A significant portion of people with mild cognitive impairment or dementia who are taking medication for Alzheimer's may not actually have the disease, according to interim results of a major study currently underway to see how PET scans could change the nature of Alzheimer's diagnosis and treatment.

The findings, presented Wednesday at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference in London, come from a four-year study launched in 2016 that is testing over 18,000 Medicare beneficiaries with MCI or dementia to see if their brains contain the amyloid plaques that are one of the two hallmarks of the disease.

So far, the results have been dramatic. Among 4,000 people tested so far in the Imaging Dementia-Evidence for Amyloid Scanning (IDEAS) study, researchers from the Memory and Aging Centre at the University of California, San Francisco found that just 54.3 percent of MCI patients and 70.5 percent of dementia patients had the plaques.

A positive test for amyloid does not mean someone has Alzheimer's, though its presence precedes the disease and increases the risk of progression. But a negative test definitively means a person does not have it.

Should girls and young teens wear makeup? That's usually a debate surrounding maturity and self-image. Maybe the more important question is this - are cosmetics safe for girls and teens?

A report by WTVD found the toxic carcinogen asbestos, along with four heavy metals, contaminating a line of makeup sold to girls and young teens at Justice Stores.

Scientific Analytical Institute, a private lab in Greensboro, North Carolina tested the cosmetics.

Asbestos was discovered in the brand's "Just Shine Shimmer Powder."

Asbestos is a mineral fiber found in the Earth that can cause mesothelioma (a rare lung cancer), lung cancer, and asbestosis - a serious long-term non-cancer lung disease.

Sadly, it can take 10 to 40 years for symptoms of mesothelioma to appear and, therefore, can delay knowledge of exposure.

Happiness is ill-defined, elusive and fleeting. Yet, it is relentlessly pursued by millions of people all over the world through classes, 'happiness counselors', workshops and cruises. Entire bookstore sections are devoted to this topic and a whole branch of psychology -- positive psychology, or 'joyology' -- is dedicated to its study and propagation.

Numerous studies have been conducted on happiness. In some, people choose money over well-being, others say that love and friendship are the keys to happiness. Still, other studies show that a person's level of happiness always returns to baseline despite tremendous suffering or episodes of intense joy. Some researchers consider happiness a state of mind that can be cultivated while other lambast the pursuit of happiness and positivity as a denial of reality and lying to the self.

Join us on The Health and Wellness Show as we discuss the topic of happiness and whether seeking it out is even worth the trouble. And stay tuned for Zoya's Pet Health Segment on the topic of emotions in pets and finding happiness in nature.

Running Time: 01:23:35

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We're taught from a young age that picking our nose is a disgusting habit.

Not only do we think its unhygienic, but having a good rummage could tear our nostrils' fragile skin, as well as increasing the risk of developing a painful sinus infection.

Yet, a study has revealed people who pick their noses may actually be healthier - giving good reason for children to carry on with the disgusting habit.

Drugs to transform individuals...and even, by implication, society.

Drug research going far beyond the usual brief descriptions of MKULTRA.

The intention is there, in the record:

A CIA document was included in the transcript of the 1977 US Senate Hearings on MKULTRA, the CIA's mind-control program.

The document is found in Appendix C, starting on page 166. It's simply labeled "Draft," dated 5 May 1955 (note: scroll down to #123-125 in the document).

It states: "A portion of the Research and Development Program of [CIA's] TSS/Chemical Division is devoted to the discovery of the following materials and methods:"

What followed was a list of hoped-for drugs and their uses.

If you suffer from frequent heartburn, chances are you've been prescribed a proton pump inhibitor (PPIs) such as Prilosec, Prevacid or Nexium to inhibit acid production. This, despite the fact they were never intended to treat heartburn in the first place.

PPI drugs were originally designed to treat a very limited range of severe problems,¹ including bleeding ulcers, Zollinger-Ellison syndrome (a rare condition in which tumors in the pancreas cause your stomach to produce excess acid) and severe acid reflux concomitant with esophageal damage. But that hasn't stopped them from becoming the go-to solution for everyday indigestion.

Research clearly shows PPIs are outrageously overprescribed and misused, and do far more harm than good.^2,3,4,5,6,7 There are many alternative treatment strategies that can help ease this painful problem without the serious side effects associated with PPIs, which include kidney disease, pneumonia, osteoporosis, hip fractures, dementia and an increased risk for heart disease,⁸ heart attacks ⁹ and premature death.¹⁰

The long-term answer to heartburn and acid indigestion is to restore your natural gastric balance and function. The most important step is to eat real food, as processed foods and sugars are a surefire way to exacerbate acid reflux. Reseeding your gut with beneficial bacteria, either from traditionally fermented foods or a high quality probiotic supplement, is also important. Aside from that, there are a number of natural substances that can help address the root of the problem.

Nearly 20 percent of Americans, or 48 million people, report having some degree of hearing loss.¹ After age 65 that percentage continues to rise as age is the strongest predictor of hearing loss.² Almost 15 percent of school-age children also have some degree of hearing loss. While hearing loss affects millions, it is an invisible condition, often creating a barrier between the sufferer and society.

In adults, the most common cause of hearing loss is noise pollution and aging. As you get older changes occur in the inner ear that may trigger a slow and steady loss of hearing. Noise-induced hearing loss may happen suddenly or more slowly over time, while hearing loss that results from an infection more often occurs suddenly.

It may be easy to take your hearing for granted as it happens without effort on your part. However, it is a complex process that begins with sound occurring in your environment and ends in your brain. Unlike other senses that involve a chemical process, such as smell, taste or sight, hearing involves strictly physical movement.

Loss of hearing may increase your risk of other health conditions and of becoming socially isolated. In an effort to reduce this risk, many turn to hearing aids to amplify the sounds in their environment. However, the cost of these little pieces of equipment may be outside your budget, and they are not covered by traditional Medicare or private insurance companies.

Recent research has found alternatives for mild or moderate hearing loss that are more cost effective. By understanding how your hearing works, and how the equipment interacts with hearing function, you may be better equipped to choose the right device for your individual needs.

An Iowa mother is warning other parents about a serious, life-threatening virus that killed her baby girl.

A week after Nicole Sifrit gave birth to Mariana, she and husband Shane noticed she stopped eating and didn't respond when they tried to wake her, WHO TV reports.

"It immediately went downhill from there. Within two hours she had quit breathing and all of her organs just started to fail," Shane told WHO TV.

July 7, doctors diagnosed Mariana with viral meningitis caused by the herpes virus, which is spread through close contact. While all of this was happening, Nicole and Shane were marrying — the couple actually left their wedding early to take their daughter to a Des Moines hospital. Because Mariana's condition was so serious, she was then life-flighted to Iowa City to the University of Iowa Hospital, where she was put on life support, Nicole told WHO TV.

One of the six core strategies in the Undoctored Wild, Naked, and Unwashed program for health and weight loss is restoration of magnesium.

Magnesium deficiency is alarmingly common in today's world. Why? Our reliance on filtered water that has had all of the magnesium removed, the reduced content of magnesium in modern crops, and the widespread use of proton pump inhibitors—-drugs prescribed to treat acid reflux and ulcers while reducing magnesium absorption.

Remember those darned phytates in wheat and other grains that bind magnesium and other positively charged minerals in the intestinal tract, preventing absorption and causing you to pass them into the toilet? Phytates reduce magnesium absorption by 60 percent, even when consuming just a single bagel or deli sandwich. It means that for years minerals were prevented from being absorbed whenever any phytate-containing grain was in the vicinity, blocking the absorption of even mineral supplements. Advice to include grains in every meal and snack predictably caused deficiencies of positively charged minerals, especially magnesium, calcium, iron, and zinc. Add it all up, and sadly magnesium deficiency is the rule, rather than the exception.

One of the world's top cardiologists says that many of the major nutrition guidelines have no good basis in science.

"I'm not a nutrition scientist and that may be an advantage because every week in the newspaper we read something is good for you and the same thing the next week is bad for you," said Salim Yusuf, MD, DPhil, (McMaster University), at Cardiology Update 2017, a symposium presented by the European Society of Cardiology and the Zurich Heart House.

Yusuf presented evidence that many of the most significant and impactful nutrition recommendations regarding dietary fats, salt, carbohydrates, and even vegetables are not supported by evidence.

Yusuf's talk relied heavily on findings from the PURE study, a large ongoing epidemiological study of 140,000 people in 17 countries. Though PURE is an observational study,

"its design and extensive data collection are geared toward addressing major questions on causation and development of the underlying determinants of cardiovascular disease."