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Recent Longevity News for the seven days ending 10/7/09.  You should consult your doctor if you are taking any medications.

Future Diabetes Treatment May Use Resveratrol To Target The Brain - Science Daily, 10/6/09 - "the brain plays a key role in mediating resveratrol's anti-diabetic actions, potentially paving the way for future orally-delivered diabetes medications that target the brain ... Resveratrol activates sirtuins, a class of proteins that are thought to underlie many of the beneficial effects of calorie restriction" - See resveratrol products at Amazon.com.

Eating Licorice In Pregnancy May Affect A Child's IQ And Behavior - Science Daily. 10/6/09 - "Expectant mothers who eat excessive quantities of licorice during pregnancy could adversely affect their child's intelligence and behavior ... They were also more likely to have poor attention spans and show disruptive behavior such as ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) ... It is thought that a component in licorice called glycyrrhizin may impair the placenta, allowing stress hormones to cross from the mother to the baby"

Drivers Of Convertibles May Be At Risk For Noise-induced Hearing Loss - Science Daily, 10/6/09 - "Drivers who frequently take to the road with the top down may be risking serious damage to their hearing"

How Soy Reduces Diabetes Risk - Science Daily, 10/6/09 - "They found that daidzein and equol enhanced adipocyte differentiation, or the formation of fat cells, through activation of a key transcription regulator, the same receptor that mediates the insulin-sensitizing effects of anti-diabetes drugs. Thus, daidzein and equol daidzein and equol seem to work in a similar manner as anti-diabetic drugs currently in the market"

Click here of a 10/5/09 news clip (I put it on YouTube) that claims that metformin may provide the same anti-aging benefits as calorie restriction (you won't need to look like a POW).  Metformin is another one I take for anti-aging.  In addition to the calorie restriction type benefits, see my Insulin and Aging page.

Curcumin May Inhibit Nicotine-induced Activation Of Head And Neck Cancers - Science Daily, 10/4/09 - "HNSCC cells were pre-treated with curcumin and then nicotine was introduced. The results of the studies showed that the curcumin was able to block the nicotine from activating cancer ... Although nicotine itself has not been shown to be carcinogenic, it has been shown to encourage the cancer-forming process" - See curcumin products at Amazon.com.

Vitamin D May Help Prevent Falls - WebMD, 10/2/09 - "Taking vitamin D supplements, at a dose of 700-1,000 international units per day, may make falling 19% less likely for people aged 65 and older" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.

Speaking, Eating Possible After Tonsil Cancer Surgery With Reconstruction - Science Daily, 10/2/09 - "A new technique for reconstructing the palate after surgery for tonsil cancer maintained patients' ability to speak clearly and eat most foods" - Note: I don't know how new that is.  They were talking about doing something like that with me four and a half years ago.  I have a slight problem swallowing if I eat dry chicken or meat but my voice is fine.

Serum Uric Acid Linked With Development of Type 2 Diabetes - Science Daily, 10/2/09 - "The pooled crude relative risk (RR) of a 1 mg/dL increase in serum uric acid was 1.17"

High Fiber Intake Linked to Reduced Risk of Breast Cancer - Science Daily, 10/2/09 - "Relative to the lowest quintile of total fiber intake, the highest quintile was associated with a 13% decreased risk of breast cancer"

High-Dose Vitamin D Supplement May Reduce Risk of Falling Among Older People - Medscape, 10/1/09 - "Supplemental vitamin D in a dose of 700-1000 IU a day reduced the risk of falling among older individuals by 19% and to a similar degree as active forms of vitamin D" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.

'Anti-Atkins' Low Protein Diet Extends Lifespan In Flies - Science Daily, 10/1/09 - Science Daily, 10/1/09 - "Flies fed an "anti-Atkins" low protein diet live longer because their mitochondria function better"

'Natural Killer' Cells Keep Immune System In Balance - Science Daily, 10/1/09 - "the natural killer, or NK cells, help prevent T cells from over-responding when a virus hits. This balance helps prevent T cells, which ordinarily serve the immune system, from causing harm"

Low-Cost Drugs Prevent Heart Attack, Stroke - WebMD, 10/1/09 - "Besides being encouraged to take a daily aspirin, patients were prescribed a medication bundle, typically lovastatin (40 milligrams a day) to lower cholesterol and lisinopril (20 milligrams a day) to lower blood pressure ... Compared with the no-exposure group, the low-exposure group (whose members picked up medicines less than half the time) had a 60% reduction in hospitalizations for heart attack and stroke"

Oxidized Form Of A Common Vitamin May Bring Relief For Ulcerative Colitis - Science Daily, 10/1/09 - "Here's another reason why you should take your vitamins. A new research report appearing in the October 2009 print issue of the Journal of Leukocyte Biology suggests that retinoic acid, the oxidized form of vitamin A, could be a beneficial treatment for people suffering from ulcerative colitis and other irritable bowel diseases"

Eating Sweets Every Day In Childhood 'Increases Adult Aggression' - Science Daily, 10/1/09 - "69 per cent of the participants who were violent at the age of 34 had eaten sweets and chocolate nearly every day during childhood, compared to 42% who were non-violent"

Probiotics may protect against gum disease: Yakult study - Nutra USA, 9/30/09 - "One group was required to drink 65 ml of Yakult daily, giving a daily probiotic dose of 100 billion bacteria per 100 ml. The other group was given no product to consume at all ... analysis of the fluid between the gum and the tooth (gingival crevicular fluid) showed that the probiotic was associated with reductions were in elastase activity, and enzyme linked to inflammation, and matrix metalloproteinase-3 (MMP-3), an enzyme that is responsible for the degradation of extracellular matrix components and known to have increased activity during inflammation" - [Abstract] - See probiotics at Amazon.com.

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):

Pioglitazone Reduces ER Stress in the Liver: Direct Monitoring of in vivo ER Stress Using ER Stress-activated Indicator Transgenic Mice - Endocr J. 2009 Sep 29 - "8 weeks of pioglitazone treatment reduced the accumulation of fat droplets in the liver and attenuated the development of insulin resistance. In the liver of the ERAI transgenic mice, ERAI fluorescence activity was clearly reduced as early as after 4 weeks of pioglitazone treatment, preceding the improvement of insulin resistance. In addition, after the pioglitazone treatment, serum free fatty acid and triglyceride levels were decreased, and serum adiponectin levels were increased. These data indicate that pioglitazone treatment suppresses ER stress in the liver which may explain, at least in part, the pharmacological effects of pioglitazone to reduce insulin resistance" - Note: Pioglitazone is one that I take for anti-aging. See my Insulin and Aging page. See pioglitazone at OffshoreRx1.com.

Neuroendocrine characterization and anorexigenic effects of telmisartan in diet- and glitazone-induced weight gain - Metabolism. 2009 Sep 28 - "Telmisartan prevents weight gain and decreases food intake in models of obesity and in glitazone-treated rodents" - Note:  That might be another reason for using telmisartan as a first line treatment for hypertension.

The influence of a probiotic milk drink on the development of gingivitis: a pilot study - J Clin Periodontol. 2009 Oct;36(10):850-6 - "Interproximal PI and papillary bleeding were not different between the groups. In the test group, elastase activity and MMP-3 amount were significantly lower after the intake of the probiotic milk drink (p<0.001 and 0.016). There was a significant increase of MPO activity in the control group; both groups were different at the end of the study (p=0.014). CONCLUSIONS: The data suggest a beneficial effect of the probiotic milk drink on gingival inflammation" - See probiotics at Amazon.com.

Health Focus (Memory Loss):

Related Topics:

Popular Supplements:

Alternative News:

  • Age-Associated Mental Impairment - Life Extension Magazine
  • Memory and Focus - natmedonline.com
  • Memory Loss - Dr. Weil
  • High-Carb, High-Fat Diets Better for Cognitive Performance - Medscape, 9/1/09 - "Diets high in carbohydrates or fat can lead to significantly better cognitive-performance and inflight-testing scores in pilots than diets high in protein"
  • '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"
  • 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.
  • Exercise Cuts Decline in Mental Skills - WebMD, 7/13/09 - "sedentary older people who began new exercise programs curbed their rate of cognitive decline, especially when it came to the ability to process complex information quickly ... people who were consistently sedentary had the worst mental skills. On a standard test that measures overall cognitive function, including memory, attention span and problem-solving, "they scored the worst at the beginning and experienced the fastest rate of cognitive decline,""
  • DHA Appears Beneficial for Patients Diagnosed With Mild Cognitive Impairment - Doctor's Guide, 7/13/09 - "Algal DHA appears to have a significant impact on early episodic memory changes and its benefits are roughly equivalent to having the learning and memory skills of someone 3 years younger" - [WebMD] - See Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.
  • Soy may help men remember anniversaries: Study - Nutra USA, 7/9/09 - "men receiving the isoflavones required 18 per cent fewer attempts to correctly complete the tasks, committed 23 per cent fewer errors, and achieved the tasks in 17 per cent less time than they did during the placebo phase" - [Abstract] - See soy isoflavones at Amazon.com.
  • Soya isoflavone supplementation enhances spatial working memory in men - Br J Nutr. 2009 Jun 1:1-7 - "Compared with placebo supplementation, there were 18 % fewer attempts (P = 0.01), 23 % fewer errors (P = 0.02) and 17 % less time (P = 0.03) required to correctly identify the requisite information" - See soy isoflavones 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"
  • Aerobic Activity May Keep The Brain Young - Science Daily, 6/29/09 - "The brain’s blood vessels naturally narrow and become more tortuous with advancing age, but the study showed the cerebrovascular patterns of active patients appeared “younger” than those of relatively inactive subjects. The brains of these less active patients had increased tortuosity produced by vessel elongation and wider expansion curves"
  • 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.
  • How to Stay Sharp in Old Age - WebMD, 6/9/09 - "People who exercised moderately to vigorously at least once a week were 31% more likely to maintain their cognitive function. People with at least a high school education were nearly three times as likely to stay sharp. Nonsmokers were nearly twice as likely to keep their mental edge"
  • Soya isoflavone supplementation enhances spatial working memory in men - Br J Nutr. 2009 Jun 1:1-7 - "Volunteers were randomised to take four capsules/d containing soya isoflavones (116 mg isoflavone equivalents/d: 68 mg daidzein, 12 mg genistein, 36 mg glycitin) or placebo for 6 weeks, and the alternate treatment during the following 6 weeks. Assessments of memory (verbal episodic, auditory and working), executive function (planning, attention, mental flexibility) and visual-spatial processing were performed at baseline and after each treatment period. Isoflavone supplementation significantly improved spatial working memory (P = 0.01), a test in which females consistently perform better than males. Compared with placebo supplementation, there were 18 % fewer attempts (P = 0.01), 23 % fewer errors (P = 0.02) and 17 % less time (P = 0.03) required to correctly identify the requisite information. Isoflavones did not affect auditory and episodic memory (Paired Associate Learning, Rey's Auditory Verbal Learning Task, Backward Digit Span and Letter-Number Sequencing), executive function (Trail Making and Initial Letter Fluency Task) or visual-spatial processing (Mental Rotation Task). Isoflavone supplementation in healthy males may enhance cognitive processes which appear dependent on oestrogen activation"
  • 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.
  • Vitamin D for Quicker Thinking? - WebMD, 5/21/09 - "Men in their 60s and 70s with low levels of vitamin D were the most likely participants to have low scores on the visual scanning and processing test" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.
  • 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"
  • 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]
  • 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"
  • 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"
  • 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.”"
  • Physical Exercise Keeps Brain Young - WebMD, 11/19/08 - "The brain-boosting effects of exercise diminish rapidly after early middle age ... mice that worked out every day grew 2.5 times more new brain cells than couch potato mice. And in the exercising mice, far more of these new neurons survived, grew, and integrated into existing brain networks"
  • Surfing the Web Stimulates Older Brains - WebMD, 10/14/08 - "Middle-aged to older adults who know their way around the Internet had more stimulation of decision-making and complex reasoning areas of the brain than peers who were new to web surfing ... reading didn’t stimulate the same number of brain areas as Internet searching"
  • Raised homocysteine and low folate and vitamin B-12 concentrations predict cognitive decline in community-dwelling older Japanese adults - Clin Nutr. 2008 Oct 1 - "Reduced folate and vitamin B-12 concentrations were independently associated with cognitive decline"
  • 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.
  • Aging - Lack of B12 Linked to Brain Shrinkage - New York Times, 9/8/08 - "The group with the lowest levels of vitamin B12 lost twice as much brain volume as those with the highest levels" - See vitamin B12 at Amazon.com.
  • Vitamin B12 Boasts Brain Benefits - WebMD, 9/8/08 - "None of the people in the study had a vitamin B12 deficiency ... When the researchers compared the results, they found that people who had higher vitamin B12 levels were six times less likely to experience brain shrinkage compared with those who had lower levels of the vitamin in their blood"
  • 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"
  • B-vitamin Deficiency May Cause Vascular Cognitive Impairment - Science Daily, 9/2/08 - "Mice fed a diet deficient in folate and vitamins B12 and B6 demonstrated significant deficits in spatial learning and memory compared with normal mice"
  • Caffeine Reduces Cognitive Decline in Women - Medscape, 8/9/08 - "French researchers report that women who drank more than 3 cups of coffee per day had less decline during 4 years of follow-up compared with those who drank a cup or less. However, no such effect was seen in men ... Risk for Decline on Cognitive Endpoints at 4 Years for Women Drinking More Than 3 Cups of Coffee Per Day at Baseline vs 1 or More Cups ... Verbal Retrieval ... 0.67 ... Visuospatial Memory ... 0.82"
  • Tea Drinking May Help Protect Against Cognitive Impairment and Decline - Medscape, 7/14/08 - "Independent of other risk factors, total tea intake was significantly associated with a lower prevalence of cognitive impairment, defined as an MMSE score of 23 or less. Compared with ORs for rare or no tea intake, ORs for low, medium, and high levels of tea intake were 0.56 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.40 - 0.78), 0.45 (95% CI, 0.27 - 0.72), and 0.37 (95% CI, 0.14 - 0.98), respectively"
  • 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.
  • Low Levels Of Good Cholesterol Linked To Memory Loss, Dementia Risk - Science Daily, 6/30/08 - "Researchers defined low HDL as less than 40 mg/dL ... At age 60, participants with low HDL had a 53 percent increased risk of memory loss compared to the high HDL group" - [WebMD] - The best way to increase HDL is niacin.  See niacin at Amazon.com.  Start slow maybe even with the 100 mg capsules.  It took me about three months to get immune to the flush from 2000 mg per day.  Taking it with soup seems to be the best.
  • 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%"
  • Active Social Life May Delay Memory Loss Among US Elderly Population - Science Daily, 5/29/08 - "individuals with the highest social integration had the slowest rate of memory decline from 1998 to 2004. In fact, memory decline among the most integrated was less than half the rate among the least integrated. These findings were independent of sociodemographic factors (such as age, gender, and race) and health status in 1998. The researchers found that the protective effect of social integration was largest among individuals with fewer than 12 years of education"
  • Study supports Pycnogenol for better memory in elderly - Nutra USA, 3/18/08 - "150mg of Pycnogenol ... three months, the participants receiving Pycnogenol had "significantly improved" memory, as seen in a factor that combined accuracy scored from spatial working memory and numeric working memory tasks" - See Pycnogenol at Amazon.com.
  • DHEAS Levels Linked to Cognitive Function in Women - Medscape, 3/13/07 - "There are data that suggest that DHEA and DHEAS may have neuroprotective effects and that the decline in the production of these steroids with healthy aging may contribute to neuronal dysfunction and degeneration, and thus cognitive decline ... women with higher circulating levels of DHEAS performed better on executive function tests. A positive association was also observed between circulating DHEAS and higher scores on tests of simple concentration and working memory in women with more than 12 years of education" - See DHEA at Amazon.com.
  • Gingko may boost memory - if you remember to take it - Nutra USA, 2/28/08 - "The new study involved 118 people age 85 and older with no memory problems. The elderly subjects were randomly assigned to receive either a ginkgo biloba extract (240 mg daily, provided by Thorne Research) or placebo for three years. The extracts were independently verified to contain at least six per cent terpene lactones and 24 per cent flavone glycosides ... when the researchers considered only people who followed the directions in taking the study pills, they found that people took at least 84 per cent of the supplements as directed had a 68 per cent lower risk of developing mild memory problems" - See Ginkgo biloba at Amazon.com.
  • A randomized placebo-controlled trial of ginkgo biloba for the prevention of cognitive decline - Neurology. 2008 Feb 27 - "In the secondary analysis, where we controlled the medication adherence level, the GBE group had a lower risk of progression from CDR = 0 to CDR = 0.5 (HR = 0.33, p = 0.02), and a smaller decline in memory scores" - See Ginkgo biloba 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.
  • n-3 Fatty acids, hypertension and risk of cognitive decline among older adults in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study - Public Health Nutr. 2008 Jan;11(1):17-29 - "Word Fluency Test (WFT) ... an increase of one standard deviation in dietary long-chain n-3 fatty acids (% of energy intake) and balancing long-chain n-3/n-6 decreased the risk of 6-year cognitive decline in verbal fluency with an odds ratio (95% confidence interval) of 0.79 (0.66-0.95) and 0.81 (0.68-0.96), respectively, among hypertensives. An interaction with hypertensive status was found for dietary long-chain n-3 fatty acids (g day-1) and WFT decline (likelihood ratio test, P = 0.06). This exposure in plasma cholesteryl esters was also protective against WFT decline, particularly among hypertensives (OR = 0.51" - See Mega Twin EPA 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"
  • Dietary intake adequacy and cognitive function in free-living active elderly: A cross-sectional and short-term prospective study - Clin Nutr. 2007 Dec 12 - "mini-mental state examination (MMSE) ... subjects whose consumption of calcium was above the dietary reference intake had a significantly higher odds ratio (OR) of improving their MMSE (OR=5.41; 95% CI: 1.44-20.29)" - See calcium products at Amazon.com.
  • DHEA sulfate levels are associated with more favorable cognitive function in women - J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2007 Dec 11 - "In the multiple linear regression analysis the DHEAS term made a significant independent positive contribution to the Controlled Oral Word Association Test score, a measure of executive function. In addition, women with a DHEAS level in the highest tertile who also had more than 12 years of education performed better on both Digit Span Forward and Digit Span Backward tests which are tests of simple concentration and working memory respectively" - See DHEA at Amazon.com.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • The role of folate in depression and dementia - J Clin Psychiatry. 2007;68 Suppl 10:28-33 - "folate deficiencies may be caused by improper absorption and utilization, often due to genetic polymorphisms. Individuals, therefore, can have insufficient levels or lack needed forms of folate, despite adequate intake. Supplementation with the active form of folate, methyltetrahydrofolate, which is more readily absorbed, may be effective in the prevention and treatment of both depression and dementia" - See folic acid 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.
  • Diet Linked To Cognitive Decline And Dementia - WebMD, 11/6/07 - "An article published in Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences highlights information on the benefits of diets high in fruit, vegetables, cereals and fish and low in saturated fats in reducing dementia risk"
  • Diet Of Walnuts, Blueberries Improve Cognition; May Help Maintain Brain Function - Science Daily, 11/6/07 - "Diets containing two percent, six percent, or nine percent walnuts, when given to old rats, were found to reverse several parameters of brain aging, as well as age-related motor and cognitive deficits"
  • The role of folate in depression and dementia - J Clin Psychiatry. 2007;68 Suppl 10:28-33 - "folate deficiencies may be caused by improper absorption and utilization, often due to genetic polymorphisms. Individuals, therefore, can have insufficient levels or lack needed forms of folate, despite adequate intake. Supplementation with the active form of folate, methyltetrahydrofolate, which is more readily absorbed, may be effective in the prevention and treatment of both depression and dementia" - folic acid at Amazon.com.
  • n-3 Fatty acids, hypertension and risk of cognitive decline among older adults in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study - Public Health Nutr. 2007 Jul 12;:1-13 - "Word Fluency Test (WFT) ... Findings indicated that an increase of one standard deviation in dietary long-chain n-3 fatty acids (% of energy intake) and balancing long-chain n-3/n-6 decreased the risk of 6-year cognitive decline in verbal fluency with an odds ratio (95% confidence interval) of 0.79 (0.66-0.95) and 0.81 (0.68-0.96), respectively, among hypertensives. An interaction with hypertensive status was found for dietary long-chain n-3 fatty acids (g day-1) and WFT decline (likelihood ratio test, P = 0.06). This exposure in plasma cholesteryl esters was also protective against WFT decline, particularly among hypertensives (OR = 0.51"
  • Plasma folate concentration and cognitive performance: Rotterdam Scan Study - Am J Clin Nutr. 2007 Sep;86(3):728-34 - "After multivariate adjustment, the mean change in test score per 1-SD increase in plasma folate was 0.05 (95% CI: 0.01, 0.09) for global cognitive function, 0.08 (95% CI: 0.04, 0.13) for psychomotor speed, and 0.02 (95% CI: -0.04, 0.07) for memory function ... The odds ratio relating a 1-SD increase in plasma folate to the presence compared with the absence of severe white matter lesions was 0.79 (95% CI: 0.66, 0.94), whereas no relation was seen between folate status and hippocampal or amygdalar volume" - See folic acid at Amazon.com.
  • Caffeine May Help Women's Memory - WebMD, 8/6/07 - "Women who reported drinking at least three cups of coffee or tea per day at the study's start showed less of a drop in their test scores during the study, compared with women who reported consuming at most one daily cup of tea or coffee ... The biggest benefit was seen in the women's verbal memory"
  • Tea, Chocolate Chemical May Boost Memory - WebMD, 5/30/07 - "studied epicatechin, which is a type of antioxidant called a flavonol, in female mice ... The mice that consumed epicatechin did better at memorizing the maze than the mice that got no epicatechin. The mice that consumed epicatechin and also ran on their running wheels had the best results of all"
  • Moderate Alcohol Use May Slow Progression to Dementia - Medscape, 5/21/07 - "Moderate drinkers with MCI who consumed 1 or fewer drink per day of wine had a significantly lower rate of progression to dementia than did abstainers (HR, 0.15"
  • Fish consumption, n-3 fatty acids, and subsequent 5-y cognitive decline in elderly men: the Zutphen Elderly Study - Am J Clin Nutr. 2007 Apr;85(4):1142-7 - "Fish consumers had significantly (P = 0.01) less 5-y subsequent cognitive decline than did nonconsumers. A linear trend was observed for the relation between the intake of EPA+DHA and cognitive decline (P = 0.01). An average difference of approximately 380 mg/d in EPA+DHA intake was associated with a 1.1-point difference in cognitive decline" - See Mega Twin EPA at Amazon.com.
  • Plasma n-3 fatty acids and the risk of cognitive decline in older adults: the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study - Am J Clin Nutr. 2007 Apr;85(4):1103-11 - "Promoting higher intakes of n-3 HUFAs in the diet of hypertensive and dyslipidemic persons may have substantial benefits in reducing their risk of cognitive decline in the area of verbal fluency"
  • Folate And B12 May Influence Cognition In Seniors - Science Daily, 2/12/07 - "People with normal vitamin B12 status performed better if their serum folate was high ... But for people with low vitamin B12 status, high serum folate was associated with poor performance on the cognitive test ... For seniors, low vitamin B12 status and high serum folate was the worst combination" - See iHerb folic acid products and vitamin B12 at Amazon.com.
  • Report: Nutritional Strategies To Preserve Memory And Cognition - Life Extension Magazine, 2/07
  • Folic acid effects two-faced depending on B12 levels, says study - Nutra USA, 1/31/07 - "In this study of older Americans in the age of folic acid fortification, we found direct associations between high serum folate and both anaemia and cognitive impairment in subjects with low vitamin B12 status ... Among subjects with normal vitamin B12 status, on the other hand, high serum folate was associated with protection from cognitive impairment" - See vitamin B12 at Amazon.com.
  • Effect of 3-year folic acid supplementation on cognitive function in older adults in the FACIT trial: a randomised, double blind, controlled trial - Lancet. 2007 Jan 20;369(9557):208-16 - "Folic acid supplementation for 3 years significantly improved domains of cognitive function that tend to decline with age"
  • Folic Acid Improves Cognitive Performance in Older Adults - Medscape, 1/19/07 - "Patients were randomized to either placebo or 800 µg daily of folic acid for 3 years ... 3 years of treatment with folic acid conferred on individuals resulted in the performance of someone 4.7 years younger for memory, 1.7 years younger for sensorimotor speed, 2.1 years younger for information processing speed, and 1.5 years younger for global cognitive function" - See folic acid at Amazon.com.
  • 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.
  • 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 or Vitacosticon DHA products.  My favorite is Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.
  • Vegetables May Help Save Brain's Vigor - WebMD, 10/23/06 - "All participants had some mental slowdown as they aged ... But the yearly slowdown was 40% slower for people who ate the most vegetables -- three or four servings daily -- compared with those who ate less than one serving daily"
  • Natural Chemical Found In Strawberries Boosts Memory In Healthy Mice - Science Daily, 10/20/06 - "Fisetin, a naturally occurring flavonoid commonly found in strawberries and other fruits and vegetables, stimulates signaling pathways that enhance long-term memory"
  • Berries May Help Keep Brain Sharp - WebMD, 8/24/06 - "The radiated rats that had eaten the plain chow performed worst on the maze tests and had the lowest dopamine levels of any of the rats ... But the berry-eating, radiated rats didn't show those shortfalls. Their test results were generally comparable to those of rats that hadn't been radiated"
  • Apple Juice May Boost Memory - WebMD, 8/4/06 - "consumption of antioxidant-rich foods such as apples and apple juice can help reduce problems associated with memory loss"
  • Preventive Maintenance For the Brain - WashingtonPost.com, 2/21/06 - "increased mental activity throughout life appears to preserve brainpower ... those who exercised the most -- at least three times a week -- were least likely to develop Alzheimer's disease ... diet (for brain health, nutritionists suggest a diet low in saturated fats and rich in vegetables, fruit and fish with omega-3 fatty acids), social life (an active one is thought to improve immunity and reduce inflammation, believed to play a role in Alzheimer's) and health problems like diabetes and heart disease"
  • Green Tea May Do Wonders for the Brain - WebMD, 2/17/06 - "Those who reported drinking the most green tea were least likely to show cognitive impairment, based on their test scores ... Drinking at least two daily cups of green tea was tied to the lowest risk of cognitive impairment" - See iHerb or Vitacosticon green tea products.
  • 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"
  • Folic Acid to Boost Memory? - Dr. Weil, 12/13/05 - "those who took the folic acid had memory scores equal to people five and a half years younger"
  • 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"
  • Eating Fish Associated with Slower Cognitive Decline - Doctor's Guide, 10/12/05 - "Consuming fish at least once a week was associated with a 10% per year slower rate of cognitive decline in elderly people ... consumption of one omega-3 fatty acid in particular, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), is important for memory performance in aged animals" - See iHerb or Vitacosticon DHA products.  My favorite is Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.
  • 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 Amazon.com or Vitacosticon.
  • 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"
  • Fish Consumption and Cognitive Decline With Age in a Large Community Study - Arch Neurol. 2005;62 - "Compared with a decline rate in score of –0.100 SU/y among persons who consumed fish less than weekly, the rate was 10% slower (–0.090 SU/y) among persons who consumed 1 fish meal per week and 13% slower (–0.088 SU/y) among persons who consumed 2 or more fish meals per week"
  • 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"
  • Veggies May Keep an Aging Brain Sharp - WebMD, 9/28/05
  • Leafy Green Vegetables May Help Keep Brains Sharp Through Aging - Science Daily, 9/26/05 - "men who obtained more folate in their diets showed significantly less of a decline in verbal fluency skills over the course of three years than did men with lower dietary folate intake ... High folate levels, both in the diet and in the blood, also appeared to be protective against declines in another category of cognitive skills known as spatial copying"
  • Exercise could build brain cells in elderly, study suggests - USAToday, 9/20/05 - "Older mice that exercised on a running wheel developed new brain cells and learned a new task more effectively than older mice that took it easy all day"
  • Midlife Obesity Linked to Late-Life Dementia - WebMD, 4/28/05 - "For those with an obese BMI (30 or higher) in middle age, the risk of dementia in old age was 74% higher than for those with normal BMI. For those who were overweight (BMI of 25-29.9), late-life dementia risk was 35% higher than those with normal BMI"
  • Fruit and vegetable consumption and cognitive decline in aging women - Ann Neurol 2005;57:713-720 - "Fruits were not associated with cognition or cognitive decline. However, total vegetable intake was significantly associated with less decline. Specifically, on a global score combining all tests, women in the highest quintile of cruciferous vegetables declined slower (by 0.04 unit; 95% confidence interval, 0.003, 0.07; p trend = 0.1) compared with the lowest quintile. Women consuming the most green leafy vegetables also experienced slower decline than women consuming the least amount (by 0.05 unit; 95% confidence interval, 0.02, 0.09; p trend < 0.001). These mean differences were equivalent to those observed for women about 1 to 2 years apart in age"
  • 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"
  • Low Fatty Acid Levels, Dementia Associated in Large Study - Clinical Psychiatry News, 3/05 - "The n-3 fatty acids are an important component of the neuronal membrane, influencing membrane fluidity and all the related functions, such as signal transduction and enzyme function ... Subjects with dementia had the lowest n-3 fatty acid plasma concentrations ... Subjects with dementia had the highest plasma concentrations of saturated fatty acids" - See Mega Twin EPA at Amazon.com or Vitacosticon.
  • Cardiovascular Exercise Improves the Aging Brain - Clinical Psychiatry News, 2/05 - "Cardiovascular exercise improves cognitive performance and cortical function in elderly people, and it also appears to roll back age-related losses in brain volume"
  • Neuropsychology of vitamin B12 deficiency in elderly dementia patients and control subjects - J Geriatr Psychiatry Neurol. 2005 Mar;18(1):33-38 - "cobalamin deficiency may cause a reversible dementia in elderly patients"
  • Physical Activity in Old Age Keeps Mind Sharp - WebMD, 12/28/04 - "elderly men who decreased the duration or intensity of their physical activity level over a 10-year period experienced a greater decline in cognitive skills, such as attention, memory, and language skills, than men who maintained the intensity of their physical activity"
  • MIT: Magnesium May Reverse Middle-age Memory Loss - Science Daily, 12/27/04 - "In the cover story of the Dec. 2 issue of Neuron, MIT researchers report a possible new role for magnesium: helping maintain memory function in middle age and beyond ... magnesium helps regulate a key brain receptor important for learning and memory" - See iHerb or Vitacosticon magnesium products.
  • Memory Loss - Medscape, 12/7/04 - "diets high in saturated fats and trans-unsaturated fats are associated with greater declines in cognitive functioning.[21] The antioxidants vitamins E and C are thought to reduce risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD),[22] and folate, vitamins B12 and B6 have been shown to play a role in cognitive functioning in women.[23-25] Two recent reviews support the positive influences of a "heart-healthy" diet on reducing risk of cognitive decline[26] and AD.[27] Foods high in vitamin E, omega-3 fatty acids, unsaturated fat, and nonhydrogenated fat are the most likely to reduce risk of cognitive decline"
  • Patients who follow standard preventive health advice may protect themselves against dementia - Clinical Psychiatry News, 12/04 - "Eat more veggies ... Eat less saturated fat ... Turn off the TV ... Keep your brain, body, and social life active"
  • Nourishing Your Noggin - WebMD, 9/22/04 - "For a long time, people believed that a common component of vitamin E called alpha tocopherol was most important, but another form called gamma tocopherol is definitely a protective antioxidant in brain disorders"
  • Walk Away From Dementia - WebMD, 9/21/04 - "Those who walked more than 2 miles a day were nearly half as likely to get dementia as men who walked less than one-quarter mile a day"
  • Berries Good For Your Memory - Intelihealth, 7/16/04 - "rats that had blueberry matter added to their diet at age 15 months -- middle age in the rat world, and the time memory problems begin -- did much better on memory tests at 19 months (old age in rats) than same-age rats eating the same diet without blueberries"
  • Homocysteine, folate, and vitamin B-12 in mild cognitive impairment, Alzheimer disease, and vascular dementia - Am J Clin Nutr. 2004 Jul;80(1):114-22 - "Subjects in the lowest folate tertile had significantly higher adjusted odds ratios (ORs) for mild cognitive impairment ... Hyperhomocysteinemia was significantly associated with dementia" - See iHerb or Vitacosticon folic acid 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" - See iHerb or Vitacosticon citicoline products.
  • Diet May Improve Cognition, Slow Aging, And Help Protect Against Cosmic Radiation - Intelihealth, 11/10/03 - "The role of diet in cognitive function is one of the vastly understudied areas in the neurosciences ... old dogs that were on an antioxidant diet performed better on a variety of cognitive tests than dogs that were not on the diet ... aged rats on the blueberry-enriched diet had lower NF-kappaB levels than aged rats fed a control data ... among the aged rats, the higher the NF-kappaB levels, the poorer their memory scores"
  • Soy Isoflavones May Improve Cognition in Postmenopausal Women - Healthwell Exchange Daily News, 10/2/03 - "Women taking soy isoflavones had significant improvements in recall, logical thinking, planning tasks, and attention compared with women taking a placebo, which translates to better memory and ability to focus on a particular task"
  • Creatine May Boost Brain Performance - WebMD, 8/13/03 - "Forty-five vegetarian young adults received either 5 grams of creatine or a placebo powder for six weeks, followed by six weeks of no supplementation. The groups were then switched, and the placebo group received creatine for six weeks and vice versa ... The researchers found that creatine supplementation gave a "significant, measurable boost to brain power." In a memory test that asked participants to recall a string of numbers, people taking creatine recalled an average of 8.5 numbers vs. seven for people not taking the supplement" - See iHerb or Vitacosticon creatine products.
  • E and C May Give Older Women a Mental Edge - Natural Foods Merchandiser, 8/03 - "The women who had taken vitamin C and E supplements for more than 10 years scored an average of 1.5 years younger in cognitive function than those not taking vitamins. The results were even more marked for those with low dietary vitamin E intake: Women with the lowest 30 percent of dietary vitamin E intake who did not take supplements tested two years older in mental function than women who compensated for low dietary intake with antioxidant supplements"
  • Music Lessons Boost Verbal Memory - WebMD, 7/28/03
  • Chinese Herb [Gastrodine (also called gastrodin)/Gastrodia elata]  May Treat Vascular Dementia - WebMD, 6/11/03 - "Patients who took gastrodine three times a day for 12 weeks did better on tests of mental function and behavior than patients who took Duxil"
  • Antioxidants May Protect Against Alcohol Damage - Intelihealth, 6/3/03 - "fed rats a liquid diet containing alcohol for six weeks ... They found a 66 percent decrease in the number of new cells in crucial parts of the brain and an increase in cell death of more than 227 percent ... But in rats that also received injections of the antioxidant ebselen, the damage to developing cells did not occur ... The antioxidant ebselen was used because it is known to have protective effects in the liver and digestive tract and has few side effects in humans"
  • 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"
  • Effects of Obesity Reach Into Brain - WebMD, 3/5/03 - "obesity works independently -- as well as in conjunction with other risk factors -- to cause a decline in thinking ability, especially memory and learning ... participants may have suffered from heart disease risk factors that were undetectable 50 years ago ... other social and psychological factors associated with obesity and overeating, such as depression and anxiety, may have also affected the decline ... may damage brain function by making it harder for blood to reach the brain, similar to high blood pressure and heart disease"
  • 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"
  • HDL Cholesterol Level Linked To Longevity, Cognitive Function - Clinical Psychiatry News, 2/03 - "A group of centenarians maintained significantly higher than normal HDL cholesterol levels, and within the group the parameter was strongly correlated with cognitive function ... The centenarians' offspring were also significantly healthier than their spouses: They were half as likely to have diabetes or heart attacks and had significantly lower blood pressure. No strokes occurred among the offspring ... The presence of HDL might explain the health and longevity in these families. The serum concentration of HDL typically declines with age by a mean of 5 mg/dL every 8 years ... Had the decline followed the normal pattern, the centenarians' HDL would have been about 20 mg/dL. But the actual mean value in the group was 55 mg/dL" - See my HDL page for ways to raise it.
  • Exercise Saves Brain Cells - WebMD, 1/29/03 - "aerobic exercise can help protect brain tissue from age-related damage and mental decline ... the brain loses an average of 15% to 25% of its tissue between the ages of 30 and 90 ... exercise decreased the amount of brain-tissue loss associated with aging"
  • Using Complementary Treatments - PsychiatricTimes.com, 11/15/02 - "Ginseng is known as an adaptogen. Animal studies report a reversal of scopolamine-induced memory deficits in rats, an increase in acetylcholine uptake and improved learning performance. In humans, two randomized, controlled trials reported some improvement in cognitive function over eight and 12 weeks of ginseng use. Another study, looking specifically at 50 elderly subjects, reported improvement over baseline measures ... Research has shown huperzine A to be a selective and reversible inhibitor of acetylcholinesterase. It also has been shown to lessen neuronal toxicity caused by glutamate. Initial small investigations reported improvement in cognitive functions of subjects with AD ... Phosphatidylserine is active at cell membranes, including synaptic membrane zones. Partial improvement of learning and recall capacity was noted in subjects with age-related cognitive decline"
  • Cognitive Training Improves Memory, Reasoning, Concentration In Seniors - Doctor's Guide, 11/13/02
  • The Bias is Overwhelmingicon - Vitacost, 8/21/02 - "It is rather appalling that the news media has been giving so much attention to this ridiculously short term negative study on ginkgo. It is even more appalling that some media sources come up with catchy phrases like “Forget the ginkgo”. Six weeks is not enough time for any supplement or drug to work when it comes to memory"
  • 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"
  • 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.
  • 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"
  • Breakfast Gives Memory a Boost - HealthandAge, 1/11/02
  • Caffeine Sharpens the Mind - WebMD, 12/20/01 - "The researchers looked at 40 people over 65 and tested their memory in the morning and again in the afternoon a few days later. Each time, they drank a 12 oz. cup of coffee before going through a series of memory tests. Some drank decaffeinated coffee and some had the real thing but were not told which one they were getting ... those who drank decaffeinated coffee "showed a significant decline in memory performance from morning to afternoon," Ryan says. Those who drank the caffeine had no fall in their memory test scores"
  • Memory vitamins - Life Extension Magazine, 9/01 - "Folate and vitamin B12 work together to enhance cognition"
  • It is Never Too Late to Regenerate Your Brain - Life Extension Magazine, 6/01 - "Lower your stress, lower your cortisol levels and it is likely that your brain can regenerate its powers to learn and remember"
  • Vitamin B12: Surprising New Findings - Life Extension Magazine, 12/00
  • Breakfast May Improve Memory in Healthy Elderly - Doctor's Guide, 10/24/01
  • 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"
  • Folic Acid May Reduce Age-Related Memory Problems - WebMD, 4/27/01 - "High homocysteine levels were independently associated with poor performance on the memory tests, as were low levels of the vitamin folic acid. Folic acid, or folate, has been shown to significantly lower homocysteine levels ... a cocktail of three vitamin supplements -- folic acid, B12, and B6 -- can dramatically lower homocysteine levels, even in those who get the recommended levels of the vitamins in their diets ... Homocysteine levels naturally increase as you age ... Jacobsen, 62, recommends taking 400-800 mcg of folic acid every day and 25-100 mg of vitamin B6. He says it is not clear if B12 supplementation is beneficial in younger people, but it does appear to benefit those over 50. He takes 500 mcg of B12 each day"
  • 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
  • A Drink A Day May Keep Memory OK - WebMD, 8/1/00

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