Low Fat Diet Linked with Cognitive Decline

Surely by now most people know that low-fat diets are not the panacea that the medical establishment claimed they were for a generation. In fact, nutritional research clearly demonstrates that low-fat diets can lead to cognitive decline since they are missing essential brain nutrients.

It`s estimated that between 10 and 20% of people over the age of 65 suffer from mild cognitive impairment or have been diagnosed with Alzheimer`s disease. By the age of 80 more than half have some loss of memory or functional decline and the trend continues to escalate as the number of baby boomers turn senior citizen explodes. Forward thinking nutritional researchers believe that some of the blame for this trend can be placed firmly on the fat-phobic diet pushed by many physicians and dieticians for the past half century that deprives delicate brain cells of essential nutrients. It`s important to include a healthy source of serine and choline; these nutrients nourish the brain and improve memory and mental cognition to prevent brain aging.

Low Fat Diet Linked With Cognitive Decline
Many people have been led to believe that a diet void of fat is ideal for heart health. Essential sources of cholesterol and saturated fats are eliminated and health begins to slowly decline as critical nutrients necessary for cellular repair and regeneration are deprived. Nutritional research clearly demonstrates that a low fat diet is dangerously high in carbohydrates and sugar leading to metabolic dysfunction, diabetes, heart disease and brain aging. Read more

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Posted in: Alzheimer's disease,cognitive decline,dementia,low fat diets

Walking Six Miles Weekly May Reduce Chance of Getting Alzheimer's

Can't remember where you left your keys? Walking just six miles a week can ward off cognitive decline, says Jenny Hope.

Walking is the best medicine to slow the progression of Alzheimer’s – and cut your risk of getting it, claim researchers.

They prescribe five miles of walking a week to reduce the chances of the disease getting worse.

Healthy people should walk six miles to reduce their chances of developing it, says a new US study.

It found regular daily walking strengthens the brain’s memory circuits and also helps people who are starting to become forgetful. Read more

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Posted in: Alzheimer's disease,dementia

Cellphones May Protect Brain from Alzheimer's

Alzheimer's disease may be eliminated by the time today's teenagers reach old age. New research suggests that cellphones may protect the brain from Alzheimer's.

A study in mice suggests using cellphones may help prevent some of the brain-wasting effects of Alzheimer's disease, U.S. researchers said on Wednesday.

After long-term exposure to electromagnetic waves such as those used in cell phones, mice genetically altered to develop Alzheimer's performed as well on memory and thinking skill tests as healthy mice, the researchers wrote in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease.

The results were a major surprise and open the possibility of developing a noninvasive, drug-free treatment for Alzheimer's, said lead author Gary Arendash of the University of South Florida. Read more

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Posted in: Alzheimer's disease,cellphones,dementia

More Strength Means Lower Alzheimer's Risk

Greater muscle strength has been linked to a decreased risk of developing Alzheimer's disease or mild cognitive impairment.

Older people with stronger muscles are at reduced risk of developing Alzheimer's disease compared to their weaker peers, a new study shows.

Dr. Patricia A. Boyle of Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center in Chicago and her colleagues found that the greater a person's muscle strength, the lower their likelihood of being diagnosed with Alzheimer's over a four-year period. The same was true for the loss of mental function that often precedes full-blown Alzheimer's.

Studies have linked grip strength to Alzheimer's, while a person's weight and level of physical activity also influence risk of the disease. To date, however, no one has studied whether muscle strength in and of itself might play a role in dementia risk, Boyle and her team note in November's Annals of Neurology. Read more

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Posted in: Alzheimer's disease,core strength,dementia,grip strength

Eating Curry Weekly Could Prevent Dementia

Eating a curry once or twice a week could help prevent the onset of Alzheimer's disease and dementia. The magic ingredient in curry is curcumin, a component of the spice turmeric.

Eating a curry once or twice a week could help prevent the onset of Alzheimer's disease and dementia, a US researcher suggests.

The key ingredient is curcumin, a component of the spice turmeric.

Curcumin appears to prevent the spread of amyloid protein plaques - thought to cause dementia - in the brain. Read more

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Posted in: Alzheimer's disease,curcumin,curry,dementia,turmeric

Drugs Contribute to Dementia, Delirium in Seniors

Delirium and dementia in seniors can be caused by any of 136 drugs listed on the Worst Pills. Best Pills website. Though the condition is usually reversible, it is often undetected, says Public Citizen.

Older patients become more susceptible to drug-induced dementia and delirium as they age, but the symptoms are often overlooked by doctors who don’t realize that the condition may be caused by drugs and reversed, Public Citizen writes in a Worst Pills, Best Pills News article released today on WorstPills.org, the organization’s drug safety Web site.

Unlike most forms of dementia, such as Alzheimer’s disease, which cannot be reversed, dementia caused by prescription drug use may be stopped by discontinuing the offending medication. The drug safety experts at Public Citizen have identified 136 commonly prescribed medications, especially certain antidepressants and pain medications, that can cause difficulty thinking.

Drug-induced dementia and delirium are commonly misattributed to underlying medical illness or merely to “old age.” Read more

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Posted in: delirium,dementia,drugs,pharmaceuticals

Stop Memory Loss Caused by Big Pharma

Though memory loss is often part of the aging process, in some cases it's caused by prescription medications. The symptoms are reversible - if they are caught early enough.

When Jane Simpson’s mother, then 91, started showing signs of memory loss in December 2007, Ms. Simpson thought age had finally caught up with her. “As this had been a gradual process, and considering her age, we were not unduly alarmed — just saddened that it seemed we were losing my mother mentally,” she wrote in an e-mail to this blog.

But on a visit six months later, Ms. Simpson, a 61-year-old advertising copywriter in North Carolina, was struck by how much worse her mother’s memory loss had become and by her confusion about everything happening around her.

Just typical 91-year-old behavior? Just the first signs of the inevitable slide toward dementia we all may face if we live long enough? Not at all.

Since the ’70s, geriatric specialists have been aware of many unusual causes of memory loss, confusion and disorientation in older people. These include not just medical conditions ranging from urinary tract infection to hydrocephalus to the flu, but also side effects from many commonly used medications. Read more

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Posted in: Big Pharma,dementia,memory loss,pharmaceutical companies,pharmaceuticals,senility

Milk Could Help Prevent Alzheimer's Disease

For those lactose-intolerant people reading this, I have some bad news: milk could help prevent Alzheimer's Disease.

Drinking two glasses of milk every day could help protect against memory loss and Alzheimer's disease in old age, according to research.

Scientists working at the University of Oxford have discovered that milk is one of the best sources of a key vitamin thought to reduce the neurological damage to the brain that can lead to forms of dementia. Read more

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Posted in: Alzheimer's disease,anti-aging,dementia,lactose-intolerance,milk,vitamin B12

Knitting Can Delay Memory Loss

Knitting or playing computer games can delay the memory loss associated with aging, but watching television accelerates it, says a recent study.

Engaging in a hobby like reading a book, making a patchwork quilt or even playing computer games can delay the onset of dementia, a US study suggests.

Watching TV however does not count - and indeed spending significant periods of time in front of the box may speed up memory loss, researchers found. Read more

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Posted in: Alzheimer's disease,anti-aging,dementia,memory loss

Prevent Memory Loss with Vitamin B12

A new study suggests that vitamin B12 may help prevent memory loss.

A vitamin found in meat, fish and milk may help stave off memory loss in old age, a study has suggested.

Older people with lower than average vitamin B12 levels were more than six times more likely to experience brain shrinkage, researchers concluded. Read more

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Posted in: dementia,memory loss,vitamin B12