Americans are terribly lonely, a new poll reveals. Among U.S. adults, about one in three said they feel lonely at least once a week. Worse, one in 10 Americans say they feel lonely every day, results show. Younger people are more likely to experience loneliness, which is defined as a lack of meaningful or close…  read on >  read on >

A person’s odds for a dementia diagnosis nearly triple in the first year after a stroke, new research shows. This post-stroke spike in dementia risk does subside with time, but it never returns to pre-stroke levels, the same report found. “Our findings reinforce the importance of monitoring people with stroke for cognitive decline,” said lead…  read on >  read on >

Women with a common ovarian disorder might be more likely to have memory and thinking problems in middle age, a new study suggests. Females diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) scored lower on cognitive tests than women without the condition, according to a report published Jan. 31 in the journal Neurology. The condition specifically appeared…  read on >  read on >

Radon, an invisible, naturally occurring radioactive gas, appears to raise a person’s risk of stroke, a new study suggests. Already known as the second leading cause of lung cancer, these new findings suggest exposure to radon can increase risk of stroke by as much as 14%, according to a report published Jan. 31 in the…  read on >  read on >

A new and worrisome antibiotic-resistant form of E. coli has been identified at a children’s hospital in China. Already, so-called ST410 strains of the E. coli bacterium — resistant to last-resort antibiotics called carbapenems — have become the most common drug-resistant strains seen in Chinese hospitals, according to British researchers. But a new, more virulent…  read on >  read on >

A walk in the woods appears to sharpen the mind better than an urban asphalt amble, a new brain scan study finds. People strolling through an arboretum at the University of Utah performed better on brain function tests than those who walked around an asphalt-laden medical campus, according to findings published recently in the journal…  read on >  read on >

Biogen, maker of the Alzheimer’s medicine Aduhelm, announced Wednesday that it would “discontinue the development and commercialization” of the controversial drug. Biogen will return the rights to Aduhelm to Neurimmune, the private firm that invented it, the company said in a statement. It’s a sobering new chapter for the drug, which first gained U.S. Food…  read on >  read on >