This One Is Terrific!

[Roland]

Subject: Alzheimer's -- This one is TERRIFIC! - not Alz, but the article

 

 

The idea that Alzheimer's is entirely genetic and unpreventable is perhaps

the greatest misconception about the disease," says Gary Small, M.D., director

of the UCLA Center on Aging. Researchers now know that Alzheimer's, like heart

disease and cancer, develops over decades and can be influenced by lifestyle

factors including cholesterol, blood pressure, obesity, depression,

education, nutrition, sleep and mental, physical and social activity.

 

The big news: Mountains of research reveals that simple things you do

every day might cut your odds of losing your mind to Alzheimer's.

 

In search of scientific ways to delay and outlive Alzheimer's and other

dementias, I tracked down thousands of studies and interviewed dozens of

experts. The results in a new book: 100 Simple Things You Can Do to

Prevent Alzheimer's and Age-Related Memory Loss (Little, Brown; $19.99).

Here are 10 strategies I found most surprising.

 

1. Have coffee. In an amazing flip-flop, coffee is the new brain

tonic. A large European study showed that drinking three to five cups of coffee a day in

midlife cut Alzheimer's risk 65% in late life. University of South Florida

researcher Gary Arendash credits caffeine: He says it reduces

dementia-causing amyloid in animal brains. Others credit coffee's

antioxidants. So drink up, Arendash advises, unless your doctor says

you shouldn't.

 

2. Floss. Oddly, the health of your teeth and gums can help predict

dementia. University of Southern California research found that having

periodontal disease before age 35 quadrupled the odds of dementia

years later. Older people with tooth and gum disease score lower on

memory and cognition tests, other studies show. Experts speculate that

inflammation in diseased mouths migrates to the brain.

 

3. Google. Doing an online search can stimulate your aging brain even

more than reading a book, says UCLA's Gary Small, who used brain MRIs

to prove it. The biggest surprise: Novice Internet surfers, ages 55 to

78, activated key memory and learning centers in the brain after only

a week of Web surfing for an hour a day..

 

4. Grow new brain cells.. Impossible, scientists used to say. Now it's

believed that thousands of brain cells are born daily. The trick is to

keep the newborns alive. What works: aerobic exercise (such as a brisk 30-minute walk

every day), strenuous mental activity, eating salmon and other fatty

fish, and avoiding obesity, chronic stress, sleep deprivation, heavy

drinking and vitamin B deficiency.

 

5. Drink apple juice. Apple juice can push production of the "memory

chemical" acetylcholine; that's the way the popular Alzheimer's drug

Aricept works, says Thomas Shea, Ph.D., of the University of Massachusetts. He was

surprised that old mice given apple juice did better on learning and

memory tests than mice that received water. A dose for humans: 16

ounces, or two to three apples a day.

 

6. Protect your head.. Blows to the head, even mild ones early in

life, increase odds of dementia years later. Pro football players have

19 times the typical rate of memory-related diseases. Alzheimer's is

four times more common in elderly who suffer a head injury, Columbia

University finds. Accidental falls doubled an older person's odds of

dementia five years later in another study. Wear seat belts and

helmets, fall-proof your house, and don't take risks.

 

7. Meditate. Brain scans show that people who meditate regularly have

less cognitive decline and brain shrinkage - a classic sign of

Alzheimer's - as they age. Andrew Newberg of the University of

Pennsylvania School of Medicine says yoga meditation of 12 minutes a

day for two months improved blood flow and cognitive functioning in

seniors with memory problems.

 

8. Take D. A "severe deficiency" of vitamin D boosts older Americans' risk

of cognitive impairment 394%, an alarming study by England's University

of Exeter finds. And most Americans lack vitamin D. Experts recommend

a daily dose of 800 IU to 2,000 IU of vitamin D3.

 

9. Fill your brain. It <http://brain.it/%3E 's called "cognitive

reserve." A rich accumulation of life experiences - education,

marriage, socializing, a stimulating job, language skills, having a

purpose in life, physical activity and mentally demanding leisure

activities - makes your brain better able to tolerate plaques and

tangles. You can even have significant Alzheimer's pathology and no

symptoms of dementia if you have high cognitive reserve, says David

Bennett, M.D., of Chicago's Rush University Medical Center.

 

10. Avoid infection. Astonishing new evidence ties Alzheimer's to cold

sores, gastric ulcers, Lyme disease, pneumonia and the flu. Ruth

Itzhaki, Ph.D., of the University of Manchester in England estimates

the cold-sore herpes simplex virus is incriminated in 60% of

Alzheimer's cases. The theory: Infections trigger excessive beta

amyloid "gunk" that kills brain cells. Proof is still lacking, but why

not avoid common infections and take appropriate vaccines, antibiotics

and antiviral agents?

 

What to Drink for Good Memory

A great way to keep your aging memory sharp and avoid Alzheimer's is

to drink the right stuff.

 

a. Tops: Juice. A glass of any fruit or vegetable juice three times a

week slashed Alzheimer's odds 76% in Vanderbilt University research.

Especially protective: blueberry, grape and apple juice, say other

studies.

 

b. Tea: Only a cup of black or green tea a week cut rates of cognitive

decline in older people by 37%, reports the Alzheimer's Association.

Only brewed tea works. Skip bottled tea, which is devoid of

antioxidants.

 

c. Caffeine beverages. Surprisingly, caffeine fights memory loss and

Alzheimer's, suggest dozens of studies. Best sources: coffee (one

Alzheimer's researcher drinks five cups a day), tea and chocolate.

Beware caffeine if you are pregnant, have high blood pressure,

insomnia or anxiety.

 

d. Red wine: If you drink alcohol, a little red wine is most apt to

benefit your aging brain. It's high in antioxidants. Limit it to one daily glass for

women, two for men. Excessive alcohol, notably binge drinking, brings on

Alzheimer's.

 

e. Two to avoid: Sugary soft drinks, especially those sweetened with

high fructose corn syrup. They make lab animals dumb. Water with high

copper content also can up your odds of Alzheimer's. Use a water

filter that removes excess minerals.

 

5 Ways to Save Your Kids from Alzheimer's now.

Alzheimer's isn't just a disease that starts in old age. What happens to

your child's brain seems to have a dramatic impact on his or her likelihood of

Alzheimer's many decades later.

 

Here are five things you can do now to help save your child from

Alzheimer's and memory loss later in life, according to the latest

research.

 

1. Prevent head blows: Insist your child wear a helmet during biking,

skating, skiing, baseball, football, hockey, and all contact sports. A major

blow as well as tiny repetitive unnoticed concussions can cause damage, leading to

memory loss and Alzheimer's years later.

 

2 Encourage language skills: A teenage girl who is a superior writer is

eight times more likely to escape Alzheimer's in late life than a teen with poor

linguistic skills. Teaching young children to be fluent in two or more

languages makes them less vulnerable to Alzheimer's.

 

3. Insist your child go to college: Education is a powerful

Alzheimer's deterrent. The more years of formal schooling, the lower

the odds. Most Alzheimer's prone: teenage drop outs. For each year of

education, your risk of dementia drops 11%, says a recent University

of Cambridge study.

 

4. Provide stimulation: Keep your child's brain busy with physical, mental

and social activities and novel experiences. All these contribute to a bigger,

better functioning brain with more so-called 'cognitive reserve.' High

cognitive reserve protects against memory decline and Alzheimer's.

 

5. Spare the junk food: Lab animals raised on berries, spinach and

high omega-3 fish have great memories in old age. Those overfed sugar,

especially high fructose in soft drinks, saturated fat and trans fats

become overweight and diabetic, with smaller brains and impaired

memories as they age, a prelude to Alzheimer's..

[hawked again]

That was a long post, only thing is, I can't remember what it was about.