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A tool to help keep dementia in check - CBS News

04 May 2026
6 minute min
Maria Popescu
Updated on: May 3, 2026 / 9:36 AM EDT / CBS News If you worry about your risk of dementia, Lauren Sprague knows your fear. Her father had a stroke when she was in high school. What followed was a long, slow descent into memory loss and dementia. He died at just 63. "So, since I was 16 years old, pretty much every day of my life I worry, 'Is today the day that the same thing could happen to me that happened to my dad?'" Sprague said. "It's an incredible fear to walk around with. "Every day of my children's lives up until now, I've worried that that could be me," she said. Then she went to see Dr. Jonathan Rosand, who told us, "Time and again I would get the question, 'Doctor, what can I do to take good care of my brain so that I don't end up like my mother, my brother, my father?'" Rosand is a neurologist at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. He explained to Sprague it was possible to cut the risk of dementia by making changes to daily habits, from choices about what you eat, to the amount of physical activity you get every day. "It turns out that these modifiable risk factors probably account for at least 40% of all dementia cases," Rostand said. A committee of experts from around the globe has concluded that about 40 to 45% of dementia cases could be prevented or delayed by addressing 14 modifiable risk factors: Rostand said that it's a very common conception that if dementia or Alzheimer's is in one's family, that they are doomed. "But the truth is there's so much we can do," he said. The idea that exercise and diet are important is not new, of course. But what is new is a tool from Rosand and his team to help you understand exactly how much and what kind of lifestyle changes are beneficial. It starts with a simple questionnaire free to everyone
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online, called the Brain Care Score. "The Brain Care Score is a tool for any of us to use in our daily lives that lists out the modifiable risk factors for dementia, stroke and depression," Rostand said. The healthier your habits, the higher your score. And to improve your score, you pick which habits you want to focus on changing. Rostand said, "It's a guide to where you can go next. And in our work with patients, it really does give a choice, and a sense of freedom." A groundbreaking study from June 2025 found that a five-point higher Brain Care Score is associated with a 43% lower risk of developing heart disease, and a 31% lower incidence of most common cancers (including lung, colorectal, and breast cancer). It's evidence that what's good for the brain is good for the rest of the body, too. So, where to start? For Lauren Sprague and her husband, Scott, change started in the kitchen. They doubled down on greens and cut out highly-processed foods. (This added one point to her score.) They spend more time outdoors, which helps with fitness and stress relief. (That can add 2 more points.) She also takes time to sing and create, adding meaning, more stress relief, and purpose (while adding 2 more points). Sprague said, "The Brain Care Score really gave me the prescription that I needed. And the wonderful thing about it is, it is a recommendation, but there is nuance, and it can be customized, which is wonderful." And Rosand is hoping this is one prescription that we all can share. He said, "The key message we want to convey with the Brain Care Score is, it is you. It is each of our viewers. It is everyone who wants to take a step forward. It's up to you and you're in control."      Story produced by Amol Mhatre. Editor: Emanuele Secci. 
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Ebola outbreak now third largest recorded and "spreading rapidly" - Ars Technica

Lack of compassion Ebola outbreak now third largest recorded and “spreading rapidly” Ebola outbreak risk level increased as deaths reach 177 with nearly 750 cases. 100 Medical personnel at CBCA Virunga Hospital wear gowns, masks, and protective gear as they prepare an isolation room for a female patient placed under 21-day observation in the suspected cases area in Goma, on May 21, 2026.

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Measles infections detected at 2 Heber City schools as Utah cases continue to rise - KSL.com

HEBER CITY — Parents with students at two Heber City schools are being encouraged to keep unvaccinated children at home after health officials identified a pair of positive measles cases.In a letter sent to parents on Tuesday, the Wasatch County Health Department said one of the cases was confirmed at Timpanogos Middle School, where possible exposures may have happened on May 14 and 15. The other case was at Old Mill Elementary, with exposure likely on May 15.County health officer Jonelle Fitzgerald said that, in an effort to reduce the likelihood of spreading the illness to additional staff and students at the two schools, anyone who has yet to receive the MMR vaccination is asked to stay home."Based on these exposure dates, this means not attending school for the remainder of this school year," she said in a statement.The district's last day of school is next Friday, May 29.Unvaccinated students at Timpanogos Middle School are urged to stay home for 21 days from the date of exposure.

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American passenger from hantavirus-hit cruise ship speaks about life in quarantine - CBS News

May 14, 2026 / 7:17 PM EDT / CBS News The number of people being monitored for hantavirus in the United States has grown to 41, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday, as new details emerge about potential flight exposures and the conditions of passengers in quarantine from the affected M/V Hondius cruise ship. Eighteen repatriated passengers from the cruise are being monitored at facilities in Nebraska and Georgia – 16 at the University of Nebraska Medical Center's National Quarantine Unit and two at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, the CDC said.

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