People Who Participate in Arts and Craft Activities and Who Socialize May Delay Development of Memory Problems (Video)
People Who Participate in Arts and Craft Activities and Who Socialize May Delay Development of Memory Problems (Video)
Your House is trying to Kill You!!!
All The Ways Your House Is Trying To Kill You – An infographic by the team at ABC Wildlife
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Meaningful Social Activities Actually Maintains or Increases Brain Function
Meaningful Social Activities Actually Maintains or Increases Brain Function The memory center in the brains of seniors maintained their size and, in men, grew modestly after two years in a program that engaged them in meaningful and social activities,åÊ Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health-led research suggests. At the same time, those with larger increases in the brain’s volume over two years also saw the greatest improvements on memory tests, showing a direct correlation between brain volume and the reversal of a type of cognitive decline linked to increased risk for Alzheimer’s disease. The research, published online in Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association, studied participants in the Baltimore Experience Corps, a program that brings retired people into public schools to serve as mentors to young children, working with teachers to help them learn to read in understaffed school libraries. “Someone once said to me that being in this program removed the cobwebs from her brain and this study shows that is exactly what is happening,” says study leader Michelle Carlson, PhD, an associate professor in the Department of Mental Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. “By helping others, participants are helping themselves in ways beyond just feeding their souls. They are helping their brains. The brain shrinks as part of aging, but with this program we appear to have stopped that shrinkage and are reversing part of the aging process.” For the study, Carlson and her colleagues randomized 111 men and women to either participate in the Experience Corps (58) or not (53). They took MRI scans of their brains at enrollment and then again after 12 and 24 months. They also conducted memory tests. Participants were an average of 67.2 years old, predominantly African-American, were in good health, came from neighborhoods with low socioeconomic status and had some college education. The control arm of the study, those not involved in Experience Corps, exhibited age-related shrinkage in brain volumes. Typically, annual rates of atrophy in adults over age 65 range from .8 percent to two percent. The men who were enrolled in Experience Corps, however, showed a .7 percent to 1.6 percent increase in brain volumes over the course of two years. Though not statistically significant, women appeared to experience small gains, as compared to declines in the control group of one percent over 24 months. Carlson notes that many cognitive intervention studies last one year or less. One strength of this study, she says, is that the participants were followed for two years, which in this case was long enough to see changes that wouldn’t have been detected after just one year. The researchers were particularly interested in the results, considering that people with less education and who live in poverty are at greater risk for cognitive decline. Carlson says it’s not entirely clear which elements of Experience Corps account for the improved memory function and increased brain volumes. She says the program increases involvement in so many different kinds of activities that retired people may not have engaged in otherwise. Participants need to get out of bed, walk to the bus, and walk up and down stairs inside the schools. They work in teams. They work with young people. They share their knowledge and know they are doing good in the world. They engage in problem solving and they socialize in ways they wouldn’t have if they stayed at home. “We’re not training them on one skill, like doing crossword puzzles,” she says. “We’re embedding complexity and novelty into their daily lives, something that tends to disappear once people retire. The same things that benefit us at 5, 10, 25, 35 – contact with others, meaningful work – are certain to benefit us as we age.” Experience Corps is a national program, however it can be costly and isn’t available everywhere. But Carlson says she believes finding purpose and civic engagement may forestall some of the damage of aging on the brain.
Compound in Green Tea Plus Exercise Can Slow, Reverse Alzheimer’s
Compound in Green Tea Plus Exercise Can Slow, Reverse Alzheimer’s University of Missouri researchers have determined that a compound found in green tea, and voluntary exercise, slows the progression of Alzheimer’s disease in mice and may reverse its effects. Further study of the commonly found extract could lead to advancements in the treatment and prevention of Alzheimer’s disease in humans. “In Alzheimer’s patients, amyloid-beta peptide (A-beta) can accumulate and clump together causing amyloid plaques in the brain,” said Todd Schachtman, professor of psychological sciences in the College of Arts and Science at MU. “Symptoms can include increased memory loss and confusion, agitation and a lack of concern for your environment and surroundings. We looked at ways of preventing or postponing the onset of the disease which we hope can eventually lead to an improvement of health status and quality of life for the elderly.” Researchers decided to investigate the effects of voluntary exercise and a green tea extract on memory function and A-beta levels in mice known to show plaque deposits and behavior deficits. Oral administration of the extract, as well as voluntary exercise, improved some of the behavioral manifestations and cognitive impairments of Alzheimer’s. Researchers noted that consumption of natural products as potential remedies to prevent and treat diseases and to maintain human health is an ancient one. I say drink more green tea.
Heavy Snoring, Sleep Apnea May Signal Earlier Memory and Thinking Decline
Heavy Snoring, Sleep Apnea May Signal Earlier Memory and Thinking Decline Heavy snoring and sleep apnea may be linked to memory and thinking decline at an earlier age, according to a study published in the online issue of Neurologyå¨, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The research also suggests that treating the disorders with a breathing machine may delay the decline. ÛÏAbnormal breathing patterns during sleep such as heavy snoring and sleep apnea are common in the elderly, affecting about 52 percent of men and 26 percent of women,Û said study author Ricardo Osorio, MD, with the NYU Langone Medical Center in New York. For the study, the medical histories for 2,470 people ages 55 to 90 were reviewed. Participants were categorized as either free of memory and thinking problems, in early stages of mild cognitive impairment (MCI), or with AlzheimerÛªs disease. The researchers also looked at people with untreated sleep breathing problems versus those without the sleep breathing problems and also untreated versus treated people with sleep breathing problems. The study found that people with sleep breathing problems were diagnosed with MCI an average of nearly 10 years earlier than people who did not have sleep breathing problems. For example, when researchers examined only people who developed MCI or AlzheimerÛªs disease during the study, those with sleep breathing problems developed MCI at an average age of 77, compared to an average age of 90 for those who did not have sleep breathing problems. Among that group, those who had sleep breathing problems also developed AlzheimerÛªs disease five years earlier than those who did not have sleep breathing problems, at an average age of 83 versus 88. The researchers found that people who treated their sleep breathing problems with a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine were diagnosed with MCI about 10 years later than people whose problems were not treated, or at age 82 instead of age 72.
