Body of knowledge
Gastric acid in the stomach has a normal pH level of 1.5 to 3.5; the lower the number, the greater the acidity. Battery acid, by comparison, has a pH of 0, making it capable of dissolving materials like metal and bone. Water is neutral at 7.
Personality versus dementia
A new study, published in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia, investigated whether any of the so-called Big Five personality traits (conscientiousness, extraversion, openness to experience, neuroticism and agreeableness) impacted risk of cognitive decline.
The scientists looked at data from 44,000 people from eight longitudinal studies, of whom 1,700 developed dementia. People who were conscientious, extroverted and more agreeable had a lower risk of a dementia diagnosis compared to their more negative and neurotic peers, reported STAT.
However the researchers found no link between personality traits and the neuropathology results in autopsies on people’s brains after death.
One possibility, the study authors wrote, is that traits like conscientiousness help people perform better on cognitive tests, indicative of their ability to cope with the challenges of dementia.
Get me that. Stat!
If your spouse has high blood pressure, you’re more likely to have it, too, according to new international research. The prevalence of hypertension among married or partnered heterosexual couples over age 50 was highest in England (47 percent), then the U.S. (38 percent), followed by China (21 percent) and India (20 percent). While high blood pressure is more common in the U.S. and England, the blood pressure link between couples was stronger in China and India.
Doc talk
Phobia of the week
Best medicine
One evening, a man visits his doctor.
The doctor asks what’s wrong and the man says, “I think I’m a moth.”
The doctor is chagrined. “You think you’re a moth?” he exclaims. “You don’t need a doctor. You need a therapist.”
“I know,” replies the man. “I was on my way to see a therapist, but then I saw your light was on.”
Hypochondriac’s guide
Observation
“When I’m not in my right mind, my left mind gets pretty crowded.”
Medical history
This week in 1998, a top tobacco company executive acknowledged for the first time that the use of tobacco products was a health risk. Speaking under oath before Congress, Steven Goldstone, RJR Nabisco chairman and CEO, was lobbying for Congress to enact a $368.5 billion deal giving them partial immunity from future lawsuits.
Just four years earlier, seven tobacco industry executives stood before the House Commerce Committee and swore nicotine was not addictive.
Ig Nobel apprised
The Ig Nobel Prizes celebrate achievements that make people laugh, then think. A look at real science that’s hard to take seriously, and even harder to ignore.
In 2023, the Ig Nobel Prize in psychology went to a trio of scientists who recorded how many ersby on a city street paused to look upward when seeing strangers look upward.
Self-exam
Q: As you shed those holiday pounds, where does the fat go?
A: Lost body fat exits the body through sweat, urine and your breath. Burned fat is metabolized, with the end product being water (sweat and urine) or carbon dioxide (exhaled).
Last words
“Everyone has got to die, but I have always believed an exception would be made in my case. Now what?”
LaFee is vice president of communications for the Sanford Burnham Prebys research institute.
