Dr Gill

Shingles and dementia When comparing the incidence of dementia in 250,000 Danish people diagnosed with shingles to age-matched general population controls, researchers had expected to see an increase in dementia rates – perhaps from neuroinflammation, cerebral vasculopathy or direct neural damage. Instead, data showed that a history of shingles was associated with a small decrease in incidence of Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia. The explanation is unclear, and further study is needed. KNEE TREATMENT Although arthroscopic meniscectomy is frequently performed in people with degenerative meniscal tears, there’s little evidence of long-term benefit. A large Dutch study showed that knee function five years after treatment was no better in those receiving surgery than in patients assigned physiotherapy. Both groups also showed a small and comparable progression of knee osteoarthritis. This suggests that…