Asthma is incredibly common among American youths, affecting about five million kids. Research published yesterday in JAMA Network Open found that the condition could have an effect on the development of some children’s episodic memory. 

In a longitudinal study of 475 kids ages 9-11, those with asthma scored lower on memory tests (in which they are asked to remember an arbitrary sequence of pictures) than those without asthma. The team also found that those with earlier onset asthma (meaning they already had it at the beginning of the two-year study) saw less improvement over time in their episodic memory. The researchers also performed a cross-sectional analysis of more than 2,000 kids.

Asthma is a disease that affects the airways, but it also involves systemic inflammation that can infect the brain. The study results indicate that asthma may “perturb neurodevelopment” for children, especially in brain regions like the hippocampus that are vulnerable to environmental factors, the authors write. More research is needed.

Pfizer sees promise of using wearables in drug trials

When Pfizer earlier this year announced positive results of its treatment for the muscle-wasting condition cachexia, the company reported an intriguing secondary endpoint: Treated patients had more non-sedentary activity per day, as measured by a wearable.

Digital endpoints using wearables or other devices have been explored by over 100 drug developers for their ability to provide new insights into how experimental treatments are impacting patients. But Pfizer’s latest results represent one of the most advanced efforts disclosed by a major drugmaker.

My colleague Mario Aguilar spoke with Carrie Northcott, head of digital sciences at Pfizer, to discuss the future of using wearables in drug research. The industry is near “a revolution of using these measures within clinical trials,” she said.

Read more.

from Politico:

That joint might cause psychosis, but then again, it might not, researchers said. | AFP via Getty Images

Adolescents who use cannabis are more likely to experience symptoms of psychosis, according to a new study in JAMA Psychiatry.But the researchers from Washington University in St. Louis aren’t sure whether the kids are self-medicating or the cannabis is causing the psychosis, our Mona Zhang reports.While researchers found shared risk factors between psychosis symptoms and cannabis use, the evidence for cannabis use causing psychosis was limited.“Debate continues regarding the nature of the association between adolescent cannabis use and psychosis risk,” the researchers wrote.The researchers analyzed data from nearly 12,000 participants in the NIH-funded Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development study, a longitudinal project that collects data across the U.S. from 21 research sites. They scrutinized data on adolescent psychosis symptoms before and after cannabis use.The rate of increases in psychosis symptoms was less pronounced after the first time adolescents used cannabis, and individuals experienced a reduction in distress related to those symptoms after first using cannabis.While the researchers found limited evidence of a direct cause between cannabis use and psychosis symptoms, they warned that their findings “should not be construed as evidence against a causal or contributing role of adolescent cannabis use on psychosis risk.”What’s next? The researchers called for more studies that follow adolescents for a longer period to see whether psychosis symptoms can be more directly attributed to cannabis use.