Two Simple Ways To Achieve A Better Memory And Avoid Cognitive Impairment

What if I told you that keeping your mind sharp and your faculties in top notch condition could be achieved without any great effort, and you might even enjoy it? Well, I hope you would be tempted to try it and the most recent research offers great hope on how we can stay lively and alert and it works whether you are a student or retired so keep reading…

The first method is something you are no doubt already doing if you enjoy talking to others in a social setting. Of course most of us do, but a new University of Michigan study shows that talking with other people in a friendly way can make it easier to solve common problems can provide mental benefits according to psychologist Oscar Ybarra, a researcher at the U-M Institute for Social Research.
But, and there is always a but isn’t there, the emphasis is on friendly because conversations that are competitive in tone, rather than cooperative, have no cognitive benefits and indeed have negative results in terms of raising blood pressure and possibly losing said friends.

Cognitive function includes working memory, self-monitoring, and the ability to suppress external and internal distractions — all of which are essential in solving common life problems and succeeding at the bridge table. Previous research has found that social interaction provides a short-term boost to cognitive function that’s comparable in size to playing brain games, such as solving crossword puzzles.

Even having just a brief 10 minute conversation where you are getting to know another person can result in a boost to your subsequent performance on an array of common cognitive tasks. All very nice, and enjoyable, but why or how does it work?

“We believe that performance boosts come about because some social interactions induce people to try to read others’ minds and take their perspectives on things,” Ybarra said. “And we also find that when we structure even competitive interactions to have an element of taking the other person’s perspective, or trying to put yourself in the other person’s shoes, there is a boost in executive functioning as a result.”

What this highlights is the connection between social intelligence and general intelligence and so if you want to perform your best, having a friendly chat with a colleague before a big presentation or test may be a good strategy.

A second approach:
Many people are already aware that the B-Complex vitamins help us when stressed, indeed they are a popular element in stress supplements together with vitamin C, and new research now shows they may also help to slow the progress of dementia.

A two-year clinical trial in Oxford has shown that B vitamins, including B-6, B-12 and folic acid, slow down the rate of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) by half. MCI is a condition which is a major risk factor for Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia as approximately 50 percent of people diagnosed with MCI go on to develop Alzheimer’s within five years

Scientists from Oxford University said their two-year clinical trial was the largest to date and David Smith of Oxford’s department of pharmacology, who co-led the trial, said: ”It is our hope that this simple and safe treatment will delay development of Alzheimer’s in many people who suffer from mild memory problems.”

MCI does not usually interfere with daily life, but around 50 percent of people diagnosed with it go on to develop the far more severe Alzheimer’s disease within five years. Smith and colleagues conducted a two-year trial with 168 volunteers with MCI who were given either a vitamin pill containing very high doses of folic acid, vitamin B6 and vitamin B12, or a placebo dummy pill.

These B vitamins are known to control levels of an amino acid called homocysteine in the blood, and high blood levels of homocysteine are linked to an increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. Brain scans were taken at the beginning and the end of the trial to monitor the rate of brain shrinkage, or atrophy.

Dr. Gustavo C. Román, medical director of the Alzheimer & Dementia Center at the Methodist Neurological Institute in Houston, Texas, said that patients who already exhibit signs of dementia and test positive for high levels of homocysteine are more likely to respond well to the large doses of B vitamins.

CAUTION: If you want to try this for yourself, please be aware that the trial involved extremely high doses that have to be closely medically monitored so do not self dose at anything over the recommended levels without medical advice.

As a preventive, adding a high potency vitamin B complex to your daily routine can’t hurt and could be extremely helpful.

Low Testosterone Linked to Alzheimer’s and Early Death

Hormone balance is not confined to women but somehow men don’t get the same level of attention. This may be because they do not pay as much attention to their own health, or visit the doctor as often, so this is aimed as much at the women in their life as it is at them. This is an alert to prompt men to get their testosterone levels checked because of the new links between that and Alzheimer’s and even premature death.

Alzheimer’s
This new research on Alzheimer’s comes from a team that was led by Leung-Wing Chu, M.D., Chief of the Division of Geriatric Medicine at Queen Mary Hospital at the University of Hong Kong. The researchers studied 153 Chinese men who were at least 55 years and older, lived in the community and didn’t have dementia. Of those men, 47 had mild cognitive impairment — or problems with clear thinking and memory loss.

Within a year, 10 men who all were part of the cognitively impaired group developed probable Alzheimer’s disease. They also had low testosterone; elevated levels of the ApoE 4 (apolipoprotein E) protein, which is correlated with a higher risk of Alzheimer’s disease; and high blood pressure. Going a step further, the research indicates that having good levels of testosterone may also have a protective value against the disease.

Low Testosterone Linked to Greater Risk of Early Death
A report in the BMJ-British Medical Journal this month also reported that low testosterone levels seem to be linked to a heightened risk of premature death from heart disease and all causes.

This research is based on 930 men, all of whom had coronary artery heart disease, and had been referred to a specialist heart centre between 2000 and 2002. Their heart health was then tracked for around 7 years.

On referral, low testosterone was relatively common. One in four of the men was classified as having low testosterone, as opposed to a tailing off in levels of the hormone as a result of ageing. During the monitoring period almost twice as many men with low testosterone died as did those with normal levels.

The only factors that influenced this risk were heart failure, treatment with aspirin or a high blood pressure drug and low bio-T levels. A low bio-T level was an independent risk factor for premature death from all causes and from heart disease, after taking account of other influential factors, such as age, other underlying health problems, smoking and weight.

It is not just low levels that are a problem either, as borderline levels of low total testosterone also increased the risk of an early death. Low levels are associated with obesity, risky blood fats, and insulin resistance, all of which are themselves risk factors for diabetes and heart disease.

Time for a visit to the doctor?

Cognitive decline can start in the womb in malnourished pregnancies

One of the conditions that most frightens us, and has seen such a rapid increase in the last 50 years, is Alzheimer’s with its accompanying cognitive decline. Now there is an interesting new approach based on a recent retrospective study that seems to indicate that poor or inadequate nutrition during the early part of pregnancy appears to accelerate cognitive decline in later life for the baby.

This work has been based on a study of people exposed to severe prenatal malnutrition in the Netherlands during World War II, but I believe also has great significance for the increasing number of people in the West who are on nutritionally poor diets. This was a regression analysis of almost 300 men and women born in Amsterdam during a severe food shortage in the winter of 1944 to 1945 and what the researchers found was that those conceived during that period (and considered to be exposed to famine in utero) performed significantly worse when tested for selective attention at ages 56 to 59.

During the winter of 1944 and 1945, a severe food shortage struck the western Netherlands as a result of a German embargo on food transport in response to a Dutch railway strike intended to hamper German troop movements. Food rations among this normally well-nourished population rapidly fell to as little as 400 to 800 calories per person during the five to six months of famine.

Susanne R. de Rooij, PhD, of the University of Amsterdam, led the study and she hypothesized that because the Dutch group had previously associated prenatal exposure to famine with coronary heart disease and diabetes — both aging-related chronic diseases — that this early exposure may also lead to premature age-related cognitive decline.

Indeed, they found on regression analysis that exposed individuals performed significantly worse in cognitive function tests than those who had not suffered this nutritional devastation. The study subjects were 56 to 59 years of age and undertook a general intelligence test, a perceptual motor-learning task, a memory task, and a selective attention task.

The participants did no worse than the control group on any of the tests except for that of selective attention. The researchers have speculated that those exposed to malnutrition during the first part of pregnancy are most vulnerable and a possible explanation is because of the effect of malnutrition on the development of the central nervous system, which occurs early in gestation. Another possibility is that the cognitive decline reflects vascular damage, which is supported by the researchers’ previous finding that famine exposure was associated with dyslipidemia and coronary heart disease.

Why these findings affect all of us:

This is not a definitive study, but I do think it’s worth paying attention to. The effect of nutrition on development throughout life is well known and I, along with many others interested in natural health, definitely see a link between the increase in conditions such as Alzheimer’s and the worsening dietary habits in the West.

We know from previous research that the vitamin and mineral content of food has been seriously depleted by modern farming methods and the overuse of pesticides and antibiotics in the animal food chain. Much of what we eat is nutritionally barren, and an addiction to fast foods, sugar and empty calories is leading to the current generation, who are the parents of the future, passing on their own nutritional deficiencies to their children.

Those who are trying to start a family know that the best advice they are given is to make themselves as healthy as possible in order to have a truly healthy baby. I have previously touched on the decline in both numbers and potency of the current generation’s sperm due to the environmental effect of such things as xenoestrogens and we also know that whatever the mother takes into her body during pregnancy will pass through the placenta to the baby. A generation reared on Diet Coke and McDonald’s are not essentially giving their unborn child the best start in life.

Natural Help for Memory Loss

We all forget where we put things, or the name of someone familiar can’t be recalled, and losing one’s memory is a major fear as we get older. Fortunately, there are a number of things can do to keep your memory sharp and active. There are plenty of ideas here from new supplements to tried and tested memory boosters so try them out and see what works for you.

There are supplements that can help to boost your brain power and Ginkgo biloba tincture has been proven in research to help in the treatment of Alzheimer’s and dementia. In one study, of those taking the leaf extract, 27 percent maintained cognitive functioning and memory, while 86 percent of the placebo group lost functioning BUT if you are taking a daily aspirin (though this is now no longer recommended) to avoid a stroke or heart attack then please be aware that the blood-thinning effects of aspirin are increased by ginkgo.

Something else that can prove useful is a remarkable brain cell nutrient called phosphatidylserine. This is a phospholipid found in all cells of the human body with higher concentrations in the brain cell membrane and its importance as a nutrient for the brain has been clinically proven. It forms a major constituent of brain and nerve cells and is essential for neuronal signalling and is a natural component of our diet in varying levels. As we get older, changes in the composition of these cells in the part of the brain called the hippocampus, lead to a reduction in the amount of information we can store and consequent memory loss. Clinical studies over a period of 20 years have shown that regular supplementation with phosphatidylserine restores and maintains adequate nerve cell function in a variety of ways which leads to improvements in long term memory and long term recognition.

If this sounds like something of interest to you, then I have been taking a supplement called memory lane which contains phosphatidylserine and, although I am still assessing the benefits, I think it does seem to be helping. Benefits that are associated with phosphatidylserine are enhanced memory, concentration and learning and in this particular formulation the phosphatidylserine is derived from soy (non GMO), so is guaranteed BSE free. The safety of PS supplementation is well documented and there have been no reports of adverse interaction with other medications.

If you are looking for some additional ways to help your memory than I can certainly recommend daily meditation is again it has been proven to help. Even five minutes a day will make a difference.

If you are not already a fan of any form of puzzle — crosswords, jigsaws, Suduko or anything else – then make a start now. Mental workouts and stimulus of vital aspects of keeping your brain active and encouraging memory. Go back to the old childhood game of memorising a number of objects on a tray or pick a favourite poem and learn it by heart until you can recite it without prompting. Doesn’t matter what you do, just do something every day that tickles your brain into action.

If you are suffering from high blood pressure then do your very best to lower it through diet and exercise as again it has been proven that lowering your blood pressure will improve your memory.

How to reduce your risk of Alzheimer’s

I am always in favour of prevention rather than cure and there is now significant evidence that lifestyle and diet may play a role in reducing your risk of developing this increasingly common condition. Just as a heart-healthy diet reduces your risk of heart disease, a similar diet seems to also contribute to Alzheimer’s prevention by reducing some risks. The same medical conditions (diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol) and lifestyle factors (lack of exercise, poor diet, smoking, obesity) that lead to stroke and heart disease also lead to a higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. This is because the factors that affect blood vessels throughout the body also affect blood vessels in the brain.

In the latest study, published in April 2010, over 2,000 elderly New Yorkers who were dementia free were followed for almost 4 years. In that time, 253 subjects developed Alzheimer’s disease, and the dietary patterns of all subjects were characterized and analyzed. They don’t say at what point elderly begins, but I will be generous and assume that all their subjects were over the age of 60, but the common characteristics of a ‘brain-healthy’ diet generally avoids saturated fats and cholesterol, and emphasizes dark-skinned fruits and vegetables (rich in anti-oxidants) and coldwater fish (which contain omega-3 fatty acids).

The study found that those people who strongly adhered to this dietary pattern were 38% less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease compared with those whose diet was significantly different.

If you want to minimise your risk of developing Alzheimer’s than basically you need to follow a modified Mediterranean diet. This means higher intakes of nuts, fish, tomatoes, poultry, cruciferous vegetables, fruits, salad dressing (oil and vinegar) and dark green leafy vegetables and a lower intake of high-fat dairy products, red meat, organ meat, and butter.

A previous study published in 2006, showed that people who most closely followed the Mediterranean diet had the lowest Alzheimer’s risk – 40% lower than those who were least likely to follow the diet. This diet places emphasis on eating fruits, vegetables, nuts, beans and grains with red meat and poultry eaten only rarely, and olive oil and fatty fish are the main sources of fat in the diet.

I think this is good news as once again it puts responsibility for our long-term health into our own hands — and hence into our stomachs. We have absolutely no control over our genetic inheritance or predisposition to certain diseases, but what we certainly can do is create the best conditions for optimal health through a health promoting — not health debilitating — diet.

Alzheimers detection in young people is possible

Alzheimer’s is one of society’s greatest fears, and although this item has been covered this week in the mainstream press I just wanted to highlight in case you missed it. It seems it may now be possible to have an early diagnostic test in teenagers to establish their risk for the disease as scans have found that people carrying the affected gene show changes in their brain activity decades before any symptoms from dementia might occur.

This gene is responsible for removing cholesterol from the blood and taking it to the liver where it is broken down and is involved in brain function and repair. The APOE4 version of the gene has also been linked with a higher risk of cardiovascular disease and poor recovery from traumatic brain injuries. People who inherit one copy of the APOE4 gene are known to be at a four fold increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease while those with two copies are at ten times the normal risk. One in four of the population are though to have at least one copy of the gene, although even those who carry the altered gene are not certain to go on to have symptoms of dementia and those without the gene are not completely in the clear. A team at University of Oxford and Imperial College London carried out a series of brain scans on people aged between 20 and 35 who were showing no signs of the disease but were carrying the altered gene and compared the results to people with a different version of the gene. These results are the first to show that there was hyperactivity in the part of the brain involved in memory in healthy young people who have the APOE4 version of the gene. The study shows that their brains behave differently even when they are not asked to perform memory tests. It is thought the brains of people carrying the APOE4 version of the gene have to work harder both during memory tests and at rest and become ‘worn out’ which is what brings on symptoms of dementia later in life.

These are exciting first steps towards establishing a diagnostic procedure much earlier to show who may go on to develop Alzheimer’s and hopefully aid in prevention and treatment. Further news in this week is that the already popular Mediterranean diet might also significantly decrease the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia, according to a study from the Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer’s Disease and the Aging Brain at Columbia University.

A third of participants who strictly followed a Mediterranean diet were 28 percent less likely to develop borderline dementia than the third with the lowest adherence; and the diet also appeared to protect patients with borderline dementia from developing Alzheimer’s disease. Again, the ones with the highest adherence to the diet were 48 percent less likely to develop Alzheimer’s than the one-third with the lowest compliance. So get out the olive oil and increase the amount of vegetables, fish and pulses and decrease the saturated fats, dairy and red meat.

An apple a day keeps old age at bay

I know the original saying is that it keeps the doctor away, but there is new evidence that the cognitive decline we associate with growing older can be delayed with the help of apple juice.

The Center for Cellular Neurobiology at the University of Massachusetts have been studying laboratory mice and found that using the standard maze trials the mice performed better than was normal after drinking apple juice. Our ability to carry out mental tasks like working out how to negotiate a maze does decline with age as our cognitive ability is lessened. The mice got the human equivalent of 2 glasses of apple juice a day for 1 month and it was found that they were producing less beta-amyloid. This is a small protein fragment that is responsible for forming the “senile plaques” that are commonly found in the brain of those suffering from degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s.

The lead researcher suggested that if everyone was to drink two glasses of apple juice a day they would lessen their risk of cognitive decay and help keep their mind functioning at their best. For the most effective juice, buy organic or juice your own – the taste difference is really amazing.

Vitamin D and Alzheimer’s link confirmed

Cambridge University and the University of Michigan, have for the first time identified a relationship between Vitamin D and cognitive impairment in a large-scale study of older people. In northern climates there can be a lack of vitamin D, particularly in the winter months, when we suffer from grey skies and not enough sunshine.

Vitamin D is vital to our immune system and to keep our bones strong in the process of breaking down old bone and building up new bone. This process goes on throughout out lives, but it can slow down without the right levels of vitamin and mineral support. We obtain our supply from sunlight, foods fortified with vitamin D like cow’s milk, soya milk and cereals and oily fish. Unfortunately, as we get older we are less able to absorb vitamin D from sunlight so need to increase our intake from other sources or take supplements.

This new study is important because it reinforces the connection between vitamin D, cognitive function and dementia as in Alzheimer’s. The researchers assessed cognitive function in 2000 adults aged 65 and over in England, and what they found was that as levels of Vitamin D went down, their levels of cognitive impairment went up. In fact they had double the chance of being cognitively impaired than those in the study who had good levels of vitamin D.

As prevention is infinitely better than cure – which, sadly, in the case of Alzheimer’s is still being sought – it makes sense to do all you can to weigh the odds in your favour. Keep mentally alert with quizzes, crosswords or bridge. Take up a new hobby that stretches your brain (line or sequence dancing works well for this) and think about learning a new language or skill. Book a holiday in the sun in the winter and sensibly enjoy exposure to sunlight as often as you can. Supplements are easy to obtain, but there are cautions with them so don’t exceed the dose recommended by your doctor or a qualified nutritionist.

Blood test to detect early Alzheimer’s

There is no doubt that the fear of Alzheimer’s is a major concern for many people as they get older. A natural, and normal slight memory loss – those ‘senior moments’ – can develop into a genuine worry about the development of the disease. Part of the problem has been that there is no foolproof way of predicting who is vulnerable, no reliable test, or how to spot the disease in its very early stages. Now there may be a way to overcome this through a simple blood test.

Scientists at a California biotech company claim that the test is about 90% accurate and can detect Alzheimer’s two to six years before the onset of symptoms. It works through the signals the brain sends to the body’s immune system. These signals pick up changes in the blood proteins in the brain and certain changes in these proteins produce a pattern that’s characteristic to Alzheimer’s.

There are more than 100 different types of dementia, but Alzheimer’s is the most common and there are 417,000 people diagnosed with it in the UK – predicted to rise to over 1 million by 2025.

It will be a few years before this test is available for use by doctors and it would be offered first to those whose close relatives have the disease and who may be suffering memory loss themselves. It may be that you don’t want to know in advance if you have this disease, but an early diagnosis can give patients a chance to make changes to their diet and exercise more in an effort of slowing or staving off chances of getting the disease.

SELF HELP PROGRAMME
Despite common belief, heredity only plays a part in getting Alzheimer’s and it is more likely that environmental factors play a part – particularly the role of free radicals as they cause damage to cells. Cortisol, a stress hormone, may be a causative factor, particularly when produced over a long period of time and good nutrition and herbal treatments prevent and fight damage from free radicals and reduce stress. Toxins such as aluminium and mercury are also a problem since they can be taken into the body and remain in the tissues.

There are a number of things you can do to help lessen some of the symptoms, or the onset, of Alzheimer’s and these are just a few of the supplements that have been found to be effective in many cases:

*Ginkgo biloba for improved memory, attention and mood.

*B vitamins, particularly Folate, which is important to the nervous system and helps eliminate homocysteine from the blood.

*Vitamin E is a scavenger of free radicals and it is fat soluble so readily enters the brain where it is thought to slow cell damage.

*The Ayuredic herb Ashwagandha (Withania somniferum) is used as a brain tonic and reduces stress hormone levels

*DHEA is a hormone used to help cognitive function

*Chlorella aids in the detoxification process of heavy metals.

For more information on Alzheimer’s and dementia, visit www.alzheimers.org.uk

Celery and the brain

Researchers at the University of Illinois report that a plant compound found in abundance in celery and green peppers can disrupt a key component of the inflammatory response in the brain. This could be important news for the research on ageing, and on diseases such as Alzheimer’s and multiple sclerosis.

Inflammation plays a key role in many neurodegenerative diseases and also is implicated in the memory and behaviour problems that can arise as we get older. Inflammation is not always a bad thing; it is a critical part of the body’s immune response that in normal circumstances reduces injury and promotes healing, but when it goes wrong then it can lead to serious physical and mental problems.

The new study looked at luteolin, a plant flavonoid in celery and green peppers which is known to impede the inflammatory response in several types of cells outside the central nervous system. Herbalists have known about the cooling properties of celery for decades and prescribe it for arthritis and hot flushes, but now it seems scientists are also taking it seriously. Add celery and green peppers to your diet and you will whizzing through the crossword in record time. If you don’t like the taste of them – and I know some people who don’t – then if you have a juicer add it to your mix. I juice celery regularly with apples and carrot to boost my immune system and help with arthritis and even celery-haters love the taste of the juice.

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