Health news roundup: berries, narcotics, Parkinson's, vitamin D

Scientists have reported the first evidence that eating blueberries, strawberries, and acai berries may help the aging brain stay healthy in a crucial but previously unrecognized way. Berries, and possibly walnuts, activate the brain's natural "housekeeper" mechanism, which cleans up and recycles toxic proteins linked to age-related memory loss and other mental decline.

A virus called XMRC may be linked to chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), a study shows. The new study shows that 86.5% of 37 people with CFS had evidence of this virus in their blood, as did 6.8% healthy blood donors. "There is a dramatic association with CFS, [but] we have not determined causality for this agent," said Harvey Alter, MD,  at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Clinical Center.

There is now biologic evidence to back up the belief that vitamin D may protect against autoimmune diseases and certain cancers. A new genetic analysis lends support to the idea that the vitamin interacts with genes specific for colorectal cancer, multiple sclerosis, type 1 diabetes, and other diseases, says Oxford University genetic researcher Sreeram Ramagopalan.

A government study found that the share of substance abuse treatment admissions involving prescription narcotics increased more than fourfold between 1998 and 2008, from 2.2 to 9.8 percent.  A second study found that emergency room visits involving nonmedical use of these drugs jumped 111 percent over the same period, to 305,885. Nearly everyone, it seems, is at equal risk.

Researchers has discovered new evidence that Parkinson's disease may have an infectious or autoimmune origin. Researchers detected a new association with the HLA (human leukocyte antigen) region, which contains a large number of genes related to immune system function in humans. Researchers will now be encouraged to take a fresh look at the possible role of infections, inflammation and autoimmunity in Parkinson's disease.

A study suggests that a water soluble extract of cinnamon, which contains antioxidative compounds, could help reduce risk factors associated with diabetes and heart disease.