Yet another reason not to overeat: According to a recent study from the Mayo Clinic, there is a link between memory loss and a high calorie diet. People over 70 who consumed more than 2,143 calories a day doubled their risk of memory loss and mild cognitive impairment—a stage of decline beyond normal age-related changes when memory, language, and thinking start slipping. “We observed a dose-response pattern, which simply means the higher the amount of calories consumed each day, the higher the risk of mild cognitive impairment," explained study author Yonas E. Geda, a neurologist and ... Read More
Even Patients with Severe Dementia Respond to Music
July 9, 2012 • By • Leave a Comment
Music has charms to soothe even those suffering from severe Alzheimer’s disease. That’s the key finding of encouraging new research from France, which found music therapy enhanced the moods of patients as much as four weeks after the conclusion of a four-week-long program. It’s the latest in a series of studies that point to music therapy as an effective tool in dealing with dementia. The Italian Psychogeriatric Association just reviewed 32 papers published over the past decade, and found a pattern of significant reductions in such symptoms as depression, delusions, and ... Read More
Secondhand Smoke Linked to Dementia
May 28, 2012 • By • Leave a Comment
With frustrating vagueness reflecting the limitations of our knowledge, the Mayo Clinic website reports Alzheimer’s disease is caused by “a combination of genetic, lifestyle and environmental factors.” Newly published research provides evidence that one of those environmental factors may be secondhand cigarette smoke. Researchers in Hong Kong report chronic exposure to smoky air apparently affected the brains of rats. “These changes might serve as evidence of early phases of neurodegeneration,” they write in the online journal PLoS ONE, “and may explain why smoking can ... Read More
Was Lou Gehrig’s ALS Caused by Tap Water?
January 5, 2012 • By • Leave a Comment
Rudyard Kipling called it “Hell’s Half Acre,” a geothermal wonderland where people could fall through the Earth’s thin crust or be poached by steamy hot springs and geysers. Most visitors to Yellowstone National Park’s Midway Geyser Basin stroll the wooden boardwalks, but a few hike a short, steep side trail that reveals a bird’s-eye view of the entire valley, including Grand Prismatic Spring, which can be fully appreciated only from above. Mustard-yellow and vibrant-orange mats spread like tentacles from the turquoise pool. “Not even the most talented artist could imagine ... Read More
Battling Down Syndrome Memory Loss
December 3, 2009 • By • Leave a Comment
A new study on mice suggests that there might be a treatment that could reverse dementia in adults with Down syndrome. Down syndrome is a chromosomal disorder that causes difficulties with contextual learning and memory; it's also the leading cause of mental retardation in children. Approximately 5,000 infants are born with it in the United States each year. Those with it tend to have lower-than-average cognitive ability from an early age, and those who survive into middle age begin to show Alzheimer's-like dementia by 50 or 60. The syndrome is characterized by the presence of all or ... Read More
Vitamin B3 Shows Potential as Alzheimer’s Treatment
December 2, 2008 • By • Leave a Comment
University of California, Irvine, researchers have launched a clinical study to determine whether high doses of an over-the-counter vitamin prevents memory loss in patients with Alzheimer's disease. Nicotinamide, a form of vitamin B3, lowered levels of a protein called phosphorylated tau in mice; the protein leads to the development of one of two brain lesions associated with Alzheimer's disease. "Nicotinamide has a very robust effect on neurons," said Kim Green, UCI scientist and lead author of the study. "Nicotinamide prevents loss of cognition in mice with Alzheimer's disease, and the ... Read More
Attacking Alzheimer’s with a Toke and a Tipple
November 22, 2008 • By • Leave a Comment
Two new studies suggest that substances usually associated with dulling the mind — marijuana and red wine — may help ward off Alzheimer's disease and other forms of age-related memory loss. Their addition comes as another study dethrones folk remedy ginkgo biloba as proof against the disease. At this week's meeting of the Society of Neuroscience in Washington, D.C., researchers from Ohio State University reported that THC, the main psychoactive substance in the cannabis plant, may reduce inflammation in the brain and even stimulate the formation of new brain cells. Meanwhile, in the ... Read More
