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04.11.25

As we get older, concerns about dementia and Alzheimer’s often arise. But there’s some encouraging news this week: You can take steps to reduce your risk of dementia, and tracking your progress could be as simple as a blood test. More on that below, but first, here are our top health stories ... 

— Sanjay

What you eat in midlife affects how healthy you are at age 70, according to a new study  

What does it take to reach age 70 without any chronic diseases?

A team of researchers sought to answer this question by following more than 100,000 Americans in their 40s, 50s and 60s for up to three decades.

The results showed that healthy diets earlier in life were associated with a higher likelihood of healthy aging, even after accounting for other lifestyle factors, such as physical activity and smoking status.

About 9.3% of the study participants achieved what the researchers defined as healthy aging, which is living to 70 free of chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and heart disease, and not having cognitive, physical or mental health impairments.

The study team measured how close each participant's food consumption pattern was to eight types of healthy diets and to the consumption of unhealthy ultraprocessed food. For each of the eight healthy diets, higher adherence was linked to a higher likelihood of healthy aging.

“These findings should prompt people to think about a nutritious diet as a key component of healthy aging,” said CNN wellness expert Dr. Leana Wen. “When making nutrition choices, everyone should aim for whole foods that are minimally processed, such as leafy green vegetables, fresh fruits and whole grains. This study and others consistently show the benefits of nuts as well as legumes, such as beans and lentils."

Clusters of additives in ultraprocessed foods linked to type 2 diabetes, study finds

Nearly 70% of all food in grocery stores in the United States are ultraprocessed, containing additives to add flavor and color, create texture, extend shelf life and keep ingredients from separating.

Yet there’s little research on the health impact of additives, and what data there is looks at the possible harms of individual ingredients.

However, clusters of additives often used by industry in certain food categories may be more harmful when eaten together than alone, according to a new study that found two such mixtures linked to a small but significant increase in type 2 diabetes.

The first cluster consisted of additives often found in foods such as creamy dairy desserts, such as ready-to-eat puddings, fat-based sauces such as cheese dip, and broths. The other included additives typically found in sugary and artificially sweetened drinks.

HHS, EPA to study fluoride in drinking water as RFK Jr. says he’ll tell CDC to stop recommending it

The US Department of Health and Human Services said it is reconvening the Community Preventive Services Task Force, an independent panel of public health and prevention experts, “to study and make a new recommendation on fluoride.”

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. also told the Associated Press that he will soon tell the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to stop recommending fluoridation for drinking water in communities.

And US Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin announced that the EPA will expeditiously review scientific information on the “potential health risks of fluoride in drinking water.”

“Without prejudging any outcomes, when this evaluation is completed, we will have an updated foundational scientific evaluation that will inform the agency’s future steps,” he said in a statement.

Fluoridation of public water systems has long been considered one of the most successful public health advances of the 20th century. Municipalities across the country have been adding fluoride to water since about the 1940s, after scientists noticed that people who got water in places with high rates of naturally occurring fluoride had fewer cavities.

The CDC, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Dental Association support the use of fluoride as an effective and safe way to maintain dental health.

Pets could boost well-being as much as a wife or husband, study suggests

Having a cat or a dog to keep you company could boost your well-being as much as being married or meeting up regularly with friends and relatives, new research suggests.

The study concludes that having an animal companion is worth up to £70,000 ($90,000) a year in life satisfaction, a metric economists use to quantify the “implicit price” of otherwise intangible things.

That figure is roughly the same as the theoretical boost in income you would get from having a spouse or meeting up with friends and relatives regularly, researchers said.

The results surprised even the researchers. “First when I obtained the values I was surprised; I was thinking that is a lot of money even for me who loves [pets],” said Adelina Gschwandtner, an economics professor at the University of Kent, who co-authored the paper.

Then, she thought, “most people claim that their pets are like friends or family members to them, so that is comparable,” she said.

“If pets are indeed like friends and family, why shouldn’t that measure be comparable to talking to friends and family once a week? You have your pet every day.”

Cognitive shuffling: A mental trick to help you quiet racing thoughts and fall asleep

But wait, there's more!

• Anti-vaccine sentiment may derail vaccines already awaiting FDA approval, experts fear

• More people with type 1 diabetes are using GLP-1 drugs, study finds, despite limited evidence on safety or effectiveness

• Hawaii governor: An urgent call to action to protect America’s children from measles

• Nobel laureate: I owe America my success. Today, its scientific future is in danger
• Teens are delaying getting their driver’s licenses. Parents want to know why

WATCH: Dr. Sanjay Gupta visits preventive neurologist Dr. Richard Isaacson to have his own risk for dementia assessed

Chasing Life

From Dr. Sanjay Gupta — 

A little less than a year ago, I shared my personal experience getting tested for my risk of Alzheimer’s disease.

I traveled to Boca Raton, Florida, to undergo a series of tests, including blood and cognitive exams, with neurologist Dr. Richard Isaacson, to determine what my risk was for the disease.

And with that, I became one of the participants in Isaacson’s trial to see how blood biomarkers can track the risk of early dementia — and whether that risk can decrease with the right interventions. It’s a pretty welcome alternative to the usual painful spinal taps and expensive brain scans.

All the participants, including myself, were given personalized recommendations to improve our brains.

Some of the more interesting changes I implemented included wearing a glucose monitor and a weighted vest on my walks since improving lean muscle mass and bone density is highly correlated with lowering your likelihood of developing Alzheimer’s.

Now, preliminary data has showed that participants who made the recommended lifestyle changes saw improvements in their blood biomarker levels.

Although Isaacson tests a lot of biomarkers, two major proteins — amyloid and tau — are key in understanding dementia risk. A buildup of amyloid plaques in the brain can interfere with the nerve cells’ ability to communicate, and tau proteins can form into tangles in parts of the brain controlling memory.

One participant, Penny Ashford, found that a year after she changed her lifestyle, her p-tau 217 dropped by 43% and her p-tau 181 by 75%.

Like Ashford, I also saw improvements in my biomarkers. In fact, there was improvement across the entire group.

There isn’t often hopeful news when it comes to Alzheimer’s, but this particular news is encouraging on two fronts: We can have control of our own brain health, and monitoring our progress could soon be as simple as a cholesterol test.

Americans are protein obsessed, but should we be? Renowned nutritionist Dr. Tim Spector explains why the focus on protein may mean we’re missing out on another crucial nutrient. Plus, Spector weighs in on other health fads, including low-fat foods and seed oils.

CNN Health's The Results Are In with Dr. Sanjay Gupta shows up in your

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