Language Skills In Your Twenties May Predict Risk Of Dementia Decades Later.

People who have superior language skills early in life may be less likely to develop Alzheimer"s disease decades later, despite having the hallmark signs of the disease, according to research published in the July 9, 2009, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. "A puzzling feature of Alzheimer"s disease is how it affects people differently," said study author Juan C. Troncoso, MD, with Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. "One person who has severe plaques and tangles, the telling signs of Alzheimer"s disease in their brains, may show no symptoms affecting their memory. Another person with those same types of plaques and tangles in the same areas of the brain might end up with a full-blown case of Alzheimer"s disease.

Clean Fuels Could Reduce Deaths From Ship Smokestacks By 40,000 Annually.

Rising levels of smokestack emissions from oceangoing ships will cause an estimated 87,000 deaths worldwide each year by 2012 - almost one-third higher than previously believed, according to the second major study on that topic. The study says that government action to reduce sulfur emissions from shipping fuel (the of air pollution linked to an increased risk of illness and death) could reduce that toll. The study is in the current issue of ACS" Environmental Science & Technology, a semi-monthly publication. James Winebrake and colleagues note that most oceangoing ships burn fuels with a high sulfur content that averages 2.4 percent.

Fresh Vision Makes Mental Health The Priority For All Public Services.

Police, teachers and other public sector workers should be trained in spotting signs of mental ill-health as a new report from a coalition of mental health groups sets out its vision for mental health services that spans across public services. The Future Vision coalition takes in the full range of mental health groups representing staff, NHS trusts, campaign groups and service users. Its report sets out a vision for good mental health across our society requiring responses from all parts of the public sector and calls for a cabinet level champion to make good mental health ingrained into government policy. The report shows that mental health is everyone"s business.

ACOG Issues New Guidelines On Fetal Monitoring To Resolve Inconsistencies In Interpretation.

The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology recently published new guidelines on electronic fetal monitoring in an attempt to increase consistency in the way physicians interpret and act on the results, the New York Times reports. Electronic fetal monitoring, which was introduced in the 1970s, is used during labor for more than 85% of the four million infants born alive in the U.S. annually, the Times reports. According to the Times, use of fetal monitors became standard obstetrical practice before it was known if the benefits outweighed the risks. The new guidelines refine the meaning of various readings from fetal monitors and could help doctors make better decisions about whether to intervene during labor.According to experts, the widespread adoption of fetal monitoring has produced both negative and positive consequences, including significant increases in caesarean deliveries and the use of forceps during vaginal deliveries.