Sanitation: Joint supplement tied to dementia progression

Health Rounds

By Nancy Lapid, Health Science Editor

Hello Health Rounds readers! Today we highlight a potentially serious risk linked to a commonly used joint pain treatment, a discovery that could lead to new cognitive impairment treatments. We also report on a finding that could reverse current concussion guidance for kids.

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Insight: A cracked coffin, a funeral and the hunt for Ebola's patient zero

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A pastor's coffin broke on the rocky road home to his burial ceremony, which investigators suspect was one of the earliest super-spreader events in Congo's mushrooming Ebola epidemic.

Study Rounds

OTC joint pain supplement linked to worsening dementia

Regular use of glucosamine, a popular over-the-counter supplement taken for joint pain, is linked with a higher likelihood of progressing from mild cognitive impairment to dementia, according to a large analysis that could lead to new avenues of treatment.

Analyzing medical records collected between 2012 and 2024 from nearly 60,000 patients with varying degrees of cognitive impairment, researchers found that regular glucosamine use was associated with a 25% higher likelihood of progression from mild impairment to dementia.

In addition, glucosamine use was associated with a 25% increase in the likelihood of death during the course of the study among patients who already had dementia, the report published in Nature Metabolism found.

In patients with only mild cognitive impairment, there was no such effect, suggesting the impact of glucosamine may be greater in patients with established dementia, the researchers said.

In animal experiments, they found that glucosamine exacerbates a damaging process in the brain called hyperglycosylation, in which abnormal attachment of sugar molecules to proteins in the brain disrupts critical neurological functions.

“The electronic health record data are very provocative,” study coauthor Matt Gentry of the University of Florida said in a statement. “While it’s an association and not proof of causality, it does raise an important clinical question that now deserves much more attention.”

A commentary published with the study says the worsening of dementia associated with increased glycosylation from dietary glucosamine suggests glycosylation “is a targetable pathway for combating this disease.”

Screen time might help concussed kids recover

A moderate amount of screen time might actually help some children recover from concussions, a new study suggests.

Limited amounts of screen time on certain kinds of devices each day for the first three days following concussion were associated with quicker recovery than no screen time at all, researchers reported in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

“These findings support that moderate screen time – not too little or too much – may support concussion recovery,” study leader Jingzhen Ginger Yang of Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, said in a statement.

“A median of 141 minutes of screen time each day was associated with a 35% faster recovery, compared to 260 minutes of screen time each day,” she said. “Youth who use screens for more than four hours per day or less than two hours per day may be at risk for slower concussion symptom resolution.”

Researchers had 80 adolescents with concussion use a wearable device that objectively measured out-of-school time spent on smartphones, TVs, computers/tablets, or gaming devices.

The type of screen time mattered, they found. Around two hours per day of smartphone and TV use were associated with quicker recovery, while computer/tablet and gaming were not significantly related to faster symptom resolution.

“While clinical trials are needed to keep moving forward, this study shows a potential development in concussion treatment practices, contrary to previous guidance that recommended total avoidance of screens,” study coauthor Dr. Thomas Pommering, also of Nationwide Children's, said in a statement.

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This newsletter was edited by Bill Berkrot.

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