Study: Hormones may ward off dementia

NF Reporter · 05-02-2007, 04:24 PM

AP - New research suggests that hormone therapy taken soon after menopause may help protect against dementia, even though it raises the risk of mental decline in women who do not take the drugs until they are older.

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waltky · 12-05-2007, 07:31 PM

Forgot where you put your keys? Or your car? If you are over 60, it may just be a normal part of aging, U.S. researchers said on Wednesday in a study that suggests brain structures deteriorate with age in otherwise healthy people. The study, published in the journal Neuron, is part of an effort by researchers at Harvard University to understand the difference between normal, age-related declines and clinical impairment.

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With Age, Brain Becomes Less Coordinated
Dec 5, 2007 - Researchers Point to Degradation in Communication Pathways Between Brain's Different Regions

"We're trying to understand the edge of that boundary between normal aging and Alzheimer's disease," said Randy Buckner, a Harvard professor and Howard Hughes Medical Institute researcher who worked on the study. Buckner and colleagues took brain scans of 55 adults ages 60 and over, and 38 younger adults ages 35 and younger. They used an imaging technique called PET to detect the presence of amyloid, a chemical typically associated with Alzheimer's disease, to rule out those whose memory declines were disease-related.

What they found is that some brain systems become less coordinated with age. "It looks like it is an effect of normal aging independent of Alzheimer's disease," Buckner said in a telephone interview. They found brain structures called white matter tracks, which carry information between different regions of the brain, were deteriorating only in the older group.

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waltky · 04-18-2008, 01:34 AM

Check that cholesterol...

Midlife Cholesterol Tied to Alzheimer’s
April 18, 2008 -- Heart disease is the most well known complication of high cholesterol, motivating many to cut the fat, exercise and take cholesterol-lowering drugs. But results of a new study showing high cholesterol in your 40s is a risk factor for another troubling disease could prompt more people to fight the fat.

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Alzheimer’s disease -- the most common cause of dementia, which affects memory, attention, language and problem solving -- has been linked to high cholesterol in one’s midlife. Researchers say in a recent study, people with total cholesterol levels between 249 and 500 milligrams were one-and-a-half times more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease than those people with cholesterol levels of less than 198 milligrams.

“High mid-life cholesterol increased the risk of Alzheimer’s disease regardless of midlife diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, smoking and late-life stroke,” study author Alina Solomon, M.D., with the University of Kuopio in Finland, was quoted as saying. “Our findings show it would be best for both physicians and patients to attack high cholesterol levels in their 40s to reduce the risk of dementia.”

To keep cholesterol under control, the American Heart Association recommends eating foods low in cholesterol and saturated fat and free of trans fats. They also say maintaining a healthy weight and being physically active will help control cholesterol levels.

Ivanhoe's Medical Breakthroughs - Midlife Cholesterol Tied to Alzheimerâ€™s

waltky · 11-05-2008, 06:01 AM

Vitamin B3 may help with Alzheimer's...

Vitamin 'may be Alzheimer's aid'
Wednesday, 5 November 2008 - Vitamin B3 may help protect the brain from Alzheimer's disease - and even boost memory in healthy people.

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US researchers found vitamin B3 lowered levels of a protein linked to Alzheimer's damage in mice. The Journal of Neuroscience study also showed the animals performed better at memory tests. UK Alzheimer's charities said people should not start taking the vitamin before results from human studies. "This suggests that not only is it good for Alzheimer's disease, but if normal people take it, some aspects of their memory might improve" - Professor Frank LaFerla, University of California, Irvine

The vitamin, also called nicotinamide by scientists, is sold in UK pharmacies and health food shops. It has already been shown to help people suffering from diabetes complications and has some anti-inflammatory qualities. The researchers, from the University of California at Irvine, added the vitamin to drinking water given to mice bred to develop a version of Alzheimer's disease, then tested the levels of certain chemicals associated with the condition.

They found that levels of one, called phosphorylated tau, were significantly lower in the animals. This protein is involved in abnormal 'deposits' in brain cells, called 'tangles', which contribute to the brain damage which progressively affects people with Alzheimer's. Using 'water mazes', the team also found some evidence that memory was enhanced in both 'Alzheimer's' mice and unaffected mice.

Normal memory