Alzheimers Ottawa

Top 8 tips for keeping your brain sharp and avoiding dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease.

2010-02-23T08:09:00.000-08:00

There are lifestyle changes you can adopt that may reduce your chance of developing dementia by as much as 20 percent. A panel of independent experts evaluated more than 70 research papers and articles to come up with this series of tips for reducing your risk.

Exercise

What is good for the heart is good for the brain. Exercise can have a beneficial effect at any age to help protect against dementia. There is also growing evidence that regular exercise promotes cell and tissue repair mechanisms including growth of new cells in the brain.

Avoid Obesity

Being seriously overweight is a risk factor for developing dementia. Obesity is associated with type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure -- all known risk factors.

Normalize Blood Pressure

High blood pressure increases your chance of dementia by causing damage to your brain. This may happen as a result of a stroke, or because of microvascular disease, a condition which slows the flow of blood through your body, thereby damaging cells and nerves in your brain.

Avoid all Tobacco

As well as raising the risk of vascular disease -- a risk factor for dementia -- smoking can result in low oxygen levels in your brain, which in turn can promote the production of the protein found in brain plaques.

Follow a Mediterranean Diet

Several recent studies have highlighted the potential for this diet to reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease. Further long-term research is needed to confirm the effects of eating this way.

Be Socially Active

Some evidence suggests that an active social life throughout life can be protective, with both the social ties one enjoys with others and non-physical leisure time deemed important.

Brain Training

There is some evidence that intensive brain training can improve reasoning and problem solving.

Sources:

BBC News February 3, 2010

Minding Your Blood Pressure Could Prevent Alzheimer's

2010-02-18T07:56:00.000-08:00

Controlling blood pressure just might be the best protection yet known against dementia.

In a flurry of new research, scientists scanned people's brains to show hypertension fuels a kind of scarring linked to later development of Alzheimer's disease and other dementias. Those scars can start building up in middle age, decades before memory problems will appear.

Scientists have long noticed that some of the same triggers for heart disease -- high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes -- seem to increase the risk of dementia, too.

But for years, they thought that link was with "vascular dementia," memory problems usually linked to small strokes. Now they have learned that factors like hypertension also seem to spur Alzheimer's disease-like processes.

Sources:

USA Today January 27, 2010

Insciences Organization January 12, 2009

Stroke Journal January 2010

Claim that cell phones protect against Alzheimer's dubious.

2010-02-16T08:37:00.000-08:00

You may have recently seen media reports claiming that cell phones appear to have a protective effect against Alzheimer’s disease.

These reports are based on a new study, published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, which involved 96 mice genetically engineered to develop beta amyloid plaques in their brains, which are thought to be the primary culprits in Alzheimer’s disease.

The mice were then exposed to cell phone-level microwave radiation for two one-hour periods daily for seven to nine months. Results showed that if the mice were exposed to the radiation prior to showing signs of Alzheimer’s, they were less likely to develop symptoms later in life.

Further, mice exposed to the radiation after they had begun to show cognitive deficits generally had their memory impairment disappear after several months of radiation exposure.

As you might suspect, however, experts weighing in on these surprising and, as the researchers stated, “counterintuitive” findings, are revealing that the results may not be the panacea for the cell phone industry that they appear to be.

Alzheimers and aluminium in crystal deodorant stones

2010-02-16T08:29:00.000-08:00

Some of the most popular natural deodorants are the "crystal" deodorant stones and sprays. But most people don't know that these crystal deodorant products contain aluminum.

The crystal deodorant stones are made from alum. The most widely used form of alum used in the personal care industry is potassium alum. The full chemical name of potassium alum is potassium aluminum sulfate.

The reason that most people try to avoid aluminum in deodorant is because of its possible link to Alzheimer's disease. There is some strong evidence of a link -- for instance, in 1988 a truck driver accidentally dumped 20 tons of aluminum sulfate in to a town's drinking water.

Now, over 20 years later, they are finding a higher incidence of Alzheimer’s in the people of this town.

Incidentally, the article linked below notes that, “many doctors such as popular web guru and natural health expert Dr. Mercola suggest avoiding aluminum as much as possible.”

Living Near Power Lines Linked to Alzheimer's Disease: New Research

2010-02-12T08:56:00.000-08:00

Living near power lines may significantly increase a person's risk of death from Alzheimer's disease or senile dementia, according to a new study conducted by researchers from the University of Bern, Switzerland, and published in the American Journal of Epidemiology. The study is the first to definitively link exposure to low-frequency electromagnetic fields to elevated mortality from dementia.

Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia, which is characterized by progressive cognitive decline.

Researchers examined residential census data for more than 95 percent of Switzerland's population for the years 1990 and 2000, and compared this information with mortality figures for 4.7 million people over the age of 29 between 2000 and 2005. They found that people who lived within 50 meters (160 feet) of a long-distance power transmission line were 1.24 times more likely to die of Alzheimer's disease than those who lived 600 meters (2,000 feet) or more away.

Those who had lived near the power line for five years or more had 1.51 times the risk of those living farther away. This risk was increased 1.71 times for those who had lived close to a power line for 10 years, and two times for those who had lived within 50 meters for 15 years or more.

The figures for senile dementia were similar to those for Alzheimer's disease.

Long-distance power lines transmit power at 220-380 kilovolts. They do not give off radiation at the same frequency as other power lines, which transmit smaller amounts of electricity shorter distances.

The researchers noted that the extremely low frequency (ELF) magnetic fields created by long-distance power lines are also created by many household electrical appliances and even the wiring within buildings. The World Health Organization has classified these fields as possible carcinogens.

Due to the fact that household appliances are probably more significant sources of ELF field exposure than power lines, the researchers recommend precautionary measures such as not sleeping too close to active electric appliances, such as clock radios or electric blankets, for long periods of time.

Reuters

Copper Pipes in Your Home May Cause Heart Disease and Alzheimer's

2010-02-11T18:19:00.000-08:00

Scientists have claimed people should remove old copper pipes from their homes, or else install special filters, because the metal has been shown to build up in your body and cause serious health problems.

Tiny traces of copper from pipes mix with tap water and are then consumed. Over a long period of time this leads to a build-up of copper in your body, which in turn leads to Alzheimer's disease, heart disease and diabetes because your body cannot process the metal.

People over 50 should also avoid vitamin and mineral pills that contain cooper and iron. They should also donate blood regularly to reduce iron levels.

The Telegraph January 21, 2010