Male pattern baldness may be a telltale sign of heart disease, a review of six studies involving nearly 40,000 men suggests.

The meta-analysis, published in the online journal BMJ Open, showed that vertex baldness, but not frontal baldness, was significantly associated with an increased risk of chronic heart disease (CHD).

Lower testosterone levels were predictive of rheumatoid factor (RF)-negative rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in men according to a new case-control study. Low testosterone raised the odds for subsequent diagnosis of rheumatoid factor (RF)-negative RA by 69% as compared with men who had normal values. Men who developed RF-negative RA also had significantly higher levels of follicle-stimulating hormone prior to diagnosis.

The strongest predictor of whether a man is developing dementia with Lewy bodies is whether he acts out his dreams while sleeping, Mayo Clinic researchers have discovered.  Dementia with Lewy bodies is the second most common form of dementia in the elderly.

Patients are five times more likely to have dementia with Lewy bodies if they experience a condition known as rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behavior disorder than if they have one of the risk factors now used to make a diagnosis, such as fluctuating cognition or hallucinations, according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology in San Diego.

Cutting back on sodium and increasing physical activity are not the only ways to improve heart health – a good night’s sleep can also help promote cardiovascular health. One expert at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) says not getting enough sleep can have harmful heart-health effects.

Visceral fat, or fat stored deep in the abdominal cavity, is directly linked to an increased risk for colon cancer, according to data from a mouse study published in Cancer Prevention Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.