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Recent Longevity News for the seven days ending 12/16/09.  You should consult your doctor if you are taking any medications.

Vitamin B12 Deficiency Implicated in Chronic Unexplained Cough - Medscape, 12/15/09 - "Results of a new study show that sensory neuropathy due to deficiency of vitamin B12 might be a factor in unexplained chronic cough and dysfunction of the pharynx and larynx. Vitamin B12 supplements improved histamine thresholds and significantly raised the cough threshold in patients with vitamin deficiency, but had no effect on control subjects"

More than 90 percent of people with gum disease are at risk for diabetes, study finds - Science Daily, 12/15/09 - "An overwhelming majority of people who have periodontal (gum) disease are also at high risk for diabetes and should be screened for diabetes ... 93 percent of subjects who had periodontal disease, compared to 63 percent of those without the disease, were considered to be at high risk for diabetes and should be screened for diabetes"

Look Young to Live Longer? - WebMD, 12/15/09 - "Perceived age, the researchers say, adjusted for chronological age and sex, also correlated with physical and cognitive functioning, as well as length of leukocyte telomeres - chromosome tips on DNA of people's white blood cells ... Shorter telomere length is associated with a “host of diseases related to aging and lifestyle factors and has been shown to be associated with mortality,”"

Coffee, Tea May Stall Diabetes - WebMD, 12/14/09 - "researchers found each additional cup of coffee drunk per day was associated with a 7% lower risk of diabetes. People who drank three to four cups per day had about a 25% lower risk than those who drank two or fewer cups per day ... The study also showed that people who drank more than three to four cups of decaffeinated coffee per day had about a one-third lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes than those who didn’t drink any ... Tea drinkers who drank more than three to four cups of tea per day had about a one-fifth lower risk of diabetes than those who didn’t drink tea" - [Science Daily] - See green tea extract at Amazon.com.

Herb May Treat Chemotherapy Liver Damage - WebMD, 12/14/09 - "The youths who took milk thistle had significantly lower levels of AST and a trend toward significant lower levels of ALT, the researchers say ... Milk thistle also seemed to help keep fewer patients from having to lower the dose of their chemotherapy drugs ... Chemotherapy doses were reduced in 61% of those on milk thistle, compared to 72% in the placebo group. Milk thistle appeared to be safe for consumption, the researchers write" - See silymarin (milk thistle) products at iHerb.

Study: 15,000 will die from CT scans done in 1 year - Cancer- msnbc.com - 12/14/09 - "Radiation from CT scans done in 2007 will cause 29,000 cancers and kill nearly 15,000 Americans ... What we learned is there is a significant amount of radiation with these CT scans, more than what we thought, and there is a significant number of cancers" - Also see Are CT Scans Sometimes Too Risky? - WebMD, 12/14/09

Hyperglycemia: New mechanism underlying cardiovascular disease described - Science Daily, 12/12/09 - "Hyperglycemia starts a complex chain of events that damages blood vessels and cause cardiovascular disease" - Also see my Insulin and Aging page.

Isoflavone Use May Improve Endothelial Function in Postmenopausal Women - Medscape, 12/11/09 - "In the overall analysis, isoflavone use significantly increased FMD"

Vitamin D May Reduce Cardiac Work - Medscape, 12/10/09 - "Low serum levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D are linked with increased heart rate and systolic blood pressure and with the rate-pressure product (RPP) ... The inverse association between vitamin D status and the rate-pressure product suggests that people with high vitamin D levels have hearts that work more efficiently" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.

Antioxidant Study Suggests Possibility of "Sunburn Pill" - Medscape, 12/11/09 - "The researchers theorize that people at increased risk for melanoma could take NAC as a "sunburn pill" before exposure to large amounts of sunlight. Such an approach, they add, could theoretically reduce a person's lifetime risk of melanoma and also minimize the problems associated with taking a daily medication" - See n-acetyl cysteine at Amazon.com.

Delaying the aging process protects against Alzheimer's disease - Science Daily, 12/10/09 - "Aging is the single greatest risk factor for Alzheimer's disease. In their latest study, researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies found that simply slowing the aging process in mice prone to develop Alzheimer's disease prevented their brains from turning into a neuronal wasteland ... he slowed the aging process in a mouse model for Alzheimer's by lowering the activity of the IGF-1 signaling pathway ... mice with reduced IGF-1 signaling live up to 35 percent longer than normal mice ... Although long-lived mice didn't show any of the cognitive or behavioral impairments typical of Alzheimer's disease till very late in life, their brains were riddled with highly compacted plaques"

Statins Lower Mortality, but Not Health Services Use - Medscape, 12/10/09 - "After adjustment for clinical and demographic variables, receipt of statins was associated with a 59% reduction in mortality"

Hops compound may prevent prostate cancer - Science Daily, 12/9/09 - "xanthohumol blocks the action of estrogen by binding to its receptor, which may lead to prevention of breast cancer ... Since testosterone receptors act similarly to that of estrogen -- by binding, then stimulating hormone-dependent effects, such as gene expression and cell growth ... Xanthohumol prevented the receptor from translocating to the cell nucleus, thus inhibiting its potential to stimulate the secretion of PSA and other hormone-dependent effects" - See hops supplements at Amazon.com.

Testosterone does not induce aggression, study shows - Science Daily, 12/9/09 - "New scientific evidence refutes the preconception that testosterone causes aggressive, egocentric, and risky behavior. A study at the Universities of Zurich and Royal Holloway London with more than 120 experimental subjects has shown that the sexual hormone with the poor reputation can encourage fair behaviors if this serves to ensure one's own status"

Spices may boost breast health: Study - Nutra USA, 12/9/09 - "curcumin, found in turmeric, and piperine, found in black peppers, decreased the number of stem cells while having no effect on normal differentiated cells ... If we can limit the number of stem cells, we can limit the number of cells with potential to form tumours ... normal, non-cancerous stem cells were unaffected by the compounds, which appeared to selectively target the cancer stem cells" - [Abstract] - See curcumin products at Amazon.com and piperine at Amazon.com.

Teen Use of Marijuana Tied to Later Depression - Medscape, 12/8/09 - "Among subjects who had used cannabis more than 10 times, the odds ratio was 1.33, indicating a dose-dependent relationship ... A possible biological explanation for this association is that "receptors such as the cannabinoid receptors may act as moderators,""

Abstracts from this week's Doctor's Guide Nutrition/Dietetics plus abstracts from my RSS feeds (Click here for the journals, the PubMed ones at the top):

Soy food intake and breast cancer survival - JAMA. 2009 Dec 9;302(22):2437-43 - "Soy food intake, as measured by either soy protein or soy isoflavone intake, was inversely associated with mortality and recurrence. The hazard ratio associated with the highest quartile of soy protein intake was 0.71 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.54-0.92) for total mortality and 0.68 (95% CI, 0.54-0.87) for recurrence compared with the lowest quartile of intake. The multivariate-adjusted 4-year mortality rates were 10.3% and 7.4%, and the 4-year recurrence rates were 11.2% and 8.0%, respectively, for women in the lowest and highest quartiles of soy protein intake. The inverse association was evident among women with either estrogen receptor-positive or -negative breast cancer and was present in both users and nonusers of tamoxifen. CONCLUSION: Among women with breast cancer, soy food consumption was significantly associated with decreased risk of death and recurrence"

Targeting breast stem cells with the cancer preventive compounds curcumin and piperine - Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2009 Nov 7 - "Both curcumin and piperine inhibited mammosphere formation, serial passaging, and percent of ALDH+ cells by 50% at 5 muM and completely at 10 muM concentration in normal and malignant breast cells. There was no effect on cellular differentiation. Wnt signaling was inhibited by both curcumin and piperine by 50% at 5 muM and completely at 10 muM. Curcumin and piperine separately, and in combination, inhibit breast stem cell self-renewal but do not cause toxicity to differentiated cells. These compounds could be potential cancer preventive agents. Mammosphere formation assays may be a quantifiable biomarker to assess cancer preventive agent efficacy and Wnt signaling assessment can be a mechanistic biomarker for use in human clinical trials" - See curcumin products at Amazon.com and piperine at Amazon.com.

Health Focus (Alzheimer's Disease):

Related Topics:

Popular Supplements:

Alternative News:

  • Alzheimer's Disease - Life Extension Magazine
  • Age-Associated Mental Impairment - Life Extension Magazine
  • Acetyl-l-carnitine may slow the progression of Alzheimer's - The Nutrition Reporter
  • Green tea chemical combined with another may hold promise for treatment of brain disorders - Science Daily, 12/3/09 - "Scientists at Boston Biomedical Research Institute (BBRI) and the University of Pennsylvania have found that combining two chemicals, one of which is the green tea component EGCG, can prevent and destroy a variety of protein structures known as amyloids. Amyloids are the primary culprits in fatal brain disorders such as Alzheimer's, Huntington's, and Parkinson's diseases" - See green tea extract at Amazon.com.
  • 25-Hydroxyvitamin D, dementia, and cerebrovascular pathology in elders receiving home services - Neurology. 2009 Nov 25 - "Vitamin D insufficiency and deficiency was associated with all-cause dementia, Alzheimer disease, stroke (with and without dementia symptoms), and MRI indicators of cerebrovascular disease. These findings suggest a potential vasculoprotective role of vitamin D" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.
  • Polyphenols and polyunsaturated fatty acids boost the birth of new neurons, study finds - Science Daily, 11/24/09 - "a diet rich in polyphenols and polyunsaturated fatty acids, patented as an LMN diet, helps boost the production of the brain's stem cells -neurogenesis- and strengthens their differentiation in different types of neuron cells ... mice fed an LMN diet, when compared to those fed a control diet, have more cell proliferation in the two areas of the brain where neurogenesis is produced, the olfactory bulb and the hippocampus, both of which are greatly damaged in patients with Alzheimer's disease ... Polyphenols can be found in tea, beer, grapes, wine, olive oil, cocoa, nuts and other fruits and vegetables. Polyunsaturated fatty acids can be found in blue fish and vegetables such as corn, soya beans, sunflowers and pumpkins"
  • NSAIDs Prevent Early Sign Of Alzheimer Disease In Mice Science Daily, 11/12/09 - "If taking nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen or naproxen is to protect you from developing Alzheimer disease then you will have to start taking them at a very early age according to research in a mouse model of the disease"
  • Olive oil component could avert Alzheimer’s - Nutra USA, 10/20/09 - "ADDLs bind within the neural synapses of the brains of Alzheimer's patients and are believed to directly disrupt nerve cell function, eventually leading to memory loss, cell death and global disruption of brain function ... incubation with oleocanthal changed the structure of ADDLs by increasing the protein's size" - [Abstract] - See olive leaf extract at Amazon.com.
  • Alzheimer's-associated Abeta oligomers show altered structure, immunoreactivity and synaptotoxicity with low doses of oleocanthal - Toxicol Appl Pharmacol. 2009 Oct 15;240(2):189-97 - "results indicate oleocanthal is capable of altering the oligomerization state of ADDLs while protecting neurons from the synaptopathological effects of ADDLs and suggest OC as a lead compound for development in AD therapeutics" - See olive leaf extract at Amazon.com.
  • Nuts, Vegetables, Fish Cut Alzheimer's Risk - WebMD, 10/14/09 - "we discovered an Alzheimer's-disease-protective dietary pattern that was characterized by a high consumption of nuts, fish, salad dressing, poultry, tomatoes, cruciferous, dark, and green leafy vegetables and fruits, and low in high-fat dairy, red meat, organ meat, and butter"
  • Protective Role For Copper In Alzheimer’s Disease - Science Daily, 10/8/09 - "Two articles in a forthcoming issue of the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease -- by Dr Chris Exley, Reader in Bioinorganic Chemistry in the Research Institute for the Environment, Physical Sciences and Applied Mathematics at Keele University, UK, and Dr Zhao-Feng Jiang, of Beijing Union University, Beijing, China -- have confirmed a potentially protective role for copper in Alzheimer’s disease" - See Jarrow Zinc Balance at Amazon.com. Note: High quantities of zinc can lower copper.
  • Natural Compound In Extra-virgin Olive Oil -- Oleocanthal -- May Help Prevent, Treat Alzheimer's - Science Daily, 9/29/09 - "Measuring ADDL binding with and without oleocanthal, they discovered that small amounts of oleocanthal effectively reduced binding of ADDLs to hippocampal synapses. Additional studies revealed that oleocanthal can protect synapses from structural damage caused by ADDLs ... An unexpected finding was that oleocanthal makes ADDLs into stronger targets for antibodies. This action establishes an opportunity for creating more effective immunotherapy treatments, which use antibodies to bind to and attack ADDLs" - See olive leaf extract at Amazon.com.
  • Sleep Loss Linked To Increase In Alzheimer's Plaques - Science Daily, 9/24/09 - "Chronic sleep deprivation in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease makes Alzheimer's brain plaques appear earlier and more often"
  • How To Boost Value Of Alzheimer's-fighting Compounds - Science Daily, 9/7/09 - "Connie Weaver, Purdue's head of foods and nutrition; and Elsa Janle, a Purdue associate professor of foods and nutrition, found that the amount of polyphenols from grapeseed extract that can reach a rat's brain is as much as 200 percent higher on the 10th consecutive day of feeding as compared to the first. Many previous experiments, in which absorption was measured after single or sporadic doses, often found very little, if any, of the bioactive polyphenols reaching brain tissues. However, more chronic exposure appears to improve absorption ... This shows that reasonable and chronic consumption of these products may be the way to go, rather than single, high doses" - See grape seed extract at Amazon.com.
  • More Obesity Blues: Obese People Are At Greater Risk For Developing Alzheimer's, Study Finds - Science Daily, 8/25/09 - "They found that obese people had 8 percent less brain tissue than people with normal weight, while overweight people had 4 percent less tissue. According to Thompson, who is also a member of UCLA's Laboratory of Neuro Imaging, this is the first time anyone has established a link between being overweight and having what he describes as "severe brain degeneration.""
  • Green Tea (-)-Epigallocatechin-3-Gallate Inhibits {beta}-Amyloid-Induced Cognitive Dysfunction through Modification of Secretase Activity via Inhibition of ERK and NF-{kappa}B Pathways in Mice - J Nutr. 2009 Aug 5 - "Compared with untreated mutant PS2 AD mice, treatment with EGCG enhanced memory function and brain alpha-secretase activity but reduced brain beta- and gamma-secretase activities as well as Abeta levels. Moreover, EGCG inhibited the fibrillization of Abeta in vitro with a half maximal inhibitory concentration of 7.5 mg/L. These studies suggest that EGCG may be a beneficial agent in the prevention of development or progression of AD" - See green tea extract at Amazon.com.
  • 'Brain Exercises' May Delay Memory Decline In Dementia - Science Daily, 8/4/09 - "People who engage in activities that exercise the brain, such as reading, writing, and playing card games, may delay the rapid memory decline that occurs if they later develop dementia"
  • Vit D-curcumin combo offers brain health potential - Nutra USA, 7/27/09 - "The curcuminoids were found to enhance binding of beta-amyloid to macrophages, and that vitamin D could strongly stimulate the uptake and absorption of beta-amyloid in macrophages in most of the patients ... Since vitamin D and curcumin work differently with the immune system, we may find that a combination of the two or each used alone may be more effective — depending on the individual patient" - [Abstract] - See vitamin D at Amazon.comand curcumin products at Amazon.com.
  • 1α,25-dihydroxyvitamin D_{3} Interacts with Curcuminoids to Stimulate Amyloid-β Clearance by Macrophages of Alzheimer's Disease Patient - J Alzheimers Dis. 2009 May 11 - "1,25D3 strongly stimulated Abeta phagocytosis and clearance while protecting against apoptosis. Certain synthetic curcuminoids in combination with 1,25D3 had additive effects on phagocytosis in Type I but not Type II macrophages. In addition, we investigated the mechanisms of 1,25D3 and curcuminoids in macrophages. The 1,25D3 genomic antagonist analog MK inhibited 1,25D3 but not curcuminoid effects, suggesting that 1,25D3 acts through the genomic pathway. In silico, 1,25D3 showed preferential binding to the genomic pocket of the vitamin D receptor, whereas bisdemethoxycurcumin showed preference for the non-genomic pocket. 1,25D3 is a promising hormone for AD immunoprophylaxis because in Type I macrophages combined treatment with 1,25D3 and curcuminoids has additive effects, and in Type II macrophages 1,25D3 treatment is effective alone. Human macrophages are a new paradigm for testing immune therapies for AD" - See vitamin D at Amazon.comand curcumin products at Amazon.com.
  • Antioxidant effect of lutein towards phospholipid hydroperoxidation in human erythrocytes - Br J Nutr. 2009 Jul 22:1-5 - "These results suggest that lutein has the potential to act as an important antioxidant molecule in erythrocytes, and it thereby may contribute to the prevention of dementia" - See lutein at Amazon.com.
  • Chemicals Found In Fruit And Vegetables Offer Dementia Hope - Science Daily, 7/19/09 - "a new concept is emerging that suggests flavonoids do not act simply as antioxidants but exert their biological effects through other mechanisms. A small number of recent studies carried out in models of Alzheimer’s disease have found that oral administration of green tea flavonoids or grape flavonoids reduces brain pathology and, in some cases, improves cognition. Dr Williams and colleagues have focused their own cellular studies on a flavonoid called epicatechin, which is abundant in a number of foodstuffs, including cocoa ... epicatechin protects brain cells from damage but through a mechanism unrelated to its antioxidant activity and shown in laboratory tests that it can also reduce some aspects of Alzheimer’s disease pathology" - See Jarrow Formulas, OPCs + 95 at Amazon.com.
  • Vitamin D, Curcumin May Help Clear Amyloid Plaques Found In Alzheimer's Disease - Science Daily, 7/15/09 - "The team discovered that curcuminoids enhanced the surface binding of amyloid beta to macrophages and that vitamin D strongly stimulated the uptake and absorption of amyloid beta in macrophages in a majority of patients ... Since vitamin D and curcumin work differently with the immune system, we may find that a combination of the two or each used alone may be more effective — depending on the individual patient" - See curcumin products at Amazon.com and vitamin D at Amazon.com.
  • Oily fish may reduce dementia risk: Transcontinental study - Nutra USA, 7/8/09 - "Almost 15,000 people aged 65 or over were surveyed. After adjusting for various confounders and pooling the data from all the sites, the researchers report that they observed a dose-dependent inverse association between dementia and fish consumption" - [Abstract] - See Mega Twin EPA at Amazon.com and Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.
  • Dietary fish and meat intake and dementia in Latin America, China, and India: a 10/66 Dementia Research Group population-based study - Am J Clin Nutr. 2009 Jun 24 - "We found a dose-dependent inverse association between fish consumption and dementia (PR: 0.81; 95% CI: 0.72, 0.91) that was consistent across all sites except India and a less-consistent, dose-dependent, direct association between meat consumption and prevalence of dementia (PR: 1.19; 95% CI: 1.07, 1.31)" - See Mega Twin EPA at Amazon.com and Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.
  • Caffeine Reverses Memory Impairment In Mice With Alzheimer's Symptoms - Science Daily, 7/6/09 - "Coffee drinkers may have another reason to pour that extra cup. When aged mice bred to develop symptoms of Alzheimer's disease were given caffeine – the equivalent of five cups of coffee a day – their memory impairment was reversed"
  • Silibinin prevents amyloid beta peptide-induced memory impairment and oxidative stress in mice - Br J Pharmacol. 2009 Jun 22 - "Silibinin (silybin), a flavonoid derived from the herb milk thistle (Silybum marianum), has been shown to have antioxidative properties; however, it remains unclear whether silibinin improves Abeta-induced neurotoxicity ... Silibinin prevented the memory impairment induced by Abeta(25-35) in the Y-maze and novel object recognition tests. Repeated treatment with silibinin attenuated the Abeta(25-35)-induced accumulation of malondialdehyde and depletion of glutathione in the hippocampus ... Silibinin prevents memory impairment and oxidative damage induced by Abeta(25-35) and may be a potential therapeutic agent for Alzheimer's disease" - See silymarin at Amazon.com.
  • Alcohol consumption as a risk factor for dementia and cognitive decline: meta-analysis of prospective studies - Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2009 Jul;17(7):542-55 - "Alzheimer disease (AD) ... vascular dementia (VaD) ... The pooled relative risks (RRs) of AD, VaD, and Any dementia for light to moderate drinkers compared with nondrinkers were 0.72 (95% CI = 0.61-0.86), 0.75 (95% CI = 0.57-0.98), and 0.74 (95% CI = 0.61-0.91), respectively. When the more generally classified "drinkers," were compared with "nondrinkers," they had a reduced risk of AD (RR = 0.66, 95% CI = 0.47-0.94) and Any dementia (RR = 0.53, 95% CI = 0.53-0.82) but not cognitive decline. There were not enough data to examine VaD risk among "drinkers." Those classified as heavy drinkers did not have an increased risk of Any dementia compared with nondrinkers, but this may reflect sampling bias. Our results suggest that alcohol drinkers in late life have reduced risk of dementia. It is unclear whether this reflects selection effects in cohort studies commencing in late life, a protective effect of alcohol consumption throughout adulthood, or a specific benefit of alcohol in late life"
  • Statins Can Protect Against Alzheimer’s Disease, According To New Study - Science Daily, 6/22/09 - "They clearly demonstrated that treatment with a statin called Lovastatin could prevent the death of nerve cells under these conditions. The statins not only prevented cells from dying but also prevented the loss of memory capacity that normally occurs after such cell death. In a previous study Dolga had showed that these statins stimulate the protective capacity of tumor necrosis factor, which is a key player in the brain’s immune response" - [Abstract] - Note:  Lovastatin is in red yeast rice.  See red yeast rice at Amazon.com.
  • Pretreatment with Lovastatin Prevents N-Methyl-D-Aspartate-Induced Neurodegeneration in the Magnocellular Nucleus Basalis and Behavioral Dysfunction - J Alzheimers Dis. 2009 Mar 6 - "From these studies we conclude that treatment with lovastatin may provide protection against neuronal injury in excitotoxic conditions associated with neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer's disease" - Note:  Lovastatin (that's the generic name and therefore shouldn't be capitalized) is in red yeast rice.  See red yeast rice at Amazon.com.
  • Is Vitamin D Deficiency Linked To Alzheimer's Disease And Vascular Dementia? - Science Daily, 5/26/09 - "Several studies have correlated tooth loss with development of cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease or vascular dementia. There are two primary ways that people lose teeth: dental caries and periodontal disease. Both conditions are linked to low vitamin D levels, with induction of human cathelicidin by 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D being the mechanism ... There is also laboratory evidence for the role of vitamin D in neuroprotection and reducing inflammation, and ample biological evidence to suggest an important role for vitamin D in brain development and function ... those over the age of 60 years should consider having their serum 25(OH)D tested, looking for a level of at least 30 ng/mL but preferably over 40 ng/mL, and supplementing with 1000-2000 IU/day of vitamin D3 or increased time in the sun spring, summer, and fall if below those values" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.
  • High-Dose Vitamin E Slows Functional Decline in Alzheimer's Disease - Medscape, 5/4/09 - "The clinical-effectiveness study enrolled 540 patients with probable Alzheimer's disease (324 women) who had a mean age of nearly 74 years. All were receiving 1 of the following cholinesterase inhibitors: donepezil, rivastigmine, or galantamine (800 to 1000 U twice daily). In addition, 208 patients received vitamin E (800 to 2000 IU/day) ... Vitamin E treatment showed small to medium effect sizes in slowing functional decline, the abstract reports. For vitamin E, the ADL Cohen's d significantly increased, from 0.20 in year 1 (P = .02) to 0.42 by year 5 (P < .001)"
  • Cholinesterase Inhibition Combined With Antioxidants May Help Alzheimer's Disease Outcomes - Doctor's Guide, 3/17/09 - "Addition of a defined antioxidants formulation (Formula F) to donepezil treatment of patients with mild Alzheimer's disease (AD) substantially reduces oxidative stress and provides significant benefits over treatment with donepezil alone"
  • Folate Deficiency May Triple Dementia Risk in the Elderly - Medscape, 3/3/09 - "individuals who were folate deficient at study outset were 3.5 times more likely to develop dementia" - See folic acid products at Amazon.com.
  • Role of Huperzine A in the Treatment of Alzheimer's Disease - Ann Pharmacother. 2009 Feb 24 - "AD is a progressive neurodegenerative brain disorder for which there is no cure; available therapies only decrease cognitive decline. Huperzine A, an alkaloid derived from Chinese club moss (H. serrata), acts as a selective inhibitor of acetylcholinesterase and may also display neuroprotective properties. Preliminary data suggest that huperzine A may improve cognition; studies ranging from 8 to 12 weeks have found improvements in the Mini-Mental State Examination score of 1-5 points ... Although use of huperzine A has shown promising results in patients with AD, data supporting its use are limited by weak study design" - See huperzine at Amazon.com.
  • Mediterranean Diet May Preserve Memory - WebMD, 2/9/09 - "The Mediterranean diet consists of larger doses of fish, vegetables, legumes, fruits, cereals, and unsaturated fatty acids; low amounts of dairy products, meat, and saturated fats; and a moderate amount of alcohol ... average 4.5 year follow-up period. Those in the top one-third of Mediterranean diet scores had a 28% lower risk (compared to those in the bottom third) of developing a cognitive impairment"
  • Coffee lovers face lower dementia risk - MSNBC, 2/3/09 - "among 1,400 Finnish adults followed for 20 years, those who drank three to five cups of coffee per day in middle-age were two-thirds less likely than non-drinkers to develop dementia, including Alzheimer's disease"
  • Apple Juice Can Delay Onset Of Alzheimer's Disease, Study Suggests - Science Daily, 1/22/09 - "drinking apple juice helped mice perform better than normal in maze trials, and prevented the decline in performance that was otherwise observed as these mice aged ... mice receiving the human equivalent of 2 glasses of apple juice per day for 1 month produced less of a small protein fragment, called "beta-amyloid" that is responsible for forming the "senile plaques" that are commonly found in brains of individuals suffering from Alzheimer's disease"
  • Low Levels Of Vitamin D Link To Cognitive Problems In Older People - Science Daily, 1/22/09 - "Researchers from the Peninsula Medical School, the University of Cambridge and the University of Michigan, have for the first time identified a relationship between Vitamin D, the "sunshine vitamin", and cognitive impairment in a large-scale study of older people ... as levels of Vitamin D went down, levels of cognitive impairment went up. Compared to those with optimum levels of Vitamin D, those with the lowest levels were more than twice as likely to be cognitively impaired" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.
  • Midlife Coffee And Tea Drinking May Protect Against Late-life Dementia - Science Daily, 1/14/09 - "coffee drinkers at midlife had lower risk for dementia and AD later in life compared to those drinking no or only little coffee. The lowest risk (65% decreased) was found among moderate coffee drinkers (drinking 3-5 cups of coffee/day). Adjustments for various confounders did not change the results. Tea drinking was relatively uncommon and was not associated with dementia/AD"
  • Neuroprotective Effects of (-)-Epigallocatechin-3-gallate on Aging Mice Induced by D-Galactose - Biol Pharm Bull. 2009 Jan;32(1):55-60 - "aim of the present study was to investigate the protective effects of (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), the main polyphenolic constituent of green tea ... Oral administration of EGCG (2 mg/kg or 6 mg/kg) for 4 weeks significantly improved the cognitive deficits in mice and elevated T-SOD and GSH-Px activities, decreased MDA contents in the hippocampus, and reduced the cell apoptosis index and expression of cleaved caspase-3 in the mouse hippocampus. The results suggest that EGCG has potent neuroprotective effects on aging mice induced by D-gal through antioxidative and antiapoptotic mechanisms, indicating that EGCG is worthy of further study in aging" - See green tea extract at Amazon.com.
  • Blood Sugar Linked To Normal Cognitive Aging - Science Daily, 12/30/08 - "Beyond the obvious conclusion that preventing late-life disease would benefit the aging hippocampus, our findings suggest that maintaining blood sugar levels, even in the absence of diabetes, could help maintain aspects of cognitive health. More specifically, our findings predict that any intervention that causes a decrease in blood glucose should increase dentate gyrus function and would therefore be cognitively beneficial" - [WebMD]
  • Moderate Drinking Can Reduce Risks Of Alzheimer's Dementia And Cognitive Decline - Science Daily, 12/29/08 - "Alcohol is a two-edged sword ... Too much is bad. But a little might actually be helpful"
  • Berry Compound Reduces Aging Effect - Science Daily, 12/28/08 - "in aging rats, pterostilbene was effective in reversing cognitive decline and that improved working memory was linked to pterostilbene levels in the hippocampus region of the brain"
  • Berry extracts may ease age-related mental decline: Study - Nutra USA, 12/12/08 - "The results indicated that in aging rats, pterostilbene was effective in reversing the decline in cognitive function that occurs with naturally with age, and that precedes diseases such as Alzheimer's" - [Abstract]
  • Efficacy of a Vitamin/Nutriceutical Formulation for Early-stage Alzheimer's Disease: A 1-Year, Open-Label Pilot Study With an 16-Month Caregiver Extension - Am J Alzheimers Dis Other Demen. 2008 Dec 1 - "We examined the efficacy of a vitamin/nutriceutical formulation (folate, vitamin B6, alpha-tocopherol, S-adenosyl methionine, N-acetyl cysteine, and acetyl-L-carnitine) in a 12-month, open-label trial with 14 community-dwelling individuals with early-stage Alzheimer's disease. Participants improved in the Dementia Rating Scale and Clock-drawing tests (Clox 1 and 2). Family caregivers reported improvement in multiple domains of the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) and maintenance of performance in the Alzheimer's Disease Cooperative Study-Activities of Daily Living (ADL). Sustained performance was reported by caregivers for those participants who continued in an 16-month extension. Performance on the NPI was equivalent to published findings at 3 to 6 months for donepezil and exceeded that of galantamine and their historical placebos. Participants demonstrated superior performance for more than 12 months in NPI and ADL versus those receiving naproxen and rofecoxib or their placebo group. This formulation holds promise for treatment of early-stage Alzheimer's disease prior to and/or as a supplement for pharmacological approaches"
  • Exercise Increases Brain Growth Factor And Receptors, Prevents Stem Cell Drop In Middle Age - Science Daily, 11/27/08 - "exercise significantly slows down the loss of new nerve cells in the middle-aged mice. They found that production of neural stem cells improved by approximately 200% compared to the middle-aged mice that did not exercise. In addition, the survival of new nerve cells increased by 170% and growth by 190% compared to the sedentary middle-aged mice. Exercise also significantly enhanced stem cell production and maturation in the young mice. In fact, exercise produced a stronger effect in younger mice compared to the older mice"
  • How Red Wine Compounds Fight Alzheimer's Disease - Science Daily, 11/23/08 - "Teplow's lab has been studying how amyloid beta (Aß) is involved in causing Alzheimer's. In this work, researchers monitored how Aß40 and Aß42 proteins folded up and stuck to each other to produce aggregates that killed nerve cells in mice. They then treated the proteins with a polyphenol compound extracted from grape seeds. They discovered that polyphenols carried a one-two punch: They blocked the formation of the toxic aggregates of Aß and also decreased toxicity when they were combined with Aß before it was added to brain cells" - See grape seed extract at Amazon.com.
  • Docosahexaenoic Acid and the Aging Brain - J Nutr. 2008 Dec;138(12):2510-2514 - "Deficits in DHA or its peroxidation appear to contribute to inflammatory signaling, apoptosis, and neuronal dysfunction in Alzheimer disease (AD), a common and progressive age-related neurological disorder unique to structures and processes of the human brain" - See Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.
  • Ginkgo biloba has no benefits against dementia: Study - Nutra USA, 11/19/08 - "The GEM Study involved 3,069 community volunteers with an average age of 79.1 ... Commenting on the study, Dr Fabricant said the study had two major limitations: “One, it looks exclusively at people almost 80 years old who are far more likely to have Alzheimer’s, while ignoring those in middle ages, where the risk for developing the disease rises quickly and prevention could best be analyzed,” ... Two, it excludes completely any consideration of the strong and established role that family history plays with Alzheimer’s. You can’t do a study on the weather without looking at wind and rain.”"
  • Most ginkgo products fail quality testing - Nutra USA, 11/18/08 - "Some companies put less of it in their products than they claim or use ingredient that has been adulterated with inexpensive material that can fool non-specific tests ... companies continued to make products with little to no ginkgo in them, leading Consumerlab to suggest “ginkgo is among the most adulterated herbs.”" - That's why I stay with the top brand names.  They have more to loose with bad  press.  I also think that's why some studies show benefits with certain supplement while other studies don't.  I've been taking Nature's Way, Ginkgold.  I get the paid version of Consumerlab and I thought it was strange that they didn't test that brand. - Ben
  • Ginkgo Biloba Does Not Reduce Dementia Risk, Study Shows - Science Daily, 11/18/08 - "The researchers found no statistical difference in dementia or Alzheimer's disease rates between the groups. Among those taking G. biloba, 277 developed dementia. Among those in the placebo group, 246 developed dementia. Mortality rates also were similar" - I read this after the above article and comments but like I said.
  • Form of Vitamin B3 May Help Alzheimer's - WebMD, 11/4/08 - "Researchers from the University of California, Irvine dissolved nicotinamide in drinking water and fed it to mice with Alzheimer's. The researchers found that nicotinamide prevented mental deficits in mice with Alzheimer's. It also seemed to improve short-term memory of mice without Alzheimer's" - [Science Daily} - See nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide at Amazon.com.
  • High-fat Diet Could Promote Development Of Alzheimer's Disease - Science Daily, 10/28/08 - "the main neurological markers for Alzheimer's disease are exacerbated in the brains of mice fed a diet rich in animal fat and poor in omega-3s"
  • Effects of grape seed-derived polyphenols on amyloid beta -protein self-assembly and cytotoxicity - J Biol Chem. 2008 Sep 24 - "Alzheimer's disease (AD) ... studies showed that a commercially-available grape seed polyphenolic extract, MegaNatural-AZ (MN), significantly attenuated AD-type cognitive deterioration and reduced cerebral amyloid deposition" - See grape seed extract at Amazon.com.
  • Low plasma eicosapentaenoic acid and depressive symptomatology are independent predictors of dementia risk - Am J Clin Nutr. 2008 Sep;88(3):714-21 - "A high plasma EPA concentration may decrease the risk of dementia, whereas high ratios of n-6 to n-3 fatty acids and of AA to DHA may increase the risk of dementia, especially in depressed older persons. The role of EPA in dementia warrants further research" - See Mega Twin EPA at Amazon.com and Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.
  • Walking Boosts Brainpower - WebMD, 9/2/08 - "Those in the exercise group scored higher on cognitive tests and had better delayed recall. For example, they could more accurately remember a list of words after a certain amount of time had passed than those in the other group ... Unlike medication, which was found to have no significant effect on mild cognitive impairment at 36 months, physical activity has the advantage of health benefits that are not confined to cognitive function alone, as suggested by findings on depression, quality of life, falls, cardiovascular function, and disability"
  • Eating Fish May Reduce the Risk for Subclinical Brain Abnormalities - Medscape, 8/7/08 - "Dietary intake of tuna and other fish appear to lower the prevalence of subclinical infarcts and white-matter abnormalities ... We also found that broiled and baked fish appeared to be beneficial, while fried fish was not ... The findings add to prior evidence suggesting fish with higher eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acid content appear to have clinically important health benefits" - See Mega Twin EPA at Amazon.com.
  • Exercise May Prevent Brain Shrinkage In Early Alzheimer's Disease - Science Daily, 7/14/08 - "People with early Alzheimer's disease who were less physically fit had four times more brain shrinkage when compared to normal older adults than those who were more physically fit"
  • Nutrient cocktail may boost memory and learning: study - Nutra USA, 7/10/08 - "It may be possible to use this [combination] to partially restore brain function in people with diseases that decrease the number of brain neurons, including, for example, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's, strokes and brain injuries. Of course, such speculations have to be tested in double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trials ... supplemented the diets of gerbils with uridine (in its monophosphate form, 0.5 per cent) and choline (0.1 per cent), and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 300 mg/kg/day) for four weeks ... At the end of the study, significant increases in phospholipid levels in the brain were observed when the compounds were given together, while administration of only DHA or UMP or UMP plus choline produced smaller increases" - [Abstract] - See citicholine at Amazon.com and Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.
  • Dietary uridine enhances the improvement in learning and memory produced by administering DHA to gerbils - FASEB J. 2008 Jul 7 - "These findings demonstrate that a treatment that increases synaptic membrane content can enhance cognitive functions in normal animals" - See citicholine at Amazon.com and Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.
  • Panax Ginseng Enhances Cognitive Performance in Alzheimer Disease - Alzheimer Dis Assoc Disord. 2008 Jun 17 - "ginseng group was treated with Panax ginseng powder (4.5 g/d) for 12 weeks ... After ginseng treatment, the cognitive subscale of ADAS and the MMSE score began to show improvements and continued up to 12 weeks (P=0.029 and P=0.009 vs. baseline, respectively). After discontinuing ginseng, the improved ADAS and MMSE scores declined to the levels of the control group. These results suggest that Panax ginseng is clinically effective in the cognitive performance of AD patients" - See ginseng at Amazon.com.
  • Grape Seed Extract May Reduce Cognitive Decline Associated With Alzheimer's Disease - Science Daily, 6/17/08 - "Chemical analysis showed that the major polyphenol components in the study's grape seed extract product are catechin and epicatechin, which are also abundant in tea and cocoa. These components differ from resveratrol, a polyphenol that has been reported to reduce amyloid beta secretion in cells and generally increase lifespan by mimicking calorie restriction. Resveratrol appears to be effective only at extremely high doses, which may limit its use in people. In contrast, the catechins in the extract product studied appear to be effective at much lower doses" - My favorite is the Jarrow OPC + 95 at Amazon.com.
  • Exercise May Cut Risk of Dementia - WebMD, 6/3/08 - "In a study of more than 1,400 adults, those who were physically active in their free time during middle age were 52% less likely to develop dementia 21 years later than their sedentary counterparts. Their chance of developing Alzheimer's disease was slashed even more, by 62%"
  • DHA and Dementia: Preserving Cognition in the Aging Patient (Slides With Audio) - Medscape, 5/22/08 - Good slide show on DHA omega-3 for prevention of dementia and Alzheimer's.  It's 58 minutes though an a bit difficult to get quotes from it.
  • Plant Flavonoid In Celery And Green Peppers Found To Reduce Inflammatory Response In The Brain - Science Daily, 5/20/08 - "The new study looked at luteolin (LOO-tee-OH-lin), a plant flavonoid known to impede the inflammatory response in several types of cells outside the central nervous system ... Those cells that were also exposed to luteolin showed a significantly diminished inflammatory response. Jang showed that luteolin was shutting down production of a key cytokine in the inflammatory pathway, interleukin-6 (IL-6). The effects of luteolin exposure were dramatic, resulting in as much as a 90 percent drop in IL-6 production in the LPS-treated cells ... Inflammatory cytokines such as interleukin-6 are very well known to inhibit certain types of learning and memory that are under the control of the hippocampus, and the hippocampus is also very vulnerable to the insults of aging ... If you had the potential to decrease the production of inflammatory cytokines in the brain you could potentially limit the cognitive deficits that result" - See luteolin at Amazon.com.
  • Plants' Flavonoids Have Beneficial Effect On Alzheimer's Disease, Study In Mice Suggests - Science Daily, 5/7/08 - "Researchers administered molecules called flavonoids, which are found in certain fruits and vegetables, to a mouse model genetically programmed to develop Alzheimer's disease. Using two of these molecules, luteolin and diosmin, they were able to reduce the levels of a protein called amyloid-beta, which forms the sticky deposits that build up in the brains of patients with Alzheimer's" - See bioflavonoids at Amazon.com.
  • Ibuprofen May Cut Alzheimer's Risk - WebMD, 5/5/08 - "Use of ibuprofen pain relievers like Advil and Motrin for more than five years reduced Alzheimer's risk by 44% in a study reported in the May issue of Neurology"
  • Green tea's Alzheimer protection gets more support - Nutra USA, 4/25/08 - "Polyphenon E (PE) ... The animals receiving the green tea extract should significantly decreased beta-amyloid-induced changes to the reference and working memory, while levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) were 42 per cent less than the controls animals infused with the protein ... a person (with a body weight of 50 kg) would have to drink about three litres of PE per day to get similar effects ... However, humans consume antioxidants (including vitamins A, B, C and E as well as polyphenols, etc.) from various food sources everyday. Therefore, a lower amount (less than three litres) of 0.5 per cent PE-mixed water volume intake may be effective in humans to ensure the similar effects" - [Abstract] - See green tea extract at Amazon.com.
  • Green tea catechins prevent cognitive deficits caused by Abeta(1-40) in rats - J Nutr Biochem. 2008 Feb 14 - "Polyphenon E (PE) .. PE administration for 26 weeks significantly decreased the Abeta-induced increase in the number of reference and working memory errors, with a concomitant reduction of hippocampal lipid peroxide (LPO; 40%) and cortico-hippocampal reactive oxygen species (ROS; 42% and 50%, respectively). Significantly reduced levels of LPO in the plasma (24%) and hippocampus (25%) as well as those of ROS in the hippocampus (23%) and cortex (41%) were found in the PE+Vehicle group as compared with the Vehicle group ... long-term administration of green tea catechins provides effective prophylactic benefits against Abeta-induced cognitive impairment" - [Nutra USA] - See green tea extract at Amazon.com.
  • Chinese Club Moss Extract (Huperzine A) May Improve Cognition In Alzheimer's Disease - Science Daily, 4/17/08 - "Existing evidence suggests that patients with Alzheimer's disease who have taken Huperzine A have improved general cognitive function, global clinical status, functional performance and reduced behavioural disturbance compared to patients taking placebos" - See huperzine at Amazon.com.
  • Vitamin E May Help Alzheimer's Patients Live Longer, Study Suggests - Science Daily, 4/15/08 - "people who took vitamin E, with or without a cholinesterase inhibitor, were 26 percent less likely to die than people who didn't take vitamin E"
  • Wine May Protect Against Dementia, Study Suggests - Science Daily, 4/10/08 - "among those women who reported that they drank wine a considerably lower proportion suffered from dementia, whereas this correlation was not found among those who had reported that they regularly drank beer or liquor"
  • Cup Of Coffee A Day Could Help Protect Against Alzheimer's Disease, Study Suggests - Science Daily, 4/2/08 - "Caffeine appears to block several of the disruptive effects of cholesterol that make the blood-brain barrier leaky ... High levels of cholesterol are a risk factor for Alzheimer's disease, perhaps by compromising the protective nature of the blood-brain barrier. For the first time we have shown that chronic ingestion of caffeine protects the BBB from cholesterol-induced leakage"
  • Vitamin C can keep you healthy, looking younger - CNN.com, 2/27/08 - "Pairing vitamins C and E is smart for another reason: It may lessen your Alzheimer's risks by as much as 64 percent ..." - See vitamin C products at Amazon.com and and Jarrow FamilE (contains all eight members of the vitamin E family, includes Tocomin) at Amazon.com.
  • Folate Deficiency Associated With Tripling Of Dementia Risk, Study Shows - Science Daily, 2/5/08 - "Folate deficiency is associated with a tripling in the risk of developing dementia among elderly people" - See folic acid at Amazon.com.
  • Late-onset Alzheimer's slowed by DHA omega-3 - Nutra USA, 1/25/08 - "In this study, we report that DHA significantly increases LR11 in multiple systems ... DHA may be most useful for early intervention and prevention of late-onset Alzheimer's disease (LOAD) ... Because reduced LR11 is known to increase beta-amyloid production and may be a significant genetic cause of LOAD, our results indicate that DHA increases in [LR11] levels may play an important role in preventing LOAD" - [Abstract] - See Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.
  • Omega-3 fatty acid docosahexaenoic acid increases SorLA/LR11, a sorting protein with reduced expression in sporadic Alzheimer's disease (AD): relevance to AD prevention - J Neurosci. 2007 Dec 26;27(52):14299-307 - "late-onset Alzheimer's disease (LOAD) ... DHA significantly increases LR11 in multiple systems ... Because reduced LR11 is known to increase Abeta production and may be a significant genetic cause of LOAD, our results indicate that DHA increases in SorLA/LR11 levels may play an important role in preventing LOAD" - See Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.
  • Citrus flavanones show neuroprotection potential - Nutra USA, 1/21/08 - "These results first demonstrate that the citrus flavanones hesperidin, hesperetin, and neohesperidin, even at physiological concentrations, have neuroprotective effects against H2O2-induced cytotoxicity in PC12 cells ... These dietary antioxidants are potential candidates for use in the intervention for neurodegenerative diseases ... One such disease that is mentioned Alzheimer's disease" - [Abstract] - See hesperidin at Amazon.com.
  • Anti-Alzheimer's Mechanism In Omega-3 Fatty Acids Found - Science Daily, 1/2/08 - "the omega-3 fatty acid docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) found in fish oil increases the production of LR11, a protein that is found at reduced levels in Alzheimer's patients and which is known to destroy the protein that forms the "plaques" associated with the disease" - See Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.
  • Fish Oil Prevents Alzheimer's Plaques - WebMD, 12/26/07 - "the fish-oil compound DHA causes brain cells to make lots more LR11 ... Because reduced LR11 is known to increase beta amyloid production and may be a significant genetic cause of late-onset Alzheimer's disease, our results indicate that DHA increases in LR11 levels may play an important role in preventing late-onset Alzheimer's disease" - See Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.
  • Moderate Exercise May Cut Dementia Risk - WebMD,12/19/07- "Moderate physical activity (such as walking and climbing stairs) may help prevent dementia in people aged 65 and older"
  • Moderate beer intake may cut Alzheimer's risk: study - Nutra USA, 12/17/07 - "After three months the researchers report that animals receiving the supplementary silicon, whether from beer or the silicic acid, had significantly lower blood aluminium levels, and higher faecal excretion of aluminium ... The lower blood levels resulted in slower accumulation of aluminium in the tissue, including the brain, which could have benefits for the prevention of Alzheimer's" - See Jarrow BioSil at Amazon.com.  I've been taking about 9 drops of this per day for years.  I stir it with my orange juice every morning.
  • Sugar and Alzheimer's: Are They Linked? - WebMD, 12/7/07 - "The brains of the sugar-fed mice had about twice as many plaque deposits as the mice fed regular water" - [Science Daily]
  • Increased B12 levels could ward off dementia - Nutra USA, 11/16/07 - "The longitudinal cohort study followed 1648 participants for 10 years, and found a doubling in holotranscobalamin (holoTC) concentrations was associated with a 30 per cent slower rate of cognitive decline ... increased levels of the amino acid homocysteine doubled the risk of dementia or cognitive impairment" - [Abstract] - See vitamin B12 at Amazon.com.
  • Low vitamin B-12 status and risk of cognitive decline in older adults - Am J Clin Nutr. 2007 Nov;86(5):1384-91 - "concentrations of holoTC (a marker of reduced vitamin B-12 status), tHcy, and MMA predicted cognitive decline, but folate did not. A doubling in holoTC concentrations (from 50 to 100 pmol/L) was associated with a 30% slower rate of cognitive decline (-0.137 to -0.083), whereas a doubling in tHcy (from 10 to 20 mumol/L) or MMA (from 0.25 to 0.50 mumol/L) was associated with >50% more rapid cognitive decline (-0.090 to -0.169) and (-0.104 to -0.169), respectively" - See vitamin B12 at Amazon.com.
  • Fish for brain health supported by trio of studies - Nutra USA, 11/14/07 - "These recent reports are novel in that they address the association of n-3 fatty acid intake and cognitive function in non-demented individuals and, thus, present a shift in the attention to earlier stages of cognitive decline with the hope of preventing progression to states of dementia and disability before they become irreversible" - See Mega Twin EPA at Amazon.com.
  • Eating Fish, Omega-3 Oils, Fruits And Veggies Lowers Risk Of Memory Problems - Science Daily, 11/13/07 - "people who regularly consumed omega-3 rich oils, such as canola oil, flaxseed oil and walnut oil, reduced their risk of dementia by 60 percent compared to people who did not regularly consume such oils. People who ate fruits and vegetables daily also reduced their risk of dementia by 30 percent compared to those who didn't regularly eat fruits and vegetables ... people who ate fish at least once a week had a 35-percent lower risk of Alzheimer's disease and 40-percent lower risk of dementia, but only if they did not carry the gene that increases the risk of Alzheimer's, called apolipoprotein E4, or ApoE4 ... Given that most people do not carry the ApoE4 gene, these results could have considerable implications in terms of public health" - See Mega Twin EPA at Amazon.com.
  • Low vitamin B-12 status and risk of cognitive decline in older adults - Am J Clin Nutr. 2007 Nov;86(5):1384-91 - "Low vitamin B-12 status was associated with more rapid cognitive decline" - See vitamin B12 at Amazon.com.
  • Cognitive performance among the elderly and dietary fish intake: the Hordaland Health Study - Am J Clin Nutr. 2007 Nov;86(5):1470-8 - "In the elderly, a diet high in fish and fish products is associated with better cognitive performance in a dose-dependent manner" - See Mega Twin EPA at Amazon.com.
  • n 3 Fatty acid proportions in plasma and cognitive performance in older adults - Am J Clin Nutr. 2007 Nov;86(5):1479-85 - "In this population, plasma n-3 PUFA proportions were associated with less decline in the speed-related cognitive domains over 3 y" - See Mega Twin EPA at Amazon.com.
  • Staving Off Alzheimer's Disease With The Right Diet, Prescriptions - Science Daily, 11/7/07 - "Fish oil elevated the level of a protein that prevents the formation of amyloid, the tell-tale protein found in Alzheimer's. Caffeine reversed memory impairment in animal models of the disease. In addition, environmental copper reduced the clearance of amyloid, from the brain to blood ... scientists have identified ways that essential omega-3 fatty acid -- docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) or fish oil -- can help prevent Alzheimer's ... DHA also reduced pro-inflammatory arachidonic acid in brains of Alzheimer's model mice, consistent with the anti-inflammatory effects of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) that are associated with reduced Alzheimer's in people" - See Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.
  • Intake of sucrose-sweetened water induces insulin resistance and exacerbates memory deficits and amyloidosis in a transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer's disease - J Biol Chem. 2007 Oct 17 - "controlling the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages may be an effective way to curtail the risk of developing AD"
  • Mediterranean Diet May Help Alzheimer's Patients Live Longer - Science Daily, 9/10/07 - "Alzheimer's patients who adhered to the diet to a moderate degree lived an average 1.3 years longer than those people who least adhered to the diet. And those Alzheimer's patients who followed the diet very religiously lived an average four years longer"
  • Curry Spice May Counter Alzheimer's - WebMD, 7/16/07 - "In preliminary lab tests, the chemical helped rid the blood of a key ingredient in Alzheimer's brain plaque"
  • Omega-3 Supplements Can Help With Alzheimer's Symptoms, Study Suggests - Science Daily, 6/21/07 - "There was no observable difference in therapeutic effect between the patients receiving the omega-3 and the placebo group. However, when the researchers took into account which of the patients carried the susceptibility gene APOE4 and which did not, an appreciable difference appeared. Carriers of the gene who had received active treatment responded positively to the omega-3 as regards agitation symptoms, while non-bearers of the gene showed an improvement in depressive symptoms" - See Twinlab Mega Twin EPA at Amazon.com or Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.
  • Omega-3 Fatty Acid Slows Alzheimer’s - WebMD, 4/18/07 - "One received supplemental DHA only, and the other two groups received DHA plus additional omega-6 fatty acids ... After three months, all of the mice on the DHA diets had lower levels of beta-amyloid and tau proteins than those in the control group. But at nine months, only those on the DHA-only diet had lower levels of both proteins" - See Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.
  • Omega-3 Fatty Acid May Help Prevent Alzheimer's Brain Lesions - Science Daily, 4/17/07 - "One of these groups received supplemental DHA only, and two groups received DHA plus additional omega-6 fatty acids. After three months, mice in all of the test groups had lower levels of beta amyloid and tau than mice in the control group, but at nine months, only mice on the DHA diet had lower levels of both proteins" - See Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.
  • High Folate Intake May Lower AD Risk - Clinical Psychiatry News, 2/07 - "The risk of AD decreased with increasing intake of folate but not of vitamins B6 or B12"
  • Little Proof That Brain Exercises Slow Mental Decline - Intelihealth, 1/9/07 - "there is little evidence that the brain training programs are worth the time and price"
  • Higher Folate Levels Linked To Reduced Risk For Alzheimer's Disease - Science Daily, 1/9/07 - "Folate, vitamin B12 and vitamin B6, are important in the body's processing of homocysteine--therefore, deficiencies in these nutrients increase homocysteine levels and may contribute to cardiovascular disease, stroke and dementia ... When the individuals were divided into four groups based on the total level of folate they took in through food and supplements and the analysis was adjusted for patient characteristics, comorbid diseases and B12 and B6 intake, the risk of Alzheimer's disease was lower in the groups with higher intake" - See iHerb folic acid products.
  • Can Fish Intake Predict Chances Of Developing Dementia? - Science Daily, 1/3/07 - "the participants who reported consuming an average of about three servings of oily fish a week--equivalent to blood levels of DHA at 180 milligrams daily--were associated with a significantly reduced risk of developing dementia of all types, including Alzheimer's disease. No other fatty acid blood level was independently linked to the risk of dementia" - See Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.
  • There's Hope in the Drug Pipeline [for Alzheimer's] - US News, 12/11/06 - "A compound called huperzine A seems to combine some memory-saving effects of drugs like Aricept and Namenda with an ability to protect neurons from beta amyloid. It's currently being tested for safety and effectiveness in people" - See iHerb or Vitacost huperzine A products.
  • Higher Level Of Certain Fatty Acid Associated With Lower Dementia Risk - Science Daily, 11/28/06 - "men and women in the quartile with the highest DHA levels had a 47 percent lower risk of developing dementia and 39 percent lower risk of developing Alzheimer's disease than the other three quartiles with lower DHA levels ... those in the top quartile of blood DHA levels reported that they ate an average of .18 grams of DHA a day and an average of three fish servings a week. Participants in the other quartiles ate substantially less fish" - See iHerb DHA products.  My favorite is Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.
  • B-vitamins reduce plasma levels of beta amyloid - Neurobiol Aging. 2006 Nov 17 - "Elevated plasma homocysteine (tHcy) is a risk factor for Alzheimer's disease (AD), and thus B vitamins may have a role in the prevention of AD. The objective of this study was to determine if tHcy lowering vitamins decrease the circulating levels of A-beta protein 1-40 (Abeta40). We randomized 299 older men to treatment with 2mg of folate, plus 25mg of B6 and 400mug of B12, or placebo. After 2 years of treatment the mean (S.E.) increase of Abeta40 was 7.0pg/ml (8.4) in the vitamin group (4.9%), and 26.8pg/ml (7.7) (18.5%) in the placebo group. We conclude that B vitamins may decrease the plasma level of Abeta40 and have a role in the prevention of AD"
  • Fat in Fish May Help Prevent Dementia - WebMD, 11/13/06 - "participants with the highest DHA levels at the beginning of the study were 47% less likely to get dementia and 39% less likely to get Alzheimer's disease during the study than the rest of the group" - See iHerb DHA products.  My favorite is Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.
  • Plasma Phosphatidylcholine Docosahexaenoic Acid Content and Risk of Dementia and Alzheimer Disease: The Framingham Heart Study - Arch Neurol 2006;63 1545-1550 - "Subjects in the upper quartile of plasma PC DHA levels had a mean DHA intake of 0.18 g/d and a mean fish intake of 3.0 servings per week ... The top quartile of plasma PC DHA level was associated with a significant 47% reduction in the risk of developing all-cause dementia"
  • Can caffeine protect against Alzheimer's? - USA Today, 11/5/06 - "Lesko and others are betting on research suggesting that caffeine will offer protection not just against Alzheimer's, but also against Parkinson's ... Alzheimer-stricken mice that had guzzled caffeine could easily find their way through a maze. Mice that got just water had more signs of brain disease and got confused in the maze"
  • {omega}-3 Fatty Acid Treatment in 174 Patients With Mild to Moderate Alzheimer Disease: OmegAD Study: A Randomized Double-blind Trial - Arch Neurol. 2006 Oct;63(10):1402-8 - "Administration of omega-3 fatty acid in patients with mild to moderate AD did not delay the rate of cognitive decline according to the MMSE or the cognitive portion of the Alzheimer Disease Assessment Scale. However, positive effects were observed in a small group of patients with very mild AD (MMSE >27 points)"
  • Omega-3 Fatty Acids May Slow Cognitive Decline In Some Patients With Very Mild Alzheimer's Disease - Science Daily, 10/11/06 - "For six months, 89 patients (51 women and 38 men) took 1.7 grams of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and .6 grams of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), while 85 patients (39 women and 46 men) took placebo ... among a subgroup of 32 patients with very mild cognitive impairment at the beginning of the study, those who took the fatty acids experienced less decline in six months compared with those who took placebo" - See Mega Twin EPA at iHerb.
  • Diet May Influence Alzheimer's Risk - WebMD, 10/9/06 - "Long suspected of lowering the risk of heart disease and diabetes, the Mediterranean diet consists of large amounts of fruits, vegetables, beans, grains, and nuts. Red meats are eaten only rarely and poultry, eggs, and dairy products are eaten in moderation. Olive oil and fatty fish are the main sources of fat in the diet ... People who most closely adhered to the diet had an Alzheimer's risk that was 40% to 65% lower than people who were least likely to follow the diet"
  • Chemical Found In Curry May Help Immune System Clear Amyloid Plaques Found In Alzheimer's Disease - Science Daily, 10/3/06 - "curcumin -- a chemical found in curry and turmeric -- may help the immune system clear the brain of amyloid beta, which form the plaques found in Alzheimer's disease" - See iHerb curcumin products.
  • Red Wine May Prevent Alzheimer's - WebMD, 9/20/06 - "After seven months of sipping their designated drinks, the mice individually were placed in a maze and challenged to find their way out ... Those in the red wine group performed best. The mice in the ethanol group weren't better at mastering the maze than the teetotalers ... The mice in the red wine group were quicker to adapt to that change"
  • Drinking Juice May Stall Alzheimer's - WebMD, 8/31/06 - "people who drank fruit and vegetable juices more than three times a week were 76% less likely to develop Alzheimer's disease than those who drank juices less than once a week"
  • Calorie Restriction May Prevent Alzheimer's Through Promotion Of Longevity Program In The Brain - Science Daily, 6/14/06 - "a high caloric intake based on saturated fat promotes AD type beta-amyloidosis, while caloric restriction based on reduced carbohydrate intake is able to prevent it"
  • Novel Strategy to Restore Brain Cell Function - Life Extension Magazine, 5/06 - "Alzheimer’s patients taking 300 mg of phosphatidylserine daily performed significantly better on standardized memory tests at the end of the 12-week trial period than did the study participants who received placebo. Importantly, those patients who were the least afflicted by dementia demonstrated the greatest benefit from phosphatidylserine therapy. These results suggest that beginning supplementation very early on, or perhaps even before the appearance of symptoms, can help prevent age-related loss of memory and other cognitive impairments"
  • Mediterranean Diet May Cut Alzheimer's - WebMD, 4/18/06 - "Scores ranged from 0-9, with higher scores showing greater adherence to a Mediterranean diet ... those with middle scores were 15% less likely to have been found to have developed Alzheimer's disease, and those with the highest scores were 40% less likely to have been found to have Alzheimer's disease"
  • Can Exercise Protect Against Alzheimer’s? - Physician's Weekly, 4/17/06 - "the rate of dementia development was significantly lower for those who exercised at least three days a week"
  • Regular Exercise May Delay Alzheimer's - WebMD, 1/17/06
  • Staying active helps keep the mind sharp - MSNBC, 1/16/06 - "healthy people who reported exercising regularly had a 30 to 40 percent lower risk of dementia"
  • Does Green Tea Ingredient Protect Against Alzheimer’s? - Physician's Weekly, 11/28/05 - "The results suggest that an EGCG dietary supplement may help in preventing the disease in the future"
  • High-Fat, Low-Carb Diet May Help Alzheimer's - WebMD, 10/18/05
  • Low Vitamin E Serum Levels Correlate With Dementia Risk - Clinical Psychiatry News, 10/05 - "those individuals in the bottom tertile of vitamin E plasma levels were at significantly higher risk not only of being demented (OR 2.6, 95% CI) but also of having impaired cognitive function (OR 2.2, 95% CI), compared with the highest vitamin E tertile"
  • Fish Fights Aging in the Brain - WebMD, 10/10/05 - "eating fish at least once a week slowed the rate of mental or cognitive decline in elderly people by 10%-13% per year ... Researchers attribute the protective effects of fish on the brain to omega-3 fatty acids" - See Mega Twin EPA at Vitacosticon or iHerb.
  • Obesity at Midlife Raises Dementia Risk Later - WebMD, 10/10/05 - "people who were obese at midlife were nearly 2.5 times more likely to develop dementia more than 20 years later than those who were normal weight ... high blood pressure and total cholesterol levels at midlife also doubled the risk of dementia in later life ... when a person had all three of these risk factors at midlife, the risk of dementia or Alzheimer's disease was six times higher"
  • Preserving and Restoring Brain Function - Life Extension Magazine, 10/05 - "Clinical trials using small groups of patients with cognitive decline demonstrated significant improvements with phosphatidylserine supplementation, especially among patients in the early stages"
  • Antioxidant in Green Tea May Fight Alzheimer's - WebMD, 9/20/05 - "high doses of the green tea ingredient -- known as epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) -- significantly reduced the formation of beta-amyloid proteins in the brains of mice that were altered to develop Alzheimer's disease" - See iHerb or Vitacosticon green tea products.
  • Fatty Acids: Good For The Brain, Good For Alzheimer Disease - Science Daily, 9/11/05 - "DHA can decrease levels of the pathogenic Abeta peptides that are associated with Alzheimer disease pathology in human brain cells"
  • Scientists Discover How Fish Oil Protects the Brain - Intelihealth, 9/9/05 - "docosahexaenoic acid, an omega-3 fatty acid found in coldwater fish such as mackerel, sardines and salmon, reduces levels of a protein known to cause damaging plaques in the brains of Alzheimer's patients"
  • Fish Fat May Help Fight Alzheimer's Disease - WebMD, 9/8/05 - "DHA helped brain cells in two ways: ... Curbing production of beta-amyloid proteins, which are seen in Alzheimer's brain plaque ... Boosting production of another protein called NPD1 that helps brain cells stay alive" - See iHerb or Vitacosticon DHA products.  My favorite is Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.
  • Folates More Effective In Limiting Alzheimer's Disease Risk Than Antioxidants, Other Nutrients - Science Daily, 8/17/05 - "folates appear to have more impact on reducing Alzheimer's risk than vitamin E, a noted antioxidant, and other nutrients considered for their effect as a brain-aging deterrent" - See iHerb or Vitacosticon folic acid products.
  • Folate May Reduce Risk of Alzheimer's Disease - WebMD, 8/15/05 - "older adults whose total folate intake (diet and supplement) equaled or exceeded the 400 microgram RDA reduced their chances of developing Alzheimer's disease by 55%" - See iHerb or Vitacosticon folic acid products.
  • Complementary and Integrative Approaches to Dementia - Medscape, 7/5/05 - "Ginkgo biloba, an herbal product long used in traditional Chinese medicine, has been studied extensively and found to be well tolerated with mild benefit, approximating that of the 2nd generation cholinesterase inhibitors ... Huperzine A is a potent plant-based alkaloid with reversible acetylcholinesterase-inhibitory ... There have been several controlled clinical trials suggesting that ALc slows the progression of AD" - See acetyl l-carnitine at Amazon.com, ginkgo biloba at Amazon.com and huperzine A at Amazon.com.
  • Alzheimer's Risk May Be Cut - washingtonpost.com, 6/20/05 - "Middle-aged sons and daughters of people with Alzheimer's disease may be able to reduce their risk of getting the disorder through lifestyle measures such as exercise, avoiding gum disease, moderate alcohol consumption and drinking fruit and vegetable juice"
  • Fish Oil Holds Promise In Alzheimer's Fight - Science Daily, 5/29/05 - "one group of the mice DHA-fortified chow ... After three to five months--the equivalent of several years in human biology--the high-DHA group had 70-percent less buildup of amyloid protein in the brain" - See iHerb or Vitacosticon DHA products.  My favorite is Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.
  • Preventing Age-Related Cognitive Decline - Life Extension Magazine, 4/05 - "Free radicals are a significant culprit, interfering with energy metabolism, blood flow, and nerve structure and function. Mitochondrial energy boosters, vitamins, hormones, and other antioxidants are effective weapons in the war against oxidative stress, safely enhancing energy production and blood flow, suppressing inflammation, maintaining the structural integrity of nerve cell components, and facilitating neuronal activity"
  • Vitamin E From Food Sources May Reduce Risk of AD - Medscape, 2/11/05 - "High intake of vitamin E from food (tocopherol), but not from supplements (which usually contain α-tocopherol), is inversely associated with Alzheimer disease ... various tocopherol forms rather than ��-tocopherol alone may be important in the vitamin E protective association with Alzheimer disease"
  • Do Carbs, Calories Affect Alzheimer's Risk? - WebMD, 1/13/05 - "mice eating fewer calories and carbohydrates than those allowed to eat all they wanted showed no signs of Alzheimer's-like disease, even though they had been bred to have the condition"
  • Curry Spice May Fight Alzheimer's Disease - WebMD, 1/5/04 - "the curry pigment curcumin slows the formation of, and even destroys, accumulated plaque deposits in mouse brains"
  • DHA Protects Against Alzheimer’s Disease? - Physician's Weekly, 1/3/05 - "DHA intake should be considered as a potential neuroprotective strategy for AD" - See iHerb DHA products.  My favorite is Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.
  • Fewer Calories Could Slow Alzheimer’s - Science Daily, 12/24/04 - "Restricting the diets of mice reduces the build-up of plaques in the brain that are linked to Alzheimer’s disease"
  • Low-Fat Diet May Protect Against Alzheimer's - WebMD, 12/7/04 - "mice fed a low-fat diet rich in the omega-3 fatty acids found in fish and soy, produced more of a protein that helps eliminate the amyloid peptides that cause plaque in the brain"
  • Food for thought: Can diet protect memory? - MSNBC, 12/6/04 - "research increasingly suggests that diet may be important in preventing Alzheimer's ... older dogs fed a diet rich in antioxidants over several years were able to perform tasks — and learn new tricks — far better than fellow canines fed a normal diet ... scientists believe that curcumin, a spice used in India and known for its anti-inflammatory effects, may prevent memory loss"
  • Good for the heart, good for the brain - MSNBC, 12/6/04 - "While diets high in cholesterol are bad for the brain, getting plenty of omega 3 fatty acids, found primarily in fish, is vital for a healthy noggin ... In particular, a component of omega 3 fatty acids known as DHA, or docosahexaenoic acid, is key"
  • Can Curcumin Prevent Alzheimer's Disease? - Life Extension Magazine, 12/04
  • Apples May Ward Off Alzheimer's Disease - WebMD, 11/18/04 - "The results suggest that quercetin "contributes significantly" to the protection of brain cells from free radicals in conditions like Alzheimer's disease" - See iHerb quercetin products.
  • Mental Exercises Slow Alzheimer's Disease - WebMD, 10/27/04
  • Black, Green Tea May Slow Alzheimer's Disease - WebMD, 10/27/04
  • A Pill to Prevent Alzheimer's? - Dr. Weil, 9/30/04
  • Testosterone Loss May Raise Alzheimer's Risk - WebMD, 9/24/04 [Science Daily] - "testosterone levels were significantly lower in the men with Alzheimer's disease compared with the men who did not have the disease ... the findings are significant because only testosterone levels appeared related to Alzheimer's risk ... It protects neurons from injury, and it reduces levels of beta-amyloid, the protein widely implicated as a causal factor in the disease"
  • Physical Activity, Including Walking, Associated With Better Mental Functioning in Older Women - Doctor's Guide, 9/22/04 - "higher levels of physical activity, including walking, are associated with better cognitive function and less cognitive decline"
  • Walking May Protect Elderly Men From Dementia, New Study By U. Va. Researcher Shows - Science Daily, 9/22/04 - "Elderly men who are sedentary or walk less than a quarter of a mile per day are nearly twice as likely to develop dementia and Alzheimer's disease compared to men who walk more than two miles per day"
  • Long-Term Use of Beta Carotene Beneficial - Clinical Psychiatry News, 9/04 - "there was a highly significant improvement in cognitive scores—particularly in verbal memory—among the 2,029 men with long-term exposure to the supplements, compared with the 2,020 who had been taking placebo for nearly two decades"
  • Lifestyle Changes Could Cut Alzheimer's Cases - HealthDay, 9/9/04 - "he put 10 people on a lifestyle program that includes mental exercise, physical exercise, stress reduction, and a "healthy brain" diet, including such foods as fish that are rich in healthy fats ... In just two weeks, 75 percent of those on the program had a 20 to 30 percent improvement in memory scores"
  • Why Fish Seems to Prevent Alzheimer's Damage - WebMD, 9/1/04 - "DHA may prevent or slow Alzheimer's progression by protecting against damage to the area where brain cells communicate" - See iHerb or Vitacosticon DHA products.  My favorite is Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.
  • Diet, Activity May Help Prevent Alzheimer's - WebMD, 7/19/04 - "eating vegetables (especially broccoli or spinach), staying active mentally and socially, and keeping a trim waistline can all help prevent or delay Alzheimer's disease"
  • Curry May Protect Aging Brain - WebMD, 4/19/04 - "Small doses of curry could help protect the brain against Alzheimer's disease -- at least that's the effect in rats" - See iHerb curry products.
  • Memory enhancer named best new ingredient - Functional Foods and Nutraceuticals, 4/04 - "Citicoline is a form of choline that helps replenish the brain with phosphatidylserine ... In a double-blind trial of 84 elderly patients with mild to moderate memory loss, subjects who took 1000mg of citicoline daily for six weeks showed improvement in the acquisition of new information and its recall and improvement in global memory efficiency"
  • Vitamins to Prevent Alzheimer’s? - Dr. Weil, 3/15/04
  • Health Benefits of Folic Acid - PowerPak.com (CME), exp. 11/15/05 - "there is growing evidence to suggest that folic acid supplementation may be beneficial in patients with depression, as well as those with dementia and Alzheimer's disease"
  • High DHA Intake Linked to Less Alzheimer's, Other Dementia - Clinical Psychiatry News, 3/04 - "People who ate an average of 180 mg or more a day of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), a fatty acid found in fish oil, had about 40% less Alzheimer's disease and other dementia, compared with people who consumed less DHA" - See iHerb DHA products.  My favorite is Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.
  • Vitamin Supplement Use May Reduce Effects Of Alzheimer's Disease - Doctor's Guide, 1/20/04
  • Vitamins C and E May Lower Alzheimer's Risk - WebMD, 1/20/04
  • Reduced Risk of Alzheimer Disease in Users of Antioxidant Vitamin Supplements - Arch Neurol. 2004;61:82-88 - "Conclusions Use of vitamin E and vitamin C supplements in combination is associated with reduced prevalence and incidence of AD. Antioxidant supplements merit further study as agents for the primary prevention of AD"
  • Chelation Therapy May Ease Alzheimer's - WebMD, 12/15/03
  • Eat Your B's - Wellness Insider, 11/25/03 - "In the elderly population, B12 deficiencies are not uncommon and can result in an impaired cognitive state that closely mimics Alzheimer's disease" - See iHerb vitamin B12 products.
  • Fish And N-3 Fatty Acids Reduce Risk Of Alzheimer’s Disease - Life Extension Foundation, 11/03 - "A new study, from the Rush-Presbyterian, St. Lukes Medical Center, in Chicago, shows that people who consumed at least one serving of fish a week dramatically reduced their risk of Alzheimer’s disease, compared to those who rarely or never ate fish. Dietary intake of omega-3 fatty acids had a similar risk-lowering effect" - See Mega Twin EPA at iHerb.
  • Leisure Activity May Prevent Alzheimer's - WebMD, 10/2/02
  • Antioxidants May Protect Women From Alzheimer's - Clinical Psychiatry News, 10/03 - "Compared with women in the lowest quartile of overall antioxidant consumption, those in the highest quartile had an OR of 0.39 for Alzheimer's disease ... When their diets were analyzed for specific antioxidants, women who consumed the most vitamin C and lycopene also had a significantly lower risk of cognitive decline"
  • Prevent Alzheimer's With Healthy Living - WebMD, 9/12/03 - "The same risk factors linked to heart disease and stroke -- high blood pressure, high cholesterol, sedentary lifestyle, smoking, and diabetes -- also increase the risk of Alzheimer's disease ... statins, and in particular, Lipitor, help destroy the other telltale sign of Alzheimer's disease -- increased levels of amyloid, a sticky substance not unlike cholesterol that forms plaques in the brain ... Deal with depression, now ... Try to limit "free radical" damage"  - Note:  Red yeast rice is a non-prescription statin.  See iHerb red yeast rice products.
  • Herb Sage Improves Memory - WebMD, 8/28/03 - "44 healthy, young adults took either sage oil capsules or a placebo. The participants then took a series of word recall tests ... The people who had taken the sage oil consistently had better word recall -- a sign that sage may help improve memory ... sage's antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties could be valuable in Alzheimer's treatment" - See iHerb sage products.
  • Study Supports Potential of Nonsteroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs to Protect Against Alzheimer's - Doctor's Guide, 7/22/03 - "The pooled combined data from the cohort and case-control studies showed a relative risk of Alzheimer's disease was 0.72 among NSAID users ... The analysis specific to aspirin users included eight studies that showed a pooled relative risk of 0.87 for developing Alzheimer's disease"
  • Fish Once a Week Cuts Alzheimer's Risk - WebMD, 7/21/03 - "Weekly fish eaters had a 60% lower risk of Alzheimer's than people who rarely or never ate fish ... The beneficial effects of [fatty acids] from fish may be counterbalanced by toxins ... A high antioxidant/low saturated fat diet pattern with a greater amount of fish, chicken, fruits, and vegetables and less red meat and dairy products is likely to lower the risk of AD, as well as that for heart disease and stroke ... Furthermore, B vitamin supplements, containing vitamins B12 and B6 and folic acid, lower plasma total homocysteine levels, possibly decreasing the risk of stroke, heart disease and perhaps Alzheimer's disease" - See Mega Twin EPA at iHerb.
  • Disappointing Data Confound Claims For DHEA Effectiveness [against Alzheimer's] - Psychiatric News, 6/6/03 - "Twenty-eight patients were blindly chosen to receive 50 mg of DHEA twice a day for six months ... The dose of DHEA, Wolkowtiz said, was targeted to achieve blood levels of the hormone at or slightly above the top of the normal range of DHEA levels found in healthy young adults ... numerically, DHEA did have a benefit on cognitive ratings, but overall, on the CIBIC-Plus, there was no significant benefit shown ... at three months, the DHEA group, compared with placebo, showed a trend toward improvement on the ADAS-Cog, but the improvement only narrowly missed being statistically significant ... DHEA has been reported to reduce cortisol, the so-called "stress hormone," which in response to stress is released in large quantities that have been linked to neuronal stress and damage" -  Does anyone detect bias in that title?  I don't know if DHEA helps Alzheimer's or not but I feel the title should have been something like "Alzheimer's Shows Trend Toward Improvement with DHEA at 3 Months".  Their attitude seems to be that nothing works except what we write prescriptions for.  The way I understand it, Alzheimer's usually gets worse, not better and cholinesterase inhibitors slow the disease, they don't reverse it and three months is a short time to determine if it is working.  For example, see the following  in the same issue of Clinical Psychiatry News.  See iHerb DHEA products. - Ben
  • NSAIDs May Protect Against Alzheimer's - Clinical Psychiatry News, 6/03 - "Long-term use of NSAIDs—24 months or longer—was associated with a significant protective effect"
  • NSAIDs No Help as Alzheimer's Treatment - WebMD, 6/3/03 - "Aisen's team tested the two drugs in 351 patients with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's disease. They looked for signs that the drugs might slow mental decline or improve quality of life ... There was "no consistent benefit of either treatment,""
  • Novelty Seeking Tied to Lower Alzheimer's Risk - Clinical Psychiatry News, 6/03
  • Hyperhomocysteinemia and Vitamin Score: Correlations with Silent Brain Ischemic Lesions and Brain Atrophy - Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders 2003;16:39-45 - "In subjects with minor brain ischemic lesions (n = 21), tHcy was higher by 5.6 µM, whereas vitamin score and cognitive function were lower than in controls"
  • NSAIDs and Amyloid Plaques Have Close Relationship - Psychiatric News, 5/2/03
  • Plasma vitamin C, cholesterol and homocysteine are associated with grey matter volume determined by MRI in non-demented old people - Neurosci Lett 2003 May 8;341(3):173-6 - "We found that lower grey matter volume was associated with lower plasma vitamin C and higher homocysteine, cholesterol and LDL. Lower blood cell folate was also associated with lower grey matter volume ... These data are consistent with the putative benefits of dietary vitamin C and folate intake and the role of cholesterol in age related neurodegeneration"
  • Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs Appear To Protect Against Alzheimer's - Doctor's Guide, 4/1/03 - "compared with non-users, people who took any type of NSAID were 28% less likely to develop Alzheimer's, which was statistically significant. But, among aspirin-only users, the risk of Alzheimer's was cut by 13%, which was not significant" - See ibuprofen at Amazon.com and aspirin at Amazon.com.
  • NSAIDS May Help in Alzheimer's Prevention - WebMD, 4/1/03 - "For those using aspirin, the reduction in risk was 13%, a finding that was not considered significant ... Those on an NSAID for one to 23 months had a risk reduction of 17%, and those termed long-term users, beyond 23 months, reduced the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease by 73%" - See ibuprofen at Amazon.com and aspirin at Amazon.com.
  • High-dose antioxidant supplements and cognitive function in community-dwelling elderly women - Am. J. of Clin. Nutr., 4/03 - "Long-term, current users of vitamin E with vitamin C had significantly better mean performance, as judged by a global score that combined individual test scores, than did women who had never used vitamin E or C (P = 0.03); there was a trend for increasingly higher mean scores with increasing durations of use (P = 0.04). These associations were strongest among women with low dietary intakes of alpha-tocopherol. Benefits were less consistent for women taking vitamin E alone, with no evidence of higher scores with longer durations of use. Use of specific vitamin C supplements alone had little relation to performance on our cognitive tests"
  • Cognitive decline and fatty acid composition of erythrocyte membranes - Am. J. of Clinical Nutr., 4/03 - "studied the relation between erythrocyte membrane fatty acid composition and cognitive decline in free-living volunteers ... Higher proportions of both stearic acid (saturated, 18:0) and total n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids were associated with greater risk of cognitive decline ... Conversely, a higher proportion of total n-3 fatty acids was associated with a lower risk of cognitive decline"
  • Alzheimer's Disease and Dementia: Vitamins Can Help Prevent - WebMD, 2/28/03 - "High levels of a substance in the blood called homocysteine tops the list of potentially new risk factors for heart disease, stroke, and now dementia. A new study suggests that high homocysteine levels are linked with mental declines associated with Alzheimer's disease in elderly people ... High homocysteine levels can be treated very easily with vitamins, including folate, niacin, and B-12"
  • Dietary Fats and the Risk of Incident Alzheimer Disease - Archives of Neurology, 2/03 - "Intakes of saturated fat and trans-unsaturated fat were positively associated with risk of Alzheimer disease, whereas intakes of -6 polyunsaturated fat and monounsaturated fat were inversely associated. Persons in the upper fifth of saturated-fat intake had 2.2 times the risk of incident Alzheimer disease compared with persons in the lowest fifth" - See the tables on my fatty acids page.  For example, palm oil is 51% saturated fat while canola oil is 8% saturated.
  • NSAID Use Linked to Lower Incidence of Alzheimer's - Clinical Psychiatry News, 1/03 - "The largest reduction in risk was among former users of NSAIDs or aspirin who had taken the medications for 2 years or more. The incidence of Alzheimer's disease in that group was 29% of the rate seen in nonusers"
  • Eating Fish May Prevent Dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease - New Hope Natural Media, 12/12/02 - "People who consumed fish or seafood at least once a week reduced their risk of developing dementia and Alzheimer’s disease by 34% and 31%, respectively, compared with those who never ate fish ... Nutritional supplements that may help slow the progression of dementia or AD include acetyl-L-carnitine, vitamin E, thiamine (vitamin B1), melatonin, Ginkgo biloba and Huperzine A"
  • Ginkgo for Alzheimer's Disease - Clinical Psychiatry News, 12/02 - "A 4-point gain on the ADAS-Cog is roughly equivalent to a 6-month delay in disease progression. “It is noteworthy that 29% of the patients with Alzheimer's disease treated with EGb for at least 26 weeks improved by 4 or more points, compared with 13% treated with the placebo,” ... In a German multicenter study, 156 patients with Alzheimer's or multi-infarct dementia were randomized to 240 mg/day of EGb 761 or placebo; efficacy was assessed by three validated scales. By the end of the 24-week study, 28% of patients in the ginkgo group were classified as responders, compared with 10% in the placebo group, a significant difference" - I've got that, see ginkgo biloba at Amazon.com.
  • Bright Light, Aromatherapy Ease Dementia - WebMD, 12/5/02
  • Iron Deficiency Harms Brain - WebMD, 11/8/02 - "Too little iron may be the cause of at least some cases of Alzheimer's disease ... As people age, their red blood cells have less of the stuff that makes them red. It's called heme, a cellular form of iron ... It's fairly common for people to get too little iron or vitamin B6 in their diets. Exposure to aluminum or other toxic metals is also quite common. All these things block heme in brain cells" - See iHerb and Vitacosticon iron products.
  • Eating Fish Cuts Risk of Dementia - WebMD, 10/24/02 - "Those who ate fish or seafood at least once a week had a significantly lower risk of being diagnosed with dementia during the seven-year study period ... The fatty acids in fish oils provide protection for arteries, which could improve blood flow to the brain. In addition, the fatty acids may reduce inflammation in the brain. They may also have a specific role in brain development and regeneration of nerve cells, the authors suggest" - See Twinlab Mega Twin EPA at Amazon.com  or Vitacosticon.
  • Further Evidence Of Fish Consumption Link To Lower Alzheimer Risk - Doctor's Guide, 10/24/02
  • Antioxidants May Reduce Alzheimer's Disease Risk - Clinical Psychiatry News, 10/02 - "Use of vitamins E and C together—which is what most subjects did—was associated with an eightfold reduction in prevalence and a fivefold lower incidence of Alzheimer's disease"
  • More Antioxidants, Less Fat May Reduce Alzheimer's Risk - Clinical Psychiatry News, 10/02 - "Data are now strong enough to recommend a dietary strategy for reducing Alzheimer's disease (AD) risk that includes low fat intake and high consumption of fish and antioxidants, along with vitamin E, folic acid, and vitamins B6 and B12 supplements"
  • MEDLINE Abstracts: Antioxidants and the Aging Brain - Medscape, 9/27/02 - "Combinations of antioxidants might be of even greater potential benefit for AD, especially if the agents worked in different cellular compartments or had complementary activity (e.g. vitamins E, C and ubiquinone). Naturally-occurring compounds with antioxidant capacity are available and widely marketed (e.g. vitamin C, ubiquinone, lipoic acid, beta-carotene, creatine, melatonin, curcumin) and synthetic compounds are under development by industry" - Again, a broad spectrum of anti-oxidants, not just one or two.
  • Exercise, Eating to Enhance Memory? - Dr. Weil, 9/26/02 - "We know that the incidence of Alzheimer’s is higher than normal among people whose diets are high in saturated fat, which causes free radical damage leading to inflammation of the brain. On the other hand, omega-3 fatty acids found in salmon, sardines and flax seeds appear to be protective. Blueberries are another food that seems to help ... Dr. Khalsa explains that in addition to age, chronic stress can harm the hippocampus via the release of high levels of the hormone cortisol from the adrenal gland"
  • Pain Relievers May Prevent Alzheimer's - WebMD, 9/23/02 - "The study found people who took aspirin or other NSAIDs for more than two years before the study began were 45% less likely to develop Alzheimer's than those who didn't. And the longer the participants had taken the drugs, the more protected they were against the disease ... previous studies have suggested that aspirin and other NSAIDs might protect against Alzheimer's disease by reducing inflammation in the brain ... their findings show that the beneficial effects of NSAIDs in preventing Alzheimer's take a long time to accumulate and don't become apparent until years later"
  • Phosphatidylserine (PS) The Essential Brain Nutrient - Life Extension Magazine, 9/02 - "In Alzheimer's disease, phosphatidylserine has been said to influence changes in the brain that can help alleviate the symptoms of senile dementia related to this disease"
  • Eat Your Way to a Healthy Brain - WebMD, 7/25/02 - "carrots, broccoli, and fish really are good for your brain, especially if you want to protect it from Alzheimer's disease ... High fat and high salt are two components of a brain-unhealthy diet, but the main problem is "eating too much meat," ... Trying to eliminate all fat from the diet is a mistake, says Petot, because both mind and body need a diet that gets 25-30% of its calories from fat ... people who have the Alzheimer's gene and eat a high-fat diet during their 40s are seven times more likely to develop Alzheimer's than people who don't have the gene. When these same genetically predisposed people ate a low-fat diet in midlife, their risk of developing Alzheimer's dropped to four and a half times that of people without the ApoE gene" - Something for the Atkin's diet people to think about. - Ben
  • High Dose Vitamin E Appears to Reduce Alzheimer's Risk - Doctor's Guide, 7/24/02 - "An analysis of data from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging suggests that vitamin E intake is associated with a statistically significant reduction in the risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD) ... People with the highest quartile of vitamin E intake, 46.5 mg, had a 26 percent reduction in risk for developing AD."
  • Antioxidants Fight Alzheimer's - WebMD, 6/25/02
  • An Indian Spice for Alzheimer’s? - Dr. Weil, 6/12/02 - "Curcumin blocked the accumulation of beta-amaloid plaque and also appeared to reduce inflammation related to Alzheimer’s disease in neurologic tissue. The rats fed curcumin also performed better on memory tests than rats on normal diets ... Researchers at the University of Illinois have also found that it helps prevent plaque formation. And preliminary studies at Vanderbilt University suggest that curcumin may block the progression of multiple sclerosis ... only low dose curcumin reduced plaque in the Alzheimer’s disease studies ... Turmeric appears to have significant anti-inflammatory and cancer-protective effects as well"
  • Low Vitamin B Status Prevalent In Alzheimer Patients - Doctor's Guide, 6/4/02 - "low vitamin B6 status is prevalent in patients with AD"
  • High Oxidative Stress, Low Antioxidant Status In Alzheimer Disease - Doctor's Guide, 6/3/02 - "Lymphocyte DNA 8-OHdG content in people AD may thus reflect a condition of increased oxidative stress related to a poor antioxidant status ... researchers also noted a significant inverse relationship between lymphocyte DNA 8-OHdG content [a marker of oxidative damage to DNA] and plasma levels of lycopene, lutein, a-carotene and b-carotene, respectively"
  • Vitamins Fight Alzheimer's - WebMD, 5/28/02 - "There's new evidence that a substance found in blood can cause the type of brain and blood vessel deterioration that leads to dementia. But those same studies also show that taking certain vitamins can lower levels of this substance -- homocysteine -- and ward off the damage, possibly preventing Alzheimer's disease ... This is exciting information, because homocysteine levels can be reduced by taking the vitamins B6, B12, and folic acid"
  • Active Life Keeps Brain Healthy - WebMD, 5/21/02 - "An active lifestyle -- even if begun only in middle age -- spurs brain-cell growth and lowers risk of Alzheimer's disease ... In another study published in the same issue of the Annals of Neurology, researchers find that a particular chemical in the blood may be linked to Alzheimer's and other dementing diseases ... The chemical is called hs-CRP. It is a sign of inflammation -- the body's protective response to injury or infection" - See my inflammation page for natural ways to reduce it.
  • Lymphocyte Oxidative DNA Damage and Plasma Antioxidants in Alzheimer Disease - Archives of Neurology, 5/02 - "Markers of oxidative damage are increased in AD and correlate with decreased levels of plasma antioxidants. These findings suggest that lymphocyte DNA 8-OHdG content in patients with AD reflects a condition of increased oxidative stress related to a poor antioxidant status"
  • Serum Folate And Estradiol Levels Interact In Alzheimer's Disease - Doctor's Guide, 5/13/02 - "a high ratio of estradiol to total estrogens is linked with AD. At the same time, in women with a high ratio, the severity of dementia is lower in those with high serum folate levels ... If this association is causal, then supplementation with folic acid may have a role in future studies of estrogen replacement therapy (ERT) in Alzheimer's disease (AD)"
  • Nutrition Affects Thinking in Elderly - WebMD, 4/25/02 - "In this study of healthy elderly people, higher concentrations of folic acid and vitamin B-12 were associated with increased memory and thinking ability"
  • Folic Acid May Help Prevent Alzheimer's - WebMD, 3/1/02
  • Folic Acid Possibly A Key Factor In Alzheimer's Disease Prevention - Intelihealth, 3/1/02
  • In Praise of Folic Acid - Time Magazine, 2/25/02 - "folic acid plays a crucial role in the development of just about every cell in the body ... subjects who had high levels of a particular amino acid called homocysteine in their blood were twice as likely to develop Alzheimer's as those who didn't. The finding is important because one of the easiest ways to lower homocysteine levels is to get plenty of folic acid ... There is no risk of overdose, although high levels of folic acid can mask the signs of pernicious anemia in people who have developed the disorder" - The way I understand it, taking vitamin B12 with the folic acid will avoid that problem. - Ben
  • Participation in Cognitively Stimulating Activities and Risk of Incident Alzheimer Disease - JAMA, 2/13/02 - "These results suggest that frequent participation in cognitively stimulating activities is associated with reduced risk of AD"
  • New Alzheimer's Risk Factor Identified - WebMD, 2/13/02 - "High blood levels of a substance called homocysteine have been linked to an increased risk for both heart attack and stroke. Now, new research finds it to be a major risk factor for Alzheimer's disease and other age-related dementias ... It is known that B-vitamins like folic acid, B-6, and B-12 lower homocysteine levels"
  • Vitamin C Powers Up Pills - HealthScout, 2/1/02
  • Alcohol Helps Guard Against Dementia - WebMD, 1/24/02 - "One to three drinks a day decreased the chance of developing Alzheimer's disease by more than 30%"
  • Study Indicates Moderate Drinking Could Ward Off Dementia - Intelihealth, 1/24/02
  • Leisure Activity Decreases Risk Of Alzheimer's Disease - Doctor's Guide, 12/27/01 - "Even when controlling for factors like ethnic group, education and occupation, subjects with high leisure activity had 38 percent less risk of developing dementia ... the study also showed that participation in leisure activities may have a cumulative effect, with an additional 8 percent risk reduction associated with each leisure activity engaged ... intellectual activities were associated with highest risk reduction"
  • Antioxidant Boosts Cognitive Function In Alzheimer's Patients - Intelihealth, 11/15/01 - "the antioxidant N-acetylcysteine (NAC) may improve certain cognitive skills in people with Alzheimer's disease ... Although participants in the NAC group did not outperform placebo patients in day-to-day activities, they did fare significantly better than the placebo group on certain cognitive tests"
  • Everbody's Getting Alzheimer's, Decline Can Happen Fast in Those Over 65 - WebMD, 11/12/01 - "We know that dementia is extremely common, especially as we age ... He recommends 800IU twice a day for people who are already have dementia; for older people at risk, 400IU twice a day. Younger people and people at low risk are advised to take 400 IU once a day"
  • Alcohol's effect on the brain a 'mixed' bag - USA Today, 9/6/01 - "Moderate drinking may reduce the risk of certain types of stroke and scarring in the core of elderly people's brains, a study found. But alcohol may also promote shrinkage of the brain — a condition seen in Alzheimer's patients"
  • Soy for Alzheimer's - Life Extension Magazine, 6/01
  • Alzheimer's Disease May Be Linked to Deficiencies in Vitamin B12 or Folate - Doctor's Guide, 5/8/01 - "Study authors theorized that vitamin B12 or folate deficiencies affect Alzheimer's disease by influencing neurotransmitters or the levels of the amino acid homocysteine in the body. Either vitamin B12 or folate deficiency can increase homocysteine levels. Homocysteine has a neurotoxic effect that could lead to cell death or neurological conditions such as Alzheimer's disease"
  • Exercise Shown to Help Keep Elderly Minds More Alert - WebMD, 4/10/01 - "after taking into consideration factors such as age, sex, and level of education, people who engaged in all levels of physical activity from low to high had lower risks for thinking impairment, and were also less likely to have Alzheimer's disease or other forms of dementia"
  • Sustain the Brain - Nutrition Science News, 2/01 - "In a double-blind Italian study, 236 elderly patients with mild senility were treated with either 1,500 mg ALC or placebo. The ALC group showed significant improvements in memory and cognition compared with controls"
  • Diet may play role in Alzheimer's - USA Today, 2/14/01
  • Can L-carnitine help reverse Alzheimer's disease? - Nutrition Science News, 8/00 - "The use of acetyl-L-carnitine at 1 g three times a day provided statistically significant benefit in slowing the cognitive decline in those patients with early onset of the disease--61 years of age or younger"
  • Alzheimer's: Take Two Ibuprofen and Call Me in the Morning? - WebMD, 8/10/00 - "Taking a few tablets of ibuprofen every day may help prevent Alzheimer's disease"
  • Ginkgo Extract Efficacious for Alzheimer's/Dementia - Medscape, 8/3/00 - "New analysis of the breakthrough study published in The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) shows that a patented Ginkgo biloba extract, EGb 761, effectively improves the mental function of patients with Alzheimer's disease and multi-infarct dementia within the first 26 weeks of treatment"
  • Diets High in Antioxidants May Reduce Risk of Alzheimer's Disease - WebMD, 7/12/00
  • An active life helps to ward off Alzheimer's disease - Doctor's Guide, 5/4/00
  • A Heart-Healthy Lifestyle Can Greatly Decrease Your Risk of Dementia - WebMD, 5/3/00
  • Diet May Prevent Alzheimer's Disease - Doctor's Guide, 4/9/00
  • Contradictory reports on vitamin E raise questions - CNN, 3/29/00
  • Alzheimer's Disease - Life Enhancement Magazine, 8/99
  • Current status of antioxidant therapy for Alzheimer's Disease - J Am Geriatr Soc 1998 Dec;46(12):1566-72
  • Integrated medicine and the prevention and reversal of memory loss - Altern Ther Health Med 1998 Nov;4(6):38-43 - "The program includes a diet consisting of 15% fat and supplementation with brain-specific nutrients such as vitamin B complex, vitamin E, ubiquinone, ginkgo biloba, and phosphatidylserine. In addition, stress-relieving meditation, mind-body and cognitive exercise, antiaging drugs like L-deprenyl citrate, as well as hormones such as dehydroepiandrosterone and pregnenolone complete the program"
  • Regular Physical Activity May Protect Against Alzheimer's Disease - Doctor's Guide, 4/29/98
  • Study: 'Memory herb' helped some Alzheimer's patients- CNN, 10/21/97

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