This peer-reviewed study was directed by lifestyle medicine pioneer Dean Ornish, M.D., founder and president of the nonprofit Preventive Medicine Research Institute and clinical professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, in collaboration with other renowned scientists and neurologists from leading academic medical centers. These include:

• Harvard Medical School / Massachusetts General Hospital (Rudolph E. Tanzi, Ph.D.; Steven E. Arnold, M.D.; Dorene Rentz, Psy.D.)
• Karolinska Institute (Miia Kivipelto, M.D., Ph.D.)
• Preventive Medicine Research Institute (Dean Ornish, M.D.; Catherine Madison, M.D.; Colleen Kemp, R.N.; Anne Ornish, B.A.; Sarah Tranter, R.N.; Nancy DeLamarter, M.S.W.; Noel Wingers, M.S.; Carra Richling, R.D.)
• University of California, San Francisco (Dean Ornish, M.D.; Charles E. McCulloch, Ph.D.; Jue Lin, Ph.D.; Kim Norman, M.D.)
• Renown Health Institute of Neurosciences (Jon Artz, M.D.)
• University of California, San Diego (Douglas Galasko, M.D.; Rob Knight, Ph.D.; Daniel McDonald, Ph.D.; Lucas Patel, B.S.)
• Duke University Medical Center (Rima Kaddurah-Daouk, Ph.D.)
• Buck Institute for Research on Aging (Eric Verdin, M.D.)

“I’m cautiously optimistic and very encouraged by these findings, which may empower many people with new hope and new choices,” said Dr. Ornish. “We do not yet have a cure for Alzheimer’s, but as the scientific community continues to pursue all avenues to identify potential treatments, we are now able to offer an improved quality of life to many people suffering from this terrible disease.”

The research team recruited 51 participants with a diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment or early dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease and randomly assigned them to either an intensive lifestyle intervention group (no drugs added) or a usual-care control (comparison) group. Members of the control group were instructed not to make any lifestyle changes during the 20-week trial.

The intervention group participated in an intensive lifestyle program with four components: (1) a whole-foods, minimally processed plant-based diet low in harmful fats, refined carbohydrates, alcohol and sweeteners — predominantly fruits, vegetables, whole grains and legumes, plus selected supplements — with all meals sent to each patient’s home to maximize adherence; (2) moderate aerobic exercise and strength training for at least 30 minutes per day; (3) stress management, including meditation, stretching, breathing and imagery, for one hour per day; and (4) support groups for patients and their spouses or study partners, for one hour three times per week.

Improvements in patients with early Alzheimer’s disease

To measure pre- and post-trial cognitive function, the researchers utilized four standard tests used in Food and Drug Administration drug trials: the Alzheimer’s Disease Assessment Scale–Cognitive Subscale (ADAS-Cog), Clinical Global Impression of Change (CGIC), Clinical Dementia Rating–Sum of Boxes (CDR-SB) and Clinical Dementia Rating Global (CDR-G).

Results after 20 weeks showed overall statistically significant differences between the intervention group and the randomized control group in cognition and function in three of these measures (CGIC, p = 0.001; CDR-SB, p = 0.032; CDR-G, p = 0.037), and differences of borderline significance in the fourth test (ADAS-Cog, p = 0.053). When a mathematical outlier was excluded, all four measures showed significant differences in cognition and function in the experimental group. Three of these measures showed improvement in cognition and function in the intervention group and one test showed significantly less disease progression. In contrast, the randomized control group worsened in all four of these measures.

Not all patients in the intervention group improved; in the CGIC test, 71% improved or were unchanged. In contrast, none of the patients in the control group improved, eight were unchanged and 17 (68%) worsened.

Many patients who experienced improvement reported regaining lost cognition and function. For example, several patients in the intervention group reported that they had been unable to read a book or watch a movie because they kept forgetting what they had just read or viewed and had to keep starting over, but now they were able to do so and retain most of this information. One individual reported that it used to take him weeks to finish reading a book, but after participating in the study he was able to do so in only three or four days and was able to remember most of what he read.

A former business executive reported regaining the ability to manage his own finances and investments. “It was so much a part of my life — who I am, and who I was — it was hard saying that part of me was just gone,” he said. “I’m back to reconciling our finances monthly; I keep up to date on our investments. A lot of self-worth comes back.”

A woman said that for five years she had been unable to prepare their family business financial reports, but now she is able to do so accurately. “A deep sense of identity is returning. It’s given me a new lease on life, and yet it’s a familiarity and something I’ve always prided myself on. I’m coming back like I was prior to the disease being diagnosed. I feel like I’m me again — an older but better version of me.”

There was a statistically significant dose-response correlation between the degree of lifestyle changes in both groups and the degree of change in most measures of cognition and function testing. In short, the more these patients changed their lifestyle in the prescribed ways, the greater was the beneficial impact on their cognition and function.

This dose-response correlation adds to the biological plausibility of these findings and may help to explain, in part, why some patients in the intervention group improved and others did not (although other mechanisms may also play a role). Other studies have shown that more moderate lifestyle changes such as adopting the Mediterranean diet may slow the rate of progression (worsening) of Alzheimer’s disease but may not go far enough to improve cognition and function.

In addition to improvements in cognition and function, the intervention group also demonstrated significant improvements in several key blood-based biomarkers. One of the most clinically relevant biomarkers is called the Aβ42/40 ratio, which is a measure of amyloid, thought to be an important mechanism in Alzheimer’s disease. This measure improved in the lifestyle intervention group (with the presumption that this improvement reflected amyloid moving out of the brain and into the blood), but it worsened in the randomized control group, and these differences were statistically significant (p = 0.003).

There was also a statistically significant dose-response correlation between the degree of lifestyle change and the degree of improvement in this amyloid ratio (p = 0.035). This direction of change in amyloid was also a major finding with lecanemab, a drug approved for treating Alzheimer’s disease last year.

Also, the gut microbiome in the intervention group showed a significant decrease in organisms that raise the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and an increase in organisms that are protective against Alzheimer’s disease. These biomarker and gut microbiome results also add to the biological plausibility of the overall findings.

According to renowned Alzheimer’s scientist Miia Kivipelto, M.D., Ph.D., “These findings add to the growing body of evidence that moderate multimodal lifestyle changes may help prevent Alzheimer’s disease or slow its progression, and also suggest that more intensive multimodal lifestyle changes may have additional benefits for improving cognition in patients with early Alzheimer’s disease.”

New hope in tackling a devastating and costly disease

Alzheimer’s disease, the fifth-leading cause of death among Americans aged 65 and older, is not only physically and emotionally devastating; it’s also extremely costly. The disease currently affects more than six million people in the U.S., at an annual cost of more than $345 billion. By 2050, the number affected is expected to reach 13 million, with costs projected to skyrocket to $1.1 trillion annually.

“There’s a desperate need for Alzheimer’s treatments,” said study co-author Rudolph E. Tanzi, Ph.D., an acclaimed professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School and director of the McCance Center for Brain Health at Massachusetts General Hospital, one of the study’s clinical sites. “Biopharma companies have invested billions of dollars in the effort to find medications to treat the disease, but only two Alzheimer’s drugs have been approved in the past 20 years — one of which was recently taken off the market, and the other is minimally effective and extremely expensive and often has serious side effects such as brain swelling or bleeding into the brain. In contrast, the intensive lifestyle changes implemented in this study have been shown here to improve cognition and function, at a fraction of the cost — and the only side effects are positive ones.”

“I am delighted and honored to be a part of this groundbreaking study showing for the first time in a controlled clinical trial what the epidemiology has told us all along: Lifestyle factors are critically important in our efforts to address Alzheimer’s. While efforts to develop drugs to treat this disease will continue, this study provides a blueprint for practical, easily implemented steps that can significantly alter the progression to full Alzheimer’s disease,” said study co-author Eric Verdin, M.D., president and CEO of the Buck Institute for Research on Aging.

This study has implications for preventing Alzheimer’s disease as well. New technologies such as artificial intelligence now make it possible to predict an individual’s likelihood of developing this disease years before it becomes clinically apparent, but many people ask, “Why would I want to know if I’m likely to get Alzheimer’s disease if I can’t do anything about it? It will just make me worry.” Although further research is needed, it is reasonable to believe that the same intensive lifestyle changes that often improve cognition and function in those with mild cognitive impairment or early dementia due to Alzheimer’s may help prevent the disease as well.

“This study finally gives us scientific data to support what many of us in this field have believed instinctively for years, that lifestyle interventions may determine the trajectory of people’s Alzheimer’s journeys,” said Maria Shriver, founder of the Women’s Alzheimer’s Movement (WAM) at Cleveland Clinic, which provided early seed funding for this study. “We opened the WAM Prevention and Research Clinic at Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in Las Vegas for women 30 to 60 years of age who are at higher risk than average for developing Alzheimer’s. The protocols we use involve adopting many of the lifestyle interventions employed in this study. So, showing success in improving the health trajectories of those already diagnosed with Alzheimer’s clearly offers hope to those who want to delay or prevent developing the disease altogether. This is a study to give us hope.”

A growing body of lifestyle medicine research

Dr. Ornish has directed peer-reviewed research at the nonprofit Preventive Medicine Research Institute for over four decades. He is often referred to as “the father of lifestyle medicine.”

The Institute’s studies, published in leading peer-reviewed medical and scientific journals, focus on the power of lifestyle medicine to help prevent and often reverse the progression of many of the most common and costly chronic diseases. These include coronary heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, early-stage prostate cancer, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, and now, early-stage Alzheimer’s disease.

Dr. Ornish’s most recent bestselling book, “Undo It!,” co-authored with Anne Ornish, puts forth his unifying theory: the reason that the same lifestyle changes may beneficially affect so many different chronic diseases is that these share common biological mechanisms that are directly affected by what people eat, how much they exercise, how they respond to stress, and how much love and support they enjoy. Alzheimer’s is the latest example of why “what’s good for your heart is also good for your brain.”

In 2010, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) began providing nationwide Medicare coverage for Dr. Ornish’s program, which has been shown to often reverse the progression of coronary heart disease, as “intensive cardiac rehabilitation.” This nine-week program is offered online, so individuals can join classes from the comfort of their own homes, enabling participation by those who cannot afford to take time off work, who live far from a hospital or who cannot afford childcare, thereby reducing health disparities and inequities. “I’m very grateful to CMS for providing Medicare coverage. Having seen what a powerful difference this program of lifestyle changes can make, I appreciate very much that it is now available to all eligible Medicare beneficiaries with heart disease who can benefit from it,” Dr. Ornish said.

About the Preventive Medicine Research Institute 

The Preventive Medicine Research Institute (PMRI), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, was founded in 1984 by Dean Ornish, M.D., to conduct pioneering research evaluating the power of lifestyle medicine and to make healthy lifestyle changes more widely available to those who can benefit from them. PMRI’s research uses the latest in high-tech medical and scientific technologies to assess the benefits of these low-tech and low-cost lifestyle changes. For more information about PMRI’s four decades of peer-reviewed lifestyle medicine research, please visit https://pmri.org.

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According to a Current Population Survey of Americans, there were less than 15 million people in the United States aged 18 to 64 who had some form of handicap at the beginning of the year 2020. By September 2023, that number had risen to almost 16.5 million. And nearly two-thirds of those adding to the total had previously unreported restrictions on their cognitive abilities.

A prime factor in the increase in people with a cognitive disability appears to be COVID-19, and while the vast majority of people who contract it make full recoveries, some people who contract the virus continue to experience symptoms months or even years after the initial infection. The puzzle for scientists is what is causing this brain fog of cognitive impairment and what might be done to remediate it.

Post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 (i.e., symptoms continuing for at least 4 weeks after infection), also known as protracted COVID, include fatigue and cognitive impairment, along with other enduring neuropsychiatric (e.g., depression) and physical (e.g., dyspnea) manifestations. Working memory fluctuations would appear to be most distressing and may account for increased applications for disability. Note: Disability requires the three factors of maintaining pace, persistence, and concentration (aka PPC), and the memory impairment shown in COVID patients would increase the likelihood of receiving benefits.

For one thing, rigorous data on the incidence of the illness appears to be lacking and we do not know how many people have COVID or how many are suffering its long-lasting effects. As of December 2021, the number of confirmed cases of coronavirus illness around the world had risen to almost 275 million. However, numerous models suggest that the true number of cases is three to twenty-four times higher than the number of confirmed cases.

Researchers have proposed numerous reasons for the changes in cognition and general well-being, including viral persistence, chronic inflammation, hypercoagulability, and autonomic dysfunction. One new hypothesis is being offered for a reduction in a vital neurotransmitter, serotonin. However, most of the work is being evaluated with mouse models.

Certain structures or pathways can lead to changes in memory. One is a drop in serotonin, which can stop the vagus nerve from working properly, which in turn affects how the hippocampus responds and stores memories. The hippocampus is the brain structure most involved in memory consolidation, so anything that interferes with its functioning could result in a change in memory formation and retrieval.

For now, all we know is that there are multiple factors involved in brain fog and fatigue after being infected with the virus for COVID. There are also many physical organ systems that are also affected, so this is a virus, seemingly, unlike others scientists have encountered in the past.

The post The “Fog” Of COVID Is Disturbing and Striking the Young and Old appeared first on Medika Life.

Music and music-based interventions (MBI) have remarkable therapeutic potential for a variety of medical issues because they activate many brain pathways. Imaging, brain stimulation, and motion capture technologies in humans have made it possible to study the neural circuits behind the effects of MBIs on motor, affective/reward, and cognitive functions. Comparative studies using animal models have helped to show the brain circuit activities involved in rhythm perception.

In fact, music and its use are being investigated to see if they may aid in strengthening brain networks and pathways involved in sensory and motor processes, emotion, affect, and memory. We know the destructive power of stress and the hormone cortisol, especially in children, and now we are turning to the productive power of music to probe its power in the repair and maintenance of brain networks. The decline of mental acuity is directly related to how we process memories and retrieve them, so anything we can do to strengthen the bonds already made is to our benefit.

We know that music is involved in the production of essential neurotrophins in the brain called BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor). Most of us first encountered tropisms in biology class, where we discovered what made trees grow toward the sun or light. In humans, too, we have tropisms. These are involved in the growth, survival, and function of neurons in the central nervous system.

Individuals with dementia benefit from music in the following ways:

• Music provides a secure, non-pharmaceutical method for easing chronic pain, anxiety, and depression.
• It offers a practical, efficient substitute for mood-altering drugs.
• Decreases resistance to care and fall hazards.
• Contributes to better nutrition and swallowing.
• Promotes interaction and socializing with loved ones, friends, and coworkers.
• Offers folks who are bedridden, on ventilators, or on dialysis a purposeful activity.
• Restores participants’ calm and relaxation.
• Offers much-needed respite to family caregivers and paid caregivers.

The one thing that we know for sure is that music is readily available to all of us, wherever we are, and we should take advantage of it. No doubt about it, music can be a wonderful addition to our daily lives and, in some respects, help maintain the health of our brains. Did anyone ever think of Bruce Springsteen as a brain practitioner in addition to a musician?

The post Music Enhances Mood, Boosts Memory, and Plays a Role in Aging appeared first on Medika Life.

One study’s lead investigator claims that positive age beliefs can improve cognitive performance, boost cognition-related self-confidence, and lessen the stress caused by cognitive challenges. According to the study, elder MCI patients who believed they would age well were 30% more likely to regain normal cognition than those who did not.

However, not everyone with MCI develops dementia or Alzheimer’s disease, although MCI is a condition that raises the risk of these disorders. Positive age attitudes can, therefore, be a helpful tool in lowering the likelihood of cognitive impairment in older MCI patients.

Overall, the research shows that encouraging positive age views may be a useful tactic for enhancing cognitive recovery in older people with MCI.

Age-related cognitive decline may damage a person’s memory and ability to think clearly. One element that can contribute to elderly people’s cognitive impairment is stress. Particularly, long-term stress can alter the brain, impair memory, and raise the risk of dementia, like Alzheimer’s. According to studies, stress has a cumulative effect on cognitive aging and can impair cognitive functioning in young adults before leading to cognitive impairment in older adults.

Losing a loved one, having too much free time, a change in the way they interact with their children, or losing physical abilities like eyesight, hearing, balance, or mobility are among the stressors that commonly impact seniors. Stress, therefore, plays a key role in our brain’s functioning and cognitive decline.

Prolonged stress can reduce the hippocampus’s dendritic complexity and cell renewal, which can both have an impact on memory. Psychological affective factors, including stress, anxiety, and depression, hasten the decrease in cognition and sensorimotor function in the elderly.

Seniors can do a variety of things to control their stress and strengthen their resilience to difficult circumstances, though. For instance, they have proven that consistent exercise helps with cognitive performance and reduces stress. Playing musical instruments, visiting museums, reading books and publications, and playing board games can all help lower the risk of cognitive deterioration.

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is the stage that occurs between the normal aging-related decrease in memory and thinking and the more severe dementia-related decline. MCI sufferers could know their memory or other mental abilities have “slipped”. As a result, it’s crucial for seniors who are suffering from cognitive decline to consult a doctor in order to get a proper diagnosis and therapy.

Cognitive decline can be addressed if we recognize it, take steps to reduce our stress levels, and engage in activities that enhance cognition. All is not hopeless, and we are not helpless, but we must play an active role in working toward keeping our mental faculties as sharp as they can be as we age.

The post Preserve Your Mind With a Positive Belief System and Reduced Stress appeared first on Medika Life.

So, what does IQ mean in the scheme of things, and why are we so intimidated by those with high IQ scores? Keep in mind that there are many versions of IQ tests, and not all of them agree with each other. You could have an adequate score on one test and a much higher score on another. It’s a function of both the test and the person administering the test.

In France, IQ tests were first developed to help children with serious mental problems get the proper education. The test, developed in 1905, was called the Binet/Simon Scale. An Americanized version (the Stanford-Binet when Terman revised it) used mental incapacity to demote people to lower-level positions or prevent immigrants from entering the US. Yes, it was bias personified.

No, IQ scores are not rigid, and, yes, you can increase yours if that’s what you want. A person’s IQ, or intelligence quotient, is based on how well they do on one of the many standard tests used to measure cognitive ability. And IQ tests can evaluate a wide range of cognitive skills, including reasoning, math, language, memory, and the speed at which information is processed. Higher values show above-average intellect, while lower levels show below-average intelligence. The average IQ score is 100–120; (the latter is college level).

One psychologist who believed there were more areas of intellect that we missed by the standard tests, Howard Gardner, indicated there are at least 12 areas that need to be evaluated. His first book, Multiple Intelligences: New Horizons explores the fact that there is not one type of intelligence but several, ranging from musical intelligence to the intelligence involved in self-understanding.

There are several straightforward methods anyone can use to raise their IQ. Some may seem rather pedestrian, but each has a direct way to reset our brains and increase our awareness, problem-solving, skills, and other abilities.

Have you ever thought that regular exercise could boost your cognitive abilities? Well, it can, and consider how easy that would be.

The next few are pretty obvious because you can see the benefit immediately, and they include mentally stimulating activities like playing games, solving puzzles, and learning new skills.

Diet and getting enough sleep can both aid in enhancing cognitive performance and raising IQ levels.

Practicing mindfulness and meditation can raise IQ levels by making it easier to pay attention, remember things, and think.

A person’s cognitive ability and brain function can also benefit from learning a new language or playing an instrument. Several studies have shown that these exercises can improve a wide range of mental abilities, such as memory, focus, and the ability to switch between tasks.

There is evidence that the functions of the brain related to language and music are similar. One study, for example, found strong links between how the brain responds to music and how it responds to language grammar. This shows that there is a neurological link between the two.

There’s no doubt that learning a new language can aid in improving neural connections in the brain, but playing an instrument recruits nearly every portion of the brain, including areas that handle vision, sound, movement, and memory.

The best languages to learn are still up for debate, but some evidence suggests that there are a few that may be better for your brain. For example, learning a language that differs greatly from your native tongue can be helpful because it makes you think more and may help with brain flexibility. You can begin today, for free, by downloading Duolingo and picking the language of your choice.

Also, learning a language with a complicated grammar structure, like Arabic or Mandarin, can be more challenging for the brain and help it grow. I used to encourage my evening college students to have their children learn Japanese for the beauty of its simplicity and underlying meaning. The language says a lot in a few words. I was interested in learning Japanese, and I found it fascinating.

Social interaction and maintaining healthy relationships can help people think more clearly and raise their IQ. I recall reading that one thing President John F. Kennedy recalled about family dinners was the intensity of political debate and the questioning of his father. It sharpened his skills, he said.

Technology can be brought into play by using apps and brain-training exercises to boost IQ scores and enhance cognitive function.

In line with exercise, taking part in outdoor activities like walking or hiking can help lower stress and enhance cognitive function, both of which can raise IQ scores.

Raising a person’s IQ can improve their academic and professional success, their ability to solve problems, their ability to remember things, and their general cognitive function. It is crucial to remember that while IQ tests can reveal a person’s cognitive prowess; they do not always reflect a person’s level of general intelligence or likelihood of success.

Besides these, other elements that affect a person’s success in life include motivation, creativity, emotional intelligence, social skills, attitude, resilience, common sense, and self-discipline.

Want a list of a few topics on which you should begin reading to increase your IQ? Ok, thrillers and mysteries, world history, philosophy, and psychology books on cognition, the arts, and creativity are all good areas to explore.

No harm in wanting to increase any IQ score you’ve received in the past. Learning, exercise, and games are always beneficial to you.

The post Boost Your IQ Score By Doing a Few Simple Things appeared first on Medika Life.

Dementia is a group of cognitive disorders that affect a person’s ability to think, remember, and reason. Exploring potential preventative measures for this condition is important, given that no known cure exists.

One potential risk-reducing measure is diet. Studies have shown that certain dietary patterns, such as the Mediterranean diet, may reduce the risk of developing dementia. Additionally, specific nutrients and foods, like omega-3 fatty acids and leafy greens, have been linked to improved brain health and function.

While more research is needed to understand the relationship between diet and dementia fully, there is promising evidence to suggest that making dietary changes may be a practical step in preventing this condition.

“Tears, idle tears, I know not what they mean,
Tears from the depths of some devine despair
Rise in the heart, and gather to the eyes,
In looking on the happy autumn fields,
And thinking of the days that are no more.”
― Alfred Lord Tennyson

Dementia is common

Dementia is a catch-all term for several diseases that impact thinking, memory, and the ability to perform the activities of daily living. Unfortunately, the illness worsens over time. While dementia often strikes older individuals, it is not inevitable with aging.

Here are some of the things that increase dementia risk, according to the World Health Organization:

• age (more common in those 65 or older)
• high blood pressure
• high blood sugar (diabetes)
• being overweight
• smoking
• consuming too much alcohol
• being sedentary
• being socially isolated
• depression.

Alzheimer’s dementia causes

While for the most part, we do not know the causes of Alzheimer’s disease. Dementia is related to several diseases that, over time, destroy nerve cells in the brain. These changes typically lead to deterioration in cognitive functioning (the ability to process thought) beyond what we typically observe with normal aging.

Dementia does not affect consciousness, but cognitive impairment is commonly associated with mood changes, behavioral issues, or problems with motivation.

Dementia symptoms

As once-healthy nerve cells (neurons) in the brain cease to work or lose connections with other brain cells, dementia symptoms emerge. We all lose neurons with age, but those with dementia have a much greater loss.

Dementia symptoms vary among individuals but often include the following:

• Memory loss, confusion, or poor judgment
• Difficulty understanding, speaking, and expressing thoughts, or reading and writing
• Getting lost in a familiar neighborhood
• Challenges handling money responsibly (for example, paying bills)
• Repeating questions over and over again
• Using unusual words to refer to familiar things
• Taking longer to finish normal daily tasks
• Losing interest in normal daily activities or events
• Hallucinating or experiencing delusions or paranoia
• Acting impulsively [or mood changes]
• Not caring about other people’s feelings
• Losing balance and problems with movement

I would add the following symptoms: Feeling anxious, angry, or sad about memory loss. Some have personality changes or inappropriate behavior. Others withdraw from social activities or work.

It can be helpful to consider an individual’s current abilities and watch for changes that might signal dementia. Often, symptoms worsen over time (although some may disappear).

Ultimately, many folks with dementia cannot recognize family members or friends, may have challenges moving around, struggle with eating or drinking, and can lose bowel or bladder control.

Common dementia forms

Dementia is an umbrella term for many diseases or injuries that damage the brain. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of the condition, representing 60 to 70 percent of cases.

Other dementia forms include:

• Vascular dementia.
• Dementia with Lewy bodies (abnormal deposits of protein inside nerve cells).
• A group of diseases contributes to frontotemporal dementia (degeneration of the brain’s frontal lobe).

Some develop dementia after a stroke or are associated with infectious diseases like HIV. Others get dementia in the context of harmful use of alcohol, repeated traumatic brain injuries (chronic traumatic encephalopathy), or nutritional deficiencies. There are also mixed forms of dementia.

Diet and dementia — A new review

I am concerned about dementia, not because I have a higher risk but because the idea of losing my mind terrifies me. I try to get adequate sleep and physical activity and embrace intellectual challenges. I often wonder about what role diet might play in mitigating dementia risk.

Alas, diet studies are notoriously difficult to do. The available evidence hints at the ability of some foods and diets to reduce dementia risk. The New York Times recently queried two dozen experts and reviewed the clinical literature to understand the association between nutrition and dementia better.

The article notes that individuals with heart disease, obesity, diabetes, and high blood pressure have a higher risk of experiencing age-related cognitive decline.

A poor diet and sedentary behavior influence the risk of developing these problems. Let’s turn to some evidence-based ways that you may reduce your chances of suffering from cognitive decline.

Two diets that protect against cognitive decline

Keep your arteries healthy, and you will drop your risk of dementia. The Mediterranean diet and the MIND diet — both of which incorporate fresh produce, legumes and nuts, fish, whole grains, and olive oil — strongly protect against cognitive decline.

A 2017 study analyzed the diets and cognitive performance of over 5,900 older U.S. adults. Those most closely adhering to either the Mediterranean diet or the MIND diet had a one-third reduction in their risk of cognitive impairment (than those adhering to these diets less strictly).

Want more evidence? In a 2022 Israeli randomized controlled trial, researchers took brain scans of over 200 individuals split into three diet groups. Here are the results after 18 months:

Those who followed a “green” Mediterranean diet — one rich in a nutrient-packed green plant called Mankai — had the slowest rate of age-related brain loss (atrophy). Those following a traditional Mediterranean diet were close behind. Researchers saw the greatest declines among those who followed regular (less plant-based) healthy diet guidelines that allowed for more processed and red meat.

What is good for the arteries is good for the brain. Commenting in the New York Times, Dr. Walter Willett, a professor of epidemiology and nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, explains that “pretty much anything that will help keep arteries healthy will reduce risk of dementia.”

Here are beginner’s guides to the MIND and Mediterranean diets:

The MIND Diet

The MIND diet is designed to prevent dementia and loss of brain function as you age. The MIND diet combines the…

www.healthline.com

Mediterranean Diet 101: Meal Plan, Foods List, and Tips

Rich in flavorful ingredients like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and heart-healthy fats, the Mediterranean diet is…

www.healthline.com

Diet and dementia — My take

Are there miracle foods when it comes to dodging cognitive decline? No, but consuming lots of fruits and vegetables is good. And no, supplements are not a good substitute. I love this pithy observation of Dr. Ronald Petersen, a neurologist and the director of the Mayo Clinic Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center:

“If it comes from a plant, eat it. If it’s made in a plant, don’t eat it.”

The post Can Food Ward Off Dementia? Two Diets Come Out on Top. appeared first on Medika Life.

• Eating a healthy diet
• Getting cognitive activity
• Engaging in physical activity
• Not smoking
• Avoiding alcohol
• Having social contact

These lifestyle factors appear beneficial, irrespective of whether a person has APOE4, a gene that may increase dementia risk.

The research study authors note that “memory continuously declines as people age,” but age-related memory loss is not necessarily an early symptom (prodrome) predictive of dementia. Some memory loss is reversible or can be rendered stable rather than progressing to a pathologic state.

Today, we explore six important lifestyle maneuvers to lower the risk of cognitive decline among older adults.

“Our memory is a more perfect world than the universe: it gives back life to those who no longer exist.”
― Guy de Maupassant

Six health habits and memory support

Numerous factors influence memory, including aging, chronic diseases, APOE4 genotype, and lifestyle patterns. Let’s look at the last, a potentially modifiable risk factor for memory loss.

Many historical studies did not consider the interaction between a healthy lifestyle and genetic risk. In this context, researchers did a longitudinal study: The China Cognition and Aging Study considered genetic risk and lifestyle factors.

The study included over 29,000 individuals with an average age of 72 years. Only half were women, and 20 percent of the population carried the APOE4 gene.

Each participant did a Mini-Mental State Examination to assess global cognitive function. Participants completed the World Health Organization/University of California-Los Angeles Auditory Verbal Learning Test to assess memory function.

The researchers collected demographic information. Finally, the scientists examined six modifiable lifestyle factors:

1. Physical activity (weekly frequency and total time)
2. Smoking (current versus former versus never-smoker)
3. Alcohol use (never, occasional, low to excess, and heavy)
4. Diet (daily consumption of 12 food items, including fruits, vegetables, meat, fish, dairy, salt, oil, eggs, cereals, legumes, nuts, and tea)
5. Cognitive activity (reading, writing, playing cards, mahjong, or other games)
6. Social contact (meeting participation, attending parties, visiting friends or relatives, chatting online, or traveling).

The researchers scored the subjects’ lifestyles based on the number of health factors in which they engaged. They regarded those with four to six healthy habits as “favorable.” Those with two or three healthy factors were “average.” Finally, researchers scored those with only one healthy factor as “unfavorable.”

“I can only note that the past is beautiful because one never realises an emotion at the time. It expands later; thus, we don’t have complete emotions about the present, only about the past.”
― Virginia Woolf

Six health habits and memory support — Study results

Here are the results during the ten-year study period:

• Seven thousand one hundred sixty-four died, and 3567 stopped participating.
• A healthy diet offered the strongest protective effect on memory.
• Those in the good and average groups exhibited slower memory decline with age than those in the unfavorable group.

APOE4 gene carriers and memory decline

Memory loss happened faster in APOE4 carriers (versus non-carriers). However, APOE4 carriers with favorable and average lifestyles had slower memory drops than those with unfavorable lifestyles. Researchers discovered similar findings in non-APOE4 carriers.

Individuals with a favorable or average lifestyle were almost 90 percent and 30 percent, respectively, to develop dementia or mild cognitive impairment than those with an unfavorable lifestyle.

Those with favorable or average lifestyles appeared to be 90 and 30 percent less likely to develop dementia or MCI than those with unfavorable lifestyles.

Six health habits and memory support — My take

The study has a major limitation — it is observational and does not establish a cause-and-effect relationship. Perhaps people with better cognitive function are more likely to be social or travel, read, write, or play challenging games.

Moreover, some participants didn’t return for follow-up, creating potential selection bias. Finally, the differences in memory retention between the groups appeared small.

Nevertheless, the study offers hints as to how we might try to reduce our chances of suffering from cognitive decline, whether we have the APOE4 allele or not. I wish the research also included information about poor sleep hygiene, a lifestyle characteristic associated with memory decline.

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On the other hand, “semantic” information, like general knowledge and ideas, is stored in a different part of the brain and is usually easier to get to. Because names aren’t always meaningful or useful to us, they aren’t always deeply imprinted in memory.

Having trouble recalling proper names is referred to in the medical field as “proper name anomia.” This term refers to the inability to remember concrete, personal names instead of more abstract ones. As well as being a symptom of neurological diseases like Alzheimer’s and stroke, normal aging and other causes can cause it to manifest itself in otherwise healthy people.

Remembering names is a talent that is useful in both personal and professional situations, but many people find it difficult to master. Whether at a party trying to meet new people or a business meeting attempting to strengthen client contacts, remembering names is a surefire way to make a good first impression. You can use various strategies to boost your memory for names.

Don’t waste any time. Keep saying the name. Repetition of a name after hearing it is one of the best ways to remember a name. By associating the name’s sound with the person with whom you’re speaking, you’re increasing the likelihood that you’ll remember the name in the future.

You can repeat the name silently or jump right into using the name in conversation. Nice to meet you, John; What do you do for a living, Sarah; etc., are all examples of helpful, memory-enhancing small talk.

Put a picture of the person whose name you’re trying to recall. This can be a picture of the person, such as their face, or it can be an image associated with how their name is pronounced.

You might picture a rose if someone’s name is Rose. Jack conjures up images of a jack-in-the-box for some people. True, these are simple ones and people often have more complicated names. The more striking and original the picture, the more likely you will remember the name.

Make the most of your memory with these tools. Information is more relevant and memorable through the use of mnemonic devices. A common mnemonic method is to make an acronym out of the first letters of a person’s name. If you meet someone named Susan, you can write it as “S.U.S.A.N.” to help you remember it.

The use of rhyme is another method of memorization. Kate is a name that might be easier to remember if you rhymed it with something that comes to you in terms of a word you might use to describe this person.

In computer education, there is one mnemonic everyone needs to learn, referred to as the order of math operations. What is it exactly?

Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally= Parenthesis, Exponents, Multiplication, Division, Addition, and Subtraction.

Medicine has mnemonics, too. Students are urged to learn as many of them as possible since they can be on the all-important MCAT exam.

In psychology and when writing professionally, we use KISS (keep it simple, stupid).

Repeated practice is essential. Remembering names takes practice, just like any other ability. Your memory will improve in proportion to the amount of time you spend using and testing it.

Make an effort to remember the names of the people you meet every day and make it a habit to use their names in conversation. To further hone your memory, try your hand at a few memory games or some memory exercises.

The ability to recall people’s names makes a great first impression and contributes to lasting connections. So, learn how to name-call and get ahead of the game.

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Dementia has many causes, and if we want to optimize our chances of avoiding it, we need to re-consider what we might do to achieve that goal. There is also decreased cognition in persons with MS, and they have been included in trials of exercise and cognition, Graded Exercise Training (GET) Smart trial.

Healthy aging may aid us in our determination to maintain our cognitive (thinking processes) activities, but there remains a verified relationship between decreased cognition and normal aging. Neuroimaging studies of the brain have indicated that changes in brain size occur in mid-adulthood and may start as early as the 20s, with increased advances at about 5% per decade beginning at age 40.

Biochemically, outlined in much of the research, there seems to be a change in the potential for our body’s neurotransmitters to assist in our body’s retaining brain cell functioning, which may be directly related to our body’s exercise practices. In fact our body may benefit from what is known as brain-derived neurotrophic factors (BDNF) as well as neurotransmitters and that can benefit from a regular course of exercise. Why are we interested in BDNF?

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is one of the…factors that support differentiation , maturation, and survival of neurons in the nervous system and shows a neuroprotective effect under adverse conditions. If we can retain our ability to produce this vital factor, we are ahead of the game when it comes to a variety of negative events affecting our brain’s ability to remain active and to repair itself when needed.

A review of aerobic exercise has indicated that exercise may slow down age-related cognitive decline. Further exploration of 68 studies related to cognitive decline and exercise produced evidence that not only does physical exercise provide added cardiovascular and fitness benefits, it also may have potential to slow the progression of cognitive decline in any persons with mild cognitive impairments.

Increasing numbers of persons will continue to experience cognitive decline not merely by advancing age, but brain injury or disease which can lead to dementia as well as a progressive cognitive global decline in memory and executive functioning due to illness. Might Covid-19 brain fog patients derive benefit from an exercise program? I haven’t seen literature on that yet.

Currently, although over 400 clinical trials have been initiated in the area of cognitive decline, specifically Alzheimer’s disease, the results have not yet proven to be what we would wish. In addition, the yearly cost of pharmaceutical products that promise some improvement or suppression of cognitive decline has been disappointing and hugely expensive with one drug being priced over $100K/yr. The expense would place these medication’s beyond the reach of the millions worldwide who will require them in the coming decades.

In light of these disappointing research explorations, we must begin to consider low cost, side-effect free methods that, when applied on a regular basis, may either delay or slow cognitive decline. The current non-pharmaceutical interventions include cognitive and behavioral training, diet, socialization, music therapy and physical exercise.

The literature has found that not only is physical exercise (PA) exercise beneficial in early life, it has obvious advantages later in life.

PA in early- and mid-adulthood independently predicted higher initial memory level and slower memory decline in later life, respectively. Early-adulthood PA was indirectly associated with later-life memory level through higher mid-adulthood PA and lower rates of later-life hypertension, as well as with subsequent memory decline through higher mid-adulthood PA.

The conclusion, therefore, is that exercising in early or mid-adulthood provides us with a degree of protection for our later life cognitive health in addition to other health factors.

Which types of training might prove to be most effective in retaining cognitive processing or slowing down the age-related decline? A number of psychological tests have been included in the research to evaluate changes in cognition in several different physical exercise groups including resistance training, high intensity aerobic interval training, and moderate continuous aerobic training.

In one study the high intensive aerobic interval training group showed significant improvement in both reaction time and information processing. Also, the moderate continuous aerobic training group, likewise, showed significant improvement in executive cognitive tasks but the high intensity of group had the largest significant increase in terms of physical functioning.

Overall, the researchers found that moderate continuous aerobic training and resistance training proved to be superior to the high intensity training regime for older individuals in terms of their cognitive executive functioning.

The path forward is clear, physical exercise in any form that is comfortable, is beneficial later in life or currently. PA not only helps us maintain our physical mobility and health, it aids in forestalling cognitive decline and keeping that BDNF available to us when we need it.

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Today we learn how that substance — cerebrospinal fluid or CSF — washes in and out of our brain tissues in waves, helping to remove waste products. The cerebrospinal spinal fluid also bathes our brain with proteins or growth factors, facilitating normal development.

Decay theory of memory fading

When we learn something new, we create a neurochemical memory trace. The decay theory posits that our memory fades secondary to the passage of time, with information becoming less available for later retrieval as time goes by; the memory strength simply wears away.

Columbia University (USA) psychologist Edward Thorndike first coined the descriptor “decay theory” in The Psychology of Learning in 1914. Active rehearsal of the information can counteract the memory fading.

Memories fade like old photographs

Why do our memories, like old photographs, fade in quality over time? Not only do our recollections become less accurate over time, but we also experience decreases vibrancy and other visual qualities.

Are you like me? I sometimes have a memory that feels like I am reliving the moment. On other occasions, the details are remarkably fuzzy. An example of the former? After I had an emotionally significant event, getting engaged at New York’s Rainbow Room at Rockefeller Center, I have a good recall of the event, but everything has faded in my mind.

As events are forgotten or stored in memory, Boston College researchers wondered how their visual features evolve? Study participants reported changes in their memories akin to using a filter to edit a photograph on Instagram.

The researchers went a step further, inquiring if forgetting is similar to applying a filter to our experiences and whether the emotional significance of the event would change which filter we apply.

Here are the findings, as detailed by study author Rose Cooper:

“Memories seem to fade literally: people consistently remembered visual scenes as being less vibrant than originally experienced.” She continues, adding, “we had expected that memories would get less accurate after a delay, but we did not expect that there would be this qualitative shift in the way that they remembered them.”

Furthermore, negative emotions study participants experienced when viewing images raised the chances that they would accurately recall the images but did not influence memory fading.

In summary, the researchers discovered that the vibrancy of low-level details — colors and shapes, for example — fades in memory while we keep the general gist of the experience.

The fading appeared less for memories subjectively rated as more robust. Emotional memories did not influence the fading amount but did impact the likelihood with which the subjects remembered an exposure. My Rainbow is recalled, but not vividly.

What drives the memory fading? Do we forget over time, or is new material interfering with new information?

Cerebrospinal fluid basics

Researchers recently reversed memory loss in mice by injecting them with a brain fluid from younger peers. First, let’s take a quick look at that fluid, or cerebrospinal fluid (CSF).

The CSF is a body fluid surrounding the brain and cushion in the skull. Maiken Nedergaard and colleagues discovered that cerebrospinal fluid also acts as a lymph system in the brain.

Via a series of elegant experiments analyzing mice brains, the researchers visualized cerebrospinal fluid entering and flowing through the brain, ultimately draining into the same ducts used by the lymphatic system of the rest of the body.

The cerebrospinal fluid clears harmful amyloid-beta from the brain. The substance is associated with Alzheimer’s disease and other neurological conditions. While Nedergaard and co-investigators honed in on this protein, other leftover proteins are likely also removed.

In summary, cerebrospinal (spinal) fluid washes in and out of the crevices of our brains in waves. The process is central to waste removal.

Reversing memory loss in mice

Researchers reversed memory loss by injecting cerebrospinal fluid from younger mice peers.

Using a tiny tube and pump, the scientists infused cerebrospinal fluid from young adult mice into the brains of 18-month-old animals — the equivalent to about 60 years for humans — over seven days.

Imaging revealed higher levels of myelin, a fatty sheath that covers and protects nerve cells from damage. The injections led to practical changes, too: The elderly mice improved at a fear-conditioning task. The refreshed mice remembered a tone, and a flashing light meant a small electric shock was coming.

Growth factors and memory rejuvenation

Growth factors that can restore nerve cell function are the likely agents of memory improvement. Stimulated cells — oligodendrocytes — made more myelin, creating stronger connections between the nerve cells.

Genes normally expressed in oligodendrocytes appeared revved up or upregulated in the old mice who had received cerebrospinal fluid from young mice.

The researchers also found changes in gene expression in a structure important for memory, the hippocampus. The gene Fgf17 decreases activity with age; the CSF infusion restored function.

This research is stunning. With all of the troubles in the world, it is heartening to see brilliant scientists opening doors to a future where we may be able to improve memory. It is also disturbing. I hope we someday don’t go down this road; gene editing sounds much more appealing to me, especially for those with dementia.

Until we get a drug targeting memory in humans, I will continue to focus on a healthy diet, adequate sleep, regular physical activity, limiting alcohol consumption, and challenging my brain with activities such as my new Haydn Piano Sonatas.

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