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Read this article featured in Discover about Lou Gehrig and the disease that bears his name:

That may seem a strange question, akin to asking who’s buried in Grant’s tomb. But a new study proposes that some athletes diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease may in fact have a different fatal disease that is set off by concussions.

Researchers have previously investigated the link between athletes and this neurodegenerative disease, more technically known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). A recent study examined what seemed to be a higher than usual incidence of Lou Gehrig’s disease among soccer players, and, of course, the disease bears the name of a New York Yankee who was famously undaunted by the hard knocks of his sport. Though it’s impossible to determine now whether Lou Gehrig suffered from ALS or a different condition (Gehrig was cremated), the study’s lead author speculates that Lou Gehrig’s disease might be a misnomer:

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Exercise is a form of anti-dementia.  A May 2010 online issue in the journal Annals of Neurology, the official journal of the American Neurological Association and the Child Neurology Society, reveal results of the study by Boston University School of Medicine.

In the new study, U.S. researchers confirmed the known link between obesity and lower total brain volume and also found that abdominal fat in otherwise healthy middle aged people is associated with lower total brain volume, suggesting a greater risk of dementia and Alzheimer's later on in life.

A clinical diagnosis of dementia is made when two or more brain functions are significantly impaired. The condition shows as short term and long term memory decline, and deterioration of language, problem solving and other cognitive abilities. It can result from irreversible causes such as Alzheimer's disease, vascular dementia, and Huntington's disease, or it can result from treatable causes such as brain tumor, reaction to drugs, or metabolic problems.

According to World Health Organization (WHO) figures released in 2005, there are about 24 million people in the world living with dementia, with 4.6 million new cases coming forward every year.

So the take away here is do not forget to stay slim, eat well, excercise and stay healthy or, later,  you might forget!

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Worried about whether your favorite desert will taste the same in years to come?  New research out of Milan, Italy reveals a possible link between flavor and abnormal eating behavior in patients with Alzheimer's Disease.  And words put to music assist those same patients memory of the words sung as opposed to spoken.  But not so for healthy adults.

Forget Flavor?

The Journal Cortex  published "Flavour processing in semantic dementia" by Katherine E. Piwnica-Worms, Rohani Omar, Julia C. Hailstone, and Jason D. Warren, and appears in Cortex, Volume 46, Issue 6 (June 2010).

The researchers tested patients' flavour processing using jelly beans: a convenient and widely available stimulus covering a broad spectrum of flavours. The abilities of patients to discriminate and identify flavours and to assess flavour combinations according to their appropriateness and pleasantness were compared with healthy people of the same age and cultural background. Patients were able to discriminate different flavours normally and to indicate whether they found certain combinations pleasant or not, but they had difficulty identifying individual flavours or assessing the appropriateness of particular flavour combinations (for example, vanilla and pickle).

These findings provide the first evidence that the meaning of flavours, like other things in the world, becomes affected in semantic dementia: this is a truly 'pan-modal' deficiency of knowledge. The research gives clues to the brain basis for the abnormal eating behaviours and the altered valuation of foods shown by many patients with dementia. More broadly, the results offer a perspective on how the brain organises and evaluates those commonplace flavours that enrich our daily lives.

So if you ever hear an elderly person announce, after trying frog legs, "tastes like chicken," consider these findings.

Remember Music

The National Institute on Aging supports Research from Boston University School of Medicine. That research shows that patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) are better able to remember new verbal information when it is provided in the context of music even when compared to healthy, older adults. The findings, which currently appear on-line in Neuropsychologia, offer possible applications in treating and caring for patients with AD.

Watching Grandma kick it to her genre of music explains these findings, or the other way around. So in the end, the last things I may remember are the lyrics to some old Led Zeppelin or Jethro Tull songs.  "Whole Lotta...Aqualung!"

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Most interesting news pegging the tobacco-industry.

A UCSF analysis of published studies on the relationship between Alzheimer's disease and smoking indicates that smoking cigarettes is a significant risk factor for the disease. After controlling for study design, quality of the journals, time of publication, and tobacco industry affiliation of the authors, the UCSF research team also found an association between tobacco industry affiliation and the conclusions of individual studies. Industry-affiliated studies indicated that smoking protects against the development of Alzheimer's Disease, while independent studies showed that smoking increased the risk of developing the disease.

Study findings were published online in the January issue (19:2) of the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease.  

Alcohol Use Found in Cognitive Decline

Studies of alcohol use and cognition among the elderly are rare and have mixed results. A study of drinking among the elderly in Brazil has found that heavy alcohol use is associated with more memory and cognitive problems than mild-to-moderate alcohol use, especially among women.

Results will be published in the April 2010 issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research .
 

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Since I recently posted on the topic linking high blood pressure to dementia, I came across my doctor's newsletter on Blood Pressure.  I reprint it here for those interested.

The leading cause of death and disability in the United States is from cardiovascular diseases, and the most common disease is high blood pressure.  High blood pressure, also known as
hypertension, usually does not have any symptoms – hence, the nickname “silent killer.”

Unfortunately, one-third of those who have high blood pressure do not realize it and are not aware of their risk for heart disease. Therefore, many people live years without treatment, possibly damaging their heart, blood vessels, and kidneys.

Lifestyle choices (e.g., weight control, tobacco use, proper nutrition, regular exercise) can help
prevent and/or control high blood pressure. The following are common questions and answers about blood pressure.

What is blood pressure?

It is the force of blood against the walls of arteries. Systolic pressure (the top number) is the force as the heart beats. Diastolic pressure (the bottom number) is the force as the heart relaxes.

A blood pressure reading of 120/80 mmHg is articulated as “120 over 80.”

What is the meaning of the numbers?

A systolic pressure of 120 or less is considered normal. Diastolic pressure of 80 or less is considered normal. Therefore, 120/80 or less is a normal blood pressure. The chart below shows normal blood pressure levels, as well as the levels of high blood pressure.

What are the dangers of high blood pressure?

High blood pressure places an additional strain on the circulatory system (i.e., heart and blood vessels).  This strain results in arteries becoming thicker, narrower, and weaker, sometimes causing an obstruction.  A completely obstructed artery often leads to heart attacks, strokes, kidney disease, and dementia.

Is low blood pressure a health problem?

The training effect of regular exercise, especially when working out rigorously, is a lower blood pressure. At times, an individual who does not exercise may experience regular low blood pressure. If symptoms do not accompany the low pressure, it usually is not serious. However, if
blood pressure suddenly drops, it may indicate an underlying problem causing inadequate blood flow to the heart, brain, and other vital organs. Symptoms may include dizziness or lightheadedness.

What are some tips to prevent/control high blood pressure?

Healthy living is at the heart of preventing and controlling high blood pressure. Are you:
 Maintaining a healthy weight?
 Engaging in regular physical activity (fi ve 30-minute sessions of aerobic exercise and two
30-minute strength training sessions per week)?
 Eating a low-fat, high-nutrient diet (fruits, vegetables, low-fat dairy foods, low sodium)?
 Limiting alcohol consumption?

References:
1. NIH – National Heart, Lung, Blood
Institute, www.nhlbi.nih.gov
2. American Heart Association,
www.heart.org
3. Blood Pressure Association (United
Kingdom), www.bpassoc.org.uk
Exceptional Doctors. Exceptional Care. Exceptional Results.
LivingWell
The Link Between Heart Health and Blood Pressure
February 2010
 

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 Another study has found that hypertension may contribute to increased risk of dementia, this time with evidence of actual brain abnormalities. I previously wrote about the link between Hypertension and Alzheimer's disease.

This is especially relevant to those who are not controlling their blood pressure. Blood pressure is not something one feels is high or low. Specific medical evaluation, blood pressure test, is necessary. 

Data from an offshoot of the Women's Health Initiative found that participants' baseline blood pressure was strongly correlated with volume of lesions in their brains' white matter, according to Lewis Kuller, MD, DrPH, of the University of Pittsburgh, and colleagues.

Along with earlier studies linking blood pressure to clinical dementia, the evidence "supports tight control of blood pressure levels, especially beginning at younger and middle age as a possible and perhaps only way to prevent dementia," Kuller and colleagues concluded online in the Journal of Clinical Hypertension.

Treating hypertension in the elderly appears to protect against dementia and cognitive decline.  Uncontrolled hypertension in older patients increases the risk of cognitive impairment. Hypertensive patients had a 70% greater risk of non-amnestic mild cognitive impairment compared with nonhypertensive patients according to Christiane Reitz, M.D., Ph.D., of Columbia University in New York. (C Reitz et al. "Hypertension and the risk of mild cognitive impairment." International Society of Vascular Behavioral and Cognitive Disorders meeting, July 11-14, San Antonio. Final program and abstract book. Abstract O-6)

For each year an individual took medication to lower blood pressure, the risk of dementia decreased by about 3%, found Rita Peila, Ph.D., an epidemiologist at the National Institute on Aging and a scientist at the Pacific Health Research Institute in Honolulu.

My question is whether a person who controls their blood pressure and hypertension with medicine can decrease their risk of dementia to that of someone without hypertension.  I predict that other risk factors would need to be accounted for but, other things being equal, can a person with controlled high blood pressure eliminate the risk of dementia?

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Now the million of cell phone users have good reason to keep on talking.  It baffles my mind to learn of something typically regarded as negative being cast into a positive light.  Reminds me of Woody Allen's Sleeper where future scientists discover cigarette smoking and eating fat is healthy.

An international team of researchers studying the long term effects of electromagnetic waves like those emitted by cell phones on mice were surprised to find they protected their brains against Alzheimer's and even reversed the memory damage caused by the disease.

The neuroscientists, electrical engineers, and neurologists published the study and findings in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease. 

The research results are exciting.  But since they occur in mice, the ultimate human affects are still not known.  Dr. Susan Sorenson, Alzheimer's Society Head of Research, comments, 'This study could open new doors in Alzheimer's research but it also poses some interesting questions that need answers. However, dementia research is dramatically underfunded. The government currently spends eight times less on dementia research than cancer research. In order to make further scientific advances dementia needs to be given higher priority.' 

"Electromagnetic Field Treatment Protects Against and Reverses Cognitive Impairment in Alzheimer's Disease Mice."
Gary W. Arendash, Juan Sanchez-Ramos, Takashi Mori, Malgorzata Mamcarz, Xiaoyang Lin, Melissa Runfeldt, Li Want, Guixin Zhang, Vasyl Sava, Juan Tan and Chuanhai Cao.
Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, Volume 19:1 (January 2010).
 

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The American Medical Association (AMA) reports that PET (postron emission tomography) is able to detect the progression of Alzheimer's in patients with dementia.  Preclinical Alzheimer's disease can be detected by screening an individual's cerebrospinal fluid for biomarkers of the condition. In addition, imaging with positron emission tomography (PET) can detect deposits of the substance linked to dementia in living patients.

159 older adults (average age 71.5) who had undergone PET scans and did not have symptoms of dementia were assessed. These patients were followed for between 0.8 and 5.5 years after having the scan and underwent between two and six assessments for dementia during that timeframe.

A total of 23 participants progressed to clinically detectable dementia during follow-up, and nine were diagnosed with dementia of the Alzheimer type. These diagnoses were made by specialist clinicians who diagnosed the condition at an earlier stage than typically occurs and corroborated the diagnosis by declines in multiple cognitive domains as well as a loss of volume in certain areas of the brain.
 

If this new discovery can assist clinicians in detecting dementia and Alzheimer's symptoms earlier, treatment can be more effective.

This study provides support for the premise that preclinical Alzheimer's disease, detected by the cerebrospinal fluid signature for Alzheimer's disease predicts symptomatic Alzheimer's disease.  The study is published at Arch Neurol. 2009;66[12]:1469-1475.
 

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A new study published in the Scientific Journal Neurology reveals that women who store fat on their waist in middle age are more than twice as likely to develop dementia when they get older.

The most common symptoms of dementia are forgetfulness, impaired speech and problems with recognition and orientation. It is a condition that can affect all our mental faculties and which is more common as we get older. Around seven per cent of the population over the age of 65 and just over 20 per cent of the over-80s have severe dementia.

Dementia isn't a specific disease. Instead, it describes a group of symptoms affecting intellectual and social abilities severely enough to interfere with daily functioning. It's caused by conditions or changes in the brain. Different types of dementia exist, depending on the cause. Alzheimer's disease is the most common type.

Memory loss generally occurs in dementia, but memory loss alone doesn't mean you have dementia. Dementia indicates problems with at least two brain functions, such as memory loss along with impaired judgment or language. Dementia can make you confused and unable to remember people and names. You may also experience changes in personality and social behavior. However, some causes of dementia are treatable and even reversible.

Dementia symptoms vary depending on the cause, but common signs and symptoms include:

Memory loss
Difficulty communicating
Inability to learn or remember new information
Difficulty with planning and organizing
Difficulty with coordination and motor functions
Personality changes
Inability to reason
Inappropriate behavior
Paranoia
Agitation
Hallucinations
 

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