Experiencing premature menopause can significantly increase women’s risk of cardiovascular events. Such is the conclusion of a study recently published in The Lancet Obstetrics, Gynaecology & Women’s Health, in which over 111,000 women from 26 countries participated. Backed by more than 30 academic and medical institutions, it is considered the biggest international study of the subject to date.

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The death, attributed to grief, of the cartoonist and filmmaker Marjane Satrapi, author of Persepolis, has brought back a recurring and widely studied question in the public imagination: is it possible to die of grief? Regardless of Satrapi’s personal circumstances — which remain unknown for now — science points to yes, while reframing the romantic idea within a biological explanation. For example, intense bereavement can worsen mental health, trigger cardiovascular problems and, ultimately, raise the risk of death. Satrapi’s family said on Tuesday that she died “of sadness a little more than a year after the death of Mattias Ripa, her husband and the love of her life.” They gave no further details.

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The new holy grail in the fight against Alzheimer’s, the most common neurodegenerative disease, is the ability to detect it earlier and earlier, even before symptoms appear. Two studies published this week are steps toward that possibility, and raise controversial questions as to whether early screening should be made available to the general population to look for the disease’s first molecular signs. That would allow for the identification of individuals who are at the highest risk. But it would also generate a large number of false positives that could overwhelm healthcare services.

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