Showing posts with label shrinkage. Show all posts
Showing posts with label shrinkage. Show all posts
Exercise may trump mental activity in protecting against brain shrinkage
Wednesday, April 9, 2014
Exercising regularly in old age may better protect against brain shrinkage than engaging in mental or social activities, according to a new study published in the October 23, 2012, print issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. Research suggests that brain shrinkage may lead to problems with memory and thinking.
"People in their seventies who participated in more physical exercise, including walking several times a week, had less brain shrinkage and other signs of aging in the brain than those who were less physically active," said study author Alan J. Gow, PhD, with the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. "On the other hand, our study showed no real benefit to participating in mentally and socially stimulating activities on brain size, as seen on MRI scans, over the three-year time frame."
Researchers looked at medical records of 638 people from Scotland born in 1936. The participants were given MRI scans at 73 years old.
The group gave details about their exercise habits, ranging from moving only in connection with necessary household chores to keeping fit with heavy exercise or participating in competitive sports several times per week. They also reported their participation in social and mentally stimulating activities.
The study found that after three years, people who participated in more physical activity experienced less brain shrinkage than those who exercised minimally.
"Our results show that regularly exercising in old age is potentially important to protecting the brain as we age," said Gow.
Diet and Powerful Nutrients Prevent Brain Shrinkage Lower Alzheimer’s Disease Risk
Monday, March 17, 2014
Researchers reporting in the prestigious journal, Neurology have found that proper diet and specific nutrients can lower the risk of brain shrinkage by nearly forty percent. Other lifestyle factors including degree of education and elevated blood pressure combined with a healthy diet can slash brain shrinkage risk in half. Shrinking brain volume is very closely associated with the development of many forms of dementia including the most devastating affliction, Alzheimer’s disease.
In addition to following weight management practices including calorie restriction with optimal nutrition (CRON), middle and advanced aging adults will want to ensure they consume a diet packed with marine derived Omega-3 fats and vitamins B, C, D and E to dramatically lower the risk of reduced brain volume, memory loss and risk of Alzheimer’s disease.
Key Vitamins and Marine Derived Fats Slow Brain Shrinkage and Cognitive Decline
Dr. Gene Bowman from the Departments of Neurology and Public Health and Preventive Medicine at the Oregon Health & Science University and his team of researchersrecruited 104 elderly people with an average age of 87 who had few risk factors for impaired memory and thinking. They performed blood tests to quantify and compare 30 different nutrient biomarkers considered important to support brain health and volume. All the participants also completed tests of memory and thinking, while 42 of them also underwent MRI scans that measured their brain volume.
An analysis of the results found that the participants ate an otherwise healthy diet, yet 25% were lacking in vitamin D and 7% were deficient in vitamin B12. Dr. Bowman noted that the results showed a significant amount of the variation in brain volume and scores on the thinking and memory tests were tied to levels of nutrient biomarkers.
Nutrient Markers Measured in Blood Impact Brain Health and Memory
Researchers determined the nutrientlevels accounted for 17% of the variation in the scores, while 46% of the variation was tied to other factors such as age, number of years of education and blood pressure. For brain volume, the nutrient levels accounted for 37% of the variation. The study found that the vitamins and nutrients you get from eating a wide range of fruits, vegetables and fish can be measured in blood biomarkers and have a direct impact on brain shrinkage, memory and cognition.
Dr. Bowman concluded “it is very exciting to think that people could potentially stop their brains from shrinking and keep them sharp by adjusting their diet… Im a firm believer these nutrients have strong potential to protect your brain and make it work better.” In addition to eating a natural, organic diet full of fresh vegetables, fish and fruit, some health-minded individuals may want to consider supplementing with vitamins B, C, D, E along with fish oil capsule to ensure optimal bioavailability of these critical nutrients.
Altering Lifestyle Habits Halt Brain Shrinkage and Cognitive Decline
Saturday, February 15, 2014
The result of a new study published in the journalNeurology (the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology) has found that poor lifestyle habits and related health disorders such as smoking, overweight and obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure cause brain shrinkage and cognitive decline.
Researchers determined that these conditions when present during middle age predicated lower brain volume and precursor markers for dementia up to a decade later. Identifying and controlling these risk factors early is a critical step in preventing loss of cognitive function and memory in later life.
Detrimental Lifestyle Practices Directly Impact Brain Health
To conduct the study, researchers examined a cohortof 1,352 people with an average age of 54 from the Framingham Offspring Study. The participants were weighed and body mass index and waist circumference were established along with blood pressure and cholesterol tests and blood glucose readings to detect for diabetes. Additionally, MRI brain scans were completed over the course of a decade with the first test performed seven years after the original biomarker benchmark.
Researchers found that those participants with high blood pressure developed a condition identified as `white matter `hyperintensities` or small areas of damage to the delicate vessel structure of the brain. Hypertensive participants were much more likely to demonstrate worsening scores on tests of executive function compared to those with normal blood pressure readings. The study authors found that this single factor negatively affected planning and decision making processes and corresponded with five to eight years of premature chronological brain aging.
Smoking Cessation and Controlling Diabetes and Obesity Key to Improved Cognition
Diabetes in middle age was associated with loss of brain volume in the memory-forming hippocampus region at a much faster rate than non-diabetics. Smokers were found to experience both accelerated brain volume shrinkage and white matter hyperintensities at a much faster rate than non-diabetic participants that did not smoke. Obese individuals were in the top quarter of those most likely to display loss of executive function and rapid rate of cognitive decline.
The lead study author, Dr. Charles DeCarli concluded that the four studiedrisk factors “provide evidence that identifying these risk factors early in people of middle age could be useful in screening people for at-risk dementia and encouraging people to make changes to their lifestyle before it`s too late”. Poor lifestyle choices are well known to contribute to a host of potentially lethal conditions and this body of research continues to add to the existing evidence. Health-conscious individuals will insist on a well balanced reduced calorie, low-ined carbohydrate diet along with regular physical activity to prevent obesity, hypertension, diabetes and cognitive decay.
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