Exercise can slow memory loss in progress

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Now a new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association finds exercise can even slow down memory loss in those that are already having difficulty.(Alzheimers)
Doctors followed 170 seniors with mild memory problems. Half were encouraged to exercise a couple hours per week while the other half kept to their normal activities.

Most of the participants in the exercise program chose walking, and after six months they had .... read more of Exercise can slow memory loss in progress

Alzheimer’s vax eliminated plaque, not dementia

Researchers are trying to find out why a vaccine for Alzheimer's would be able to eliminate the beta-amyloid plaque long considered responsible for the disease without actually curing the disease. British scientists tracked patients in the vaccine study for years and performed autopsies on seven volunteers who died during the study. Nearly all the beta-amyloid had been eliminated, but all of the patients suffered severe dementia at the time of their death.

"It may be that these toxic plaques trigger the neurodegeneration, but don't have an ongoing role," said Clive Holmes of the University of Southampton, lead author.

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This information is huge and it underscores the importance of adopting healthy strategies to fight Alzheimer's disease and other dementias in ourselves and those we care about

Invest in your brain to prevent Alzheimers

ABC7 Healthy Living

Program may ward off Alzheimer's disease

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One local neurologist says your brain works like an interest-bearing account.
when you get to this page". For some reason the link directly to it does not eork

Anyway back to the story

When Dr. Marshall Welles was born, ballpoint pens, traffic lights and washing machines did not exist.
The first television I ever saw was at the World's Fair in the 1930s," said Dr. Welles.
How does he stay so sharp and active? His neurologist, Dr. Vince Fortanasce, says it's a four-pronged plan that involves diet, exercise, accentuating the brain's reserves, and rest and relaxation. He calls it the "DEAR" Program, an anti-Alzheimer's prescription.
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'Neurobics' and Other Brain Boosters

Every day, it seems, a new study reports that caffeine -- or fish oil or friendships -- lowers the risk of Alzheimer's disease.

Many of these are "associations" that may or may not have a cause-and-effect relationship. There is still much that isn't known about the telltale plaques and tangles that slowly strangle the brains of Alzheimer's victims.

But what scientists do know now that they didn't just a decade ago is that people generate new brain cells, and new connections between them, throughout life. And the more mental reserves people build up, experts believe, the better they can stave off age-related cognitive decline

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Test Yourself: What You Don't Know About Alzheimer's and Dementia Can Hurt

Misconceptions about these aspects of Alzheimer's disease are widespread among the public, caregivers, and patients themselves, according to Australian psychologist Karen Sullivan of Queensland University of Technology, who studies community awareness. Her research appears in an upcoming issue of the International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry. Zeroing in on what people don't know, she says, helps frame the most useful education programs.

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News Early detection may cut dementia costs

Clinicians should focus on the early detection and treatment of dementia to lessen the future burden of the disease according to a King's Fund report.
Its year long study into the mental health needs of England over the next 20 years found the incidence of dementia is likely to increase by two-thirds (61 per cent) due to a rapidly ageing population. All other mental health disorders are likely to remain stable
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Another reporting of Alzheimer's and dementia brain plaques cleared in mice

Protein accumulations, or plaques, characteristic of Alzheimer's disease can be eliminated from the brains of mice, researchers report, by encouraging scavenger immune cells called macrophages to do their work.
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Treating Chronic Infections May Block Alzheimer's and dementia

Treating Chronic Infections May Block Alzheimer's and dementia


Amsterdam – Researchers are breaking new ground in the emerging role of infection in the development of Alzheimer's.

A number of chronic diseases are in fact caused by one or more infectious agents. For example, stomach ulcers are caused by Helicobacter pylori, chronic lung disease in newborns and chronic asthma in adults are both caused by Mycoplasmas and Chlamydia pneumonia, while some other pathogens have been associated with atherosclerosis. The realization that pathogens can produce slowly progressive chronic diseases has opened new lines of research into Alzheimer’s disease.

In a special issue of the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease published May 2008, guest editors Judith Miklossy, from The University of British Columbia, and Ralph N. Martins, from Edith Cowan University and Hollywood Private Hospital, Perth, Western Australia, and a group of experts explore this exciting topic. Alzheimer’s disease (AD), the most frequent cause of dementia, is a form of amyloidosis. It has been known for a century that dementia, brain atrophy and amyloidosis can be caused by chronic bacterial infections, namely by Treponema pallidum in the atrophic form of general paresis in syphilis. Bacteria and viruses are powerful stimulators of inflammation. It was suggested by Alois Alzheimer and his colleagues a century ago that microorganisms may be contributors in the generation of senile plaques in AD.

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An Amber Alert for seniors?

Early on the afternoon of Feb. 26, Mary Zelter signed out of her assisted living facility in Largo, Fla., and slipped behind the wheel of her white Sebring convertible for a quick run to the store.
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