A recent study from the University of Arizona suggests that weight gain can lead to memory loss. Over a period of six years, researchers recorded BMI, inflammation levels, and cognition scores for a group of adults ages 50 and older. In analyzing the data, they found that subjects with a higher BMI were more likely to experience a decline in brain function. Memory is one of the brain processes affected. Although the researchers did not put forward a definitive explanation for the link between weight gain and memory, they suspect that inflammation — which results from weight gain — is the culprit. One of the authors of the study offered this advice: “If you have high inflammation, in the future we may suggest using anti-inflammatories — not just to bring down your inflammation but to hopefully also help with your cognition.”

A new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association has cast doubt on the oft-repeated wisdom that cranberry juice and other cranberry products can prevent a urinary tract infection (UTI). Researchers monitored the health of two groups of subjects over 12 months; one group was given high-potency cranberry capsules and the other group was given a placebo. The group given the high-potency cranberry capsules were not better off — this group had just as many UTIs as the other group. The study’s lead author, Dr. Manisha Juthani-Mehta, who’s an assistant professor at the Yale University School of Medicine, said that similar research supports these latest findings: “Many other studies have been done in other populations,” she said, “which have not shown a benefit.”

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