Dementia-Physical Activity Link; Nausea Drugs and Stroke; Epilepsy and COVID

Higher levels of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity were tied to a lower risk for disabling dementia in Japanese men. (JAMA Network Open)

At current expected prices, neither aducanumab (Aduhelm) nor donanemab, an investigational anti-amyloid drug, would be cost-effective for early Alzheimer’s disease in the U.S., an analysis suggested. (JAMA Neurology)

Anti-dopaminergic antiemetics, widely used for nausea and vomiting due to migraine, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, or surgery, raised the risk of ischemic stroke. (The BMJ)

Signs of frozen gait were more noticeable when people with Parkinson’s disease were turning, rather than walking backward or forward, a small study showed. (Gait and Posture)

Blood glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) levels helped predict dementia risk in Mexican-American adults. (Alzheimer’s & Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment & Disease Monitoring)

A faster growth rate of the amygdala between ages 6 and 12 months was linked with greater social deficits when children were diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder at age 2. (American Journal of Psychiatry)

An increased risk of autism was seen after pediatric ischemic stroke, particularly in children with comorbid epilepsy. (Neurology)

Epilepsy was not tied to an increased susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection, but people with epilepsy had a high risk of severe complications from COVID-19. (Neurology)

The FDA expanded the indication for fenfluramine (Fintepla) to treat seizures associated with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome in patients ages 2 and older, drug maker UCB announced.

Biogen and Ionis Pharmaceuticals stopped their trials of BIIB078, an investigational antisense oligonucleotide for C9orf72-associated ALS, after phase I data failed to show clinical benefit.