby Parker, I don’t feel embarrassed wearing them in public. You can further customize your frames with prescription lenses, blue light filtering, or sunglasses. Sure, there are all great options. Battery life is listed at 14 hours with “moderate” usage. One charge should get him through the day if he listens to a standard amount of music. This is especially great considering that the charging dock is larger and more unwieldy than the glasses themselves. Charging instructions are included in the package (along with some short Braille instructions, a nice accessibility consideration). This is necessary because the design is not intuitive.

When the glasses are folded and the lenses are facing up, the charging points on the temples make contact with the charger. It’s very different from the Ray-Ban Meta’s extremely convenient and well-designed charging case. Amazon’s case, on the other hand, is collapsible. It’s not great, but it does have the convenience of being able to fold it flat while wearing your glasses. If I hadn’t recently tested the Ray-Ban Meta, my thoughts on the latest Echo Frame might have been different. The price is $270, which is $30 cheaper than Metagras. If you’re having trouble deciding between the two, I think you should take the plunge and spend the extra $30. Of course, it’s also worth considering that as of this writing, Amazon is currently offering new Echo Frames for a heavily discounted $200.

Source: techcrunch.com