Living near oil and gas wells may increase a woman's risk of having a baby with a congenital heart defect. Researchers who studied 3,324 infants born in Colorado reported in Environment International that compared to the one third with the lowest intensity of exposure, the one third with the highest were 70% more likely to have a baby with a heart defect.
Anemia may increase dementia risk
A study confirms that anemia — caused by having too little hemoglobin, the oxygen-carrying component of red blood cells — increases the risk for dementia. It found that having high hemoglobin levels does so as well. Dutch scientists studied 12,305 people and found that those in the highest fifth of hemoglobin levels had a 20% increased risk for dementia and those in the lowest were at a 29% increased risk.
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