Spring Arbor Living Blog

Most people have heard that a diet rich in Omega-3s is good for you. But according to new research, eating foods such as chicken, fish and nuts may help lower blood levels of a protein strongly associated with Alzheimer's disease and memory problems.

In the Columbia University study, people who consumed diets rich in omega-3 fatty acids had significantly lower levels of a protein called beta-amyloid in their blood than those who did not consume as much of the nutrient.
 
According to the research, eating one more gram of omega-3s than average per week was associated with 20 to 30% lower levels of beta-amyloid.  One gram is approximately equal to half a fillet of salmon.

However, study author Dr. Nikolaos Scarmeas, a neurologist at Columbia University Medical Center recommended not focusing on eating particular quantities of omega-3s, but rather, incorporating as much of the nutrient into one’s diet as possible.

If two people consumed the same amount of omega-3s, one through food and the other through supplements, the person who consumed more omega-3 rich foods typically had lower blood levels of beta-amyloid.

It is believed that the build-up of beta-amyloid in the brain, not the blood, is a precursor for Alzheimer's.  However, past studies have indicated there may be a relationship between blood levels and brain levels of the protein.

“There is complex, conflicting literature; we do not understand very well biologically how levels of beta-amyloid in the blood, brain and spinal fluid are related exactly,” Scarmeas said. "In some studies, higher levels of beta-amyloid in the blood relate to higher levels of beta-amyloid in the brain.  Other studies have suggested the opposite."

Scarmeas added that his own lab had observed that people with higher blood levels of beta-amyloid were more likely to develop dementia, while people with lower levels tended not to.

The beneficial impact of omega-3 on brain health would fall in line with past studies of the nutrient.  Omega-3s have long been associated with positive benefits for memory and cognition.

Scarmeas speculated that omega-3s may be able to reduce oxidative stress on the brain and the resulting vascular damage, or even have some kind of impact on beta-amyloid in the brain. Though, there is not enough support yet to suggest the nutrient and protein are directly related.

"Previous studies have suggested that omega-3s and other aspects of diet may be related to brain function," he said. "Here we demonstrate one possible mechanism could be through amyloid, the main biological mechanism that relates to Alzheimer's disease. There have been animal studies suggesting omega-3s could relate to amyloid brain biology.  We've demonstrated this association may also be present in humans."

The study was published Wednesday in the journal Neurology.

Fox News

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A new study in laboratory animals suggests a promising new avenue for treating Alzheimer's Disease. They were given a medicine that's been around for decades.
Immune globulin, or gamma globulin, is made from purified blood plasma and is normally used to boost the immune system.

Recently, scientists have been exploring its potential as a treatment for Alzheimer's Disease.

The results of these immune globulin experiments have been inconsistent. Researchers from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York thought these inconsistent results were due to variations in how the immune globulin was administered. So they gave their lab mice very small doses intravenously over four weeks.

Researchers say they saw a dramatic slowdown in the animals' cognitive deterioration.

The treatment increases certain immune system components, which may help restore plasticity, the ability of the brain to rewire itself as needed. It may also have a role in reducing the beta amyloid protein deposits in the brain that are characteristic of Alzheimer's Disease.

The results of the study were presented at a scientific meeting called Experimental Biology 2012 in San Diego, California.

VOA News

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Research is changing what we know about our Grey Matter. Our brains continue to produce brain cells into our 70’s. Because of changes in technology, science is making progress in cognitive science. Cognitive loss and forgetfulness is largely preventable.

According to a study, baby boomers now fear Alzheimer’s more than any other illness. The biggest question in age related memory decline is: how much it affects your daily life. The other is:  is memory decline getting gradually worse?

Those over 50 naturally experience age related memory decline.

How can you tell the difference between natural forgetfulness and Alzheimer's, and how can you prevent it?  The brain is resilient and recent science shows how the brain can change and grow even while aging. Watch the following video.

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A much-anticipated test developed by Eli Lilly that detects the presence of proteins in the brain that are related to Alzheimer's disease was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration.

This test could enable clinicians to detect Alzheimer's earlier and more accurately in patients at the earliest sign of memory problems -- a potential boon to treatment and developing drugs against the disease.

The test uses a chemical known by the brand name Amyvid, a radioactive agent that tags clumps of a sticky substance called an amyloid. Amyloid proteins are hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease. The chemical is then detected using a brain imaging technique called positron emission tomography, known as PET scans.

For patients who already have some symptoms of cognitive decline, a positive scan suggests that moderate to frequent amyloid plaques are present in the brain, which is consistent with Alzheimer's disease.

If the scan is negative, indicating no clumps or few clumps of amyloid, "that gives the clinician a clue that Alzheimer's is less likely to be the cause of those symptoms," according to Daniel Skovronsky, who developed the agent at Lilly. For those patients, doctors can look for other potential causes of the memory decline, which may have another prognosis or be treated differentially than Alzheimer's.

The imaging agent cannot be used to diagnose someone with Alzheimer's disease if the individual does not experience memory impairment because the presence of amyloid in the brain does not alone suggest that someone has Alzheimer's.

Before the development of imaging agents, amyloid plaques could be determined only after death, by examining the brain during an autopsy.

Some 20% of cognitively healthy older adults have been found during autopsies to have large quantities of amyloid in the brain.

"It is likely to play an important role in learning both how to diagnose and treat the disease, but it's still an open question at this point for asymptomatic people," according to Park, a behavioral and brain-sciences professor who uses Amyvid in her research on aging of healthy older adults.

Amyvid will be available in limited quantities starting in June after being approved Friday, Lilly said.

Wall Street Journal

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When family members become caretakers of loved ones who suffer from Alzheimer's disease and dementia, they often study up on the condition.

"The more you can learn the better you're going to be and you better understand the disease."

Often used interchangeably, both dementia and Alzheimer's are forms of mental degradation. In many ways they seem the same but are actually two different medical terms.

"I tell people that it’s sort of like dementia is the team and Alzheimer's is one of the players," says Dr. Michael Raab, a geriatrician with Lee Memorial Health System.

Dementia covers a number of disorders; Alzheimer's is most common.

Alzheimer's has physical characteristics in the brain, which most other forms of dementia don't have.

"When you look at the brain, there are tangles and plaques. The Lewy Body dementias, the vascular dementias, the front dementias, none of them really have any plaques or tangles," says Dr. Raab.

What's more, Alzheimer's progression is gradual and can begin in middle age. General dementia is usually found in advanced years.

Finally, various conditions can affect different parts of the brain. Only a specialist can give you proper diagnosis.

"It takes very sophisticated testing which is what we do with our neuropsychologists, to try and differentiate the areas of thinking that have been lost," says Dr. Raab.
 
NBC2.com

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While no one can promise a sure-fire treatment for memory care, there are strategies that can significantly improve your chances of keeping Alzheimer's at bay...Introducing: “How to Protect Your Memory and Brain Health”.

8 Key Strategies Focused on Saving Your Memory With Evidence-Based Research to Support Each Step

Dr. Peter V. Rabins is an acclaimed author and geriatric psychiatrist at Johns Hopkins - and one of the nation's leading experts on the care and management of patients with Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia.

If someone told you there were eight straightforward steps you could take to dramatically enhance your quality of life and reduce or delay your chances for memory deterioration, what would you do?

Many experts believe that once you understand your various risk factors for cognitive decline, take control of them, and follow through with the evidence-based strategies detailed in How To Protect Your Memory and Brain Health, you'll be in a better position to keep your memory strong well into later life.

For example, do you know?

What's the best way to guard your memory and prevent dementia?

If you answered, stay heart healthy, you'd be right. And Dr. Rabins explains why with evidence from recent studies in the Archives of Internal Medicine. Controlling high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease are absolutely critical to cognitive function. Dr. Rabins explains how to take charge.

What are the effects of too little sleep on keeping your memory sharp?

Many of us have trouble sleeping at night. No big deal -- right? Now new studies show that getting adequate sleep plays an essential role in learning new information, relating to names, dates, faces, facts, specific events - in short forming memory.

What's so special about the Mediterranean diet?

For years the marketing and promotion of dietary supplements that claim to enhance memory have left many people confused and wary. Now recent evidence-based research reported in the Annals of Neurology suggests that people who closely follow the Mediterranean diet have a 40 percent lower risk of Alzheimer's disease. The take-away: The food you eat, not the pills, can prevent or slow the rate of cognitive decline.

How does regular physical activity protect memory and reduce the risk of Alzheimer's?

Studies investigating the exercise/memory/dementia link have shown positive outcomes in recent years. Dr. Rabins provides an in-depth look at a number of key studies to show you the benefits of regular exercise... and how to incorporate exercise into your schedule.

How does stress affect memory?

We all know that living a stress-filled life is unhealthy. Turns out stress is worse for us than we thought. Johns Hopkins researchers have linked high levels of the stress hormone cortisol with poor cognitive performance in older adults. And another study, reported in the journal Neurology, found that depressed and anxious people are 40 percent more likely to develop mild cognitive impairment. In this fascinating section, Dr. Rabins provides key "stress erasers" - proactive steps you can take to reduce the stress in your life.

Every day, scientists are proving that diminished memory and mental capacity are NOT inevitable - and can be slowed, halted or even reversed through good nutrition, lifestyle habits and more. Even Alzheimer's disease is not something that suddenly occurs in old age. Rather, it's a continuum of illnesses that gets its start decades earlier without any symptoms.

So it makes sense that if we could find a way to keep our brains healthier and better able to counter the damage that occurs with age, we could better the odds of preserving memory and preventing or forestalling Alzheimer's and other dementias.

A recent report from the National Institutes of Health supports this view. It provides evidence that vascular disease risk factors - including mid-life hypertension, high cholesterol and diabetes - can all predispose someone to developing memory problems-even Alzheimer's.

While this may not sound like good news - it is.

Because it points the way to the importance of effective prevention strategies - strategies you can begin today to keep your brain healthier, longer.

Johns Hopkins Health Alerts

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Scientists are reporting that fasting one or two days a week can boost your brain health and increase longevity.

The study comes from the National Institute on Aging, where researchers looked at whether intermittent fasting—eating no more than 500 calories per day, one or two days per week—could help protect the brain against Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and other degenerative diseases. The results in both animals and humans so far have been promising.

That’s not surprising. Earlier this month, Mayo Clinic researchers reported that overeating can double the risk of memory loss in older adults. There’s increasing evidence of links between obesity, diabetes and dementia, and that things like trans fats can cause brain shrinkage.

Conversely, the effects of a low-calorie diet on longevity and brain health are well known. Rats and mice on calorie-restricted diets have increased their lifespan by up to 40%.
 
But consistently keeping caloric intake low is something not a lot of people have the desire or willpower to do—which is why NIA researchers want to see whether regular, short-term bursts of Calorie Reduction could have the same effect. Or maybe it could work even better. Mark Mattson, head of the NIA’s neuroscience laboratory, thinks overall calorie restriction “is not likely to be the best method of triggering” brain protection.

However, the Alzheimer’s association and many studies have proved that: ”The best way to cut down your chances of developing dementia is to combine a balanced diet with regular exercise, not smoking, and getting your blood pressure and cholesterol regularly checked.”

The research on the interplay of diet, brain health and longevity is fascinating and important. Eating for health requires an overall commitment. The upside is that cutting back on processed foods and eating a diet high in Omega-3′s, fruits, vegetables and whole grains can also boost or extend your brain’s health.

Blisstree

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There are brain activities that can help you prevent Alzheimer’s disease.  Reading this article can help.  So might writing a letter, playing a card game or going to the library.

Researchers have long believed that cognitive activity could help strengthen the brain’s defenses against Alzheimer’s disease. But a new study shows for the first time how that might work.

Test subjects who engaged in cognitive exercise over a lifetime had less of a protein that is believed to contribute to brain-cell decline in Alzheimer’s patients.

Researchers at the University of California-Berkeley used brain scans to measure the amount of beta amyloid, a protein that accumulates between nerve cells and reduces brain function.

They tested healthy young people, healthy older people and a group of Alzheimer’s patients and found that the healthy older people who exercised their brains throughout their lives had less beta amyloid built up in their brains. That means they should be less likely to develop Alzheimer’s .

“What this suggests is that lifelong cognitive engagement might have real, substantial benefits to the brain,” said Bill Jagust, a UC-Berkeley professor and a co-author of the study.

The research did not look at whether some activities were more beneficial than others. What matters is that the brain is engaged and that the benefits are greatest if the activity is started at a young age.

A bigger “cognitive reserve” could delay the onset of symptoms. The same goes for those with more education.

“You have more to destroy before you reach the threshold where ‘I’ve forgot my keys’ or ‘I can’t remember how to pay the bills.’  ”

Scharre and other OSU researchers are studying people with mild cognitive problems now, asking them to complete exercises in music, art and problem-solving, in the hopes it will improve their memory loss. Similarly, a new program at the Columbus Museum of Art is designed to help spark memories in people with Alzheimer’s and dementia. The monthly program aims to give patients and their caregivers a chance to discuss works of art.

In trial runs, the art appeared to help people make connections, said Kenneth Strong, executive director of the Alzheimer’s Association, Central Ohio Chapter. “It’s just amazing. They come up with things in their past that catch you off guard.”

Despite some of the data it is unclear whether exercising your brain, even from a young age, can stop Alzheimer’s. It might delay it, but it’s a “bigger leap” to think the disease could be prevented in someone who’s genetically prone.

Scharre, the Ohio State neurologist, said cognitive exercise is worth a shot. “Why not do more with your brain?” he said. “You might help society; you might help yourself. You’ll probably enjoy life more. There’s no downside.”

The Columbus Dispatch

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For the first time in almost 30 years there is a new definition for what it means to have Alzheiimer’s Disease. New guidelines were issued to diagnose the disease. It is the only leading disease that has no cure and no treatment. These new Guidelines will hopefully allow doctors to intervene faster and earlier.

for the first time, using the new guidelines, Doctors can diagnose MCI which is forgetfulness beyond natural aging. Without intervention, 80% of these patients will develop Alzheimer's disease within seven years. These people are candidates for clinical trials. Being diagnosed earlier, means intervention earlier as well as preparedness for memory care. Early detection and intervention also helps those family members that would eventually end up as care givers.
 
What is forgetfulness beyond normal aging? If you are concerned, or those around  you are concerned, consult your physician. Watch the below video for more information on the new guidelines for diagnosing Alzheimer's Disease.

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While no one can promise a sure-fire treatment to prevent memory loss, there are strategies that can significantly improve your chances of keeping Alzheimer's at bay.

How to Protect Your Memory and Brain Health

8 Key Strategies Focused on Saving Your Memory

Dr. Peter V. Rabins, acclaimed author and geriatric psychiatrist at Johns Hopkins - and one of the nation's leading experts on the care and management of patients with Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia and memory care.

If someone told you there were eight straightforward steps you could take to dramatically enhance your quality of life and reduce or delay your chances for memory deterioration, what would you do?

Many experts believe that once you understand your various risk factors for cognitive decline, take control of them, and follow through with the evidence-based strategies detailed in How To Protect Your Memory and Brain Health, you'll be in a better position to keep your memory strong well into later life.

For example, do you know:

What's the best way to guard your memory and prevent dementia?

If you answered, stay heart healthy, you'd be right. And Dr. Rabins explains why with evidence from recent studies in the Archives of Internal Medicine. Controlling high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease are absolutely critical to cognitive function. Dr. Rabins explains how to take charge.

What are the effects of too little sleep on keeping your memory sharp?

Many of us have trouble sleeping at night. No big deal -- right? Now new studies show that getting adequate sleep plays an essential role in learning new information, relating to names, dates, faces, facts, specific events - in short forming memory.

What's so special about the Mediterranean diet?

For years the marketing and promotion of dietary supplements that claim to enhance memory have left many people confused and wary. Now recent evidence-based research reported in the Annals of Neurology suggests that people who closely follow the Mediterranean diet have a 40 percent lower risk of Alzheimer's disease. The take-away: The food you eat, not the pills, can prevent or slow the rate of cognitive decline.

How does regular physical activity protect memory and reduce the risk of Alzheimer's?

Studies investigating the exercise/memory/dementia link have shown positive outcomes in recent years. Dr. Rabins provides an in-depth look at a number of key studies to show you the benefits of regular exercise... and how to incorporate exercise into your schedule.

How does stress affect memory?

We all know that living a stress-filled life is unhealthy. It turns out that stress is worse for us than we thought. Johns Hopkins researchers have linked high levels of the stress hormone cortisol with poor cognitive performance in older adults. And another study, reported in the journal Neurology, found that depressed and anxious people are 40% more likely to develop mild cognitive impairment. In this fascinating section, Dr. Rabins provides key "stress erasers" - proactive steps you can take to reduce the stress in your life.

Every day, scientists are proving that diminished memory and mental capacity are NOT inevitable - and can be slowed, halted or even reversed through good nutrition, lifestyle habits and more. Even Alzheimer's disease is not something that suddenly occurs in old age. Rather, it's a continuum of illnesses that gets its start decades earlier without any symptoms.

So it makes sense that if we could find a way to keep our brains healthier and better able to counter the damage that occurs with age, we could better the odds of preserving memory and preventing or forestalling Alzheimer's and other dementias.

A recent report from the National Institutes of Health supports this view. It provides evidence that vascular disease risk factors - including mid-life hypertension, high cholesterol and diabetes - can all predispose someone to developing memory problems-even Alzheimer's.

While this may not sound like good news - it is.

Because it points the way to the importance of effective prevention strategies - strategies you can begin TODAY to keep your brain healthier, longer.

Original article – Johns Hopkins Health Alerts

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