Postpone Dementia by High Midlife Cardiovascular Fitness

Postpone Dementia by High Midlife Cardiovascular Fitness

Women with a high level of cardiovascular fitness during middle-age had an 88% reduction in risk of developing dementia compared to women who were moderately fit in midlife. When the highly fit women did get dementia, they developed it an average of 11 years later—at...
Regular Exercise Lowers Risk for Dementia

Regular Exercise Lowers Risk for Dementia

In the U.S. the total cost of caring for a person with dementia is $287,000, which is 57% higher than caring for a patient with any other disease. Sadly, there is no effective treatment for dementia. However, the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Survey has revealed...
Brain Health Depends on a Healthy Lifestyle

Brain Health Depends on a Healthy Lifestyle

Vascular risk factors during midlife may foster the development of underlying dementia later in life. Having a BMI of greater than 30 kg/m2 at midlife is associated with 2X the risk of brain amyloid deposits later. Other risk factors are smoking, hypertension, high...
Plant-based Diets Lower Risk of Alzheimer’s Disease

Plant-based Diets Lower Risk of Alzheimer’s Disease

A 10-country study of the per capita supply of meat and other animal products (not milk) demonstrated that the higher the supply in the 5 years before diagnosis the higher the risk of Alzheimer’s disease. This was correlative and could not pinpoint cause and...
Dementia Does Not Have to Happen

Dementia Does Not Have to Happen

A Lancet Commission, after a careful review of epidemiological data, reported that 35% of all dementia is “potentially modifiable”. The modifiable risk factors can be separated into early-, mid-, and late-life prevention as follows: Early life: poor...
Hearing Loss First, then Dementia?

Hearing Loss First, then Dementia?

Researchers with the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging have found a strong association between hearing loss and dementia. When compared to individuals with normal hearing, those with mild, moderate, or severe hearing loss had, respectively, a 2, 3, and 5 fold,...
MIND Diet May Delay Alzheimer’s

MIND Diet May Delay Alzheimer’s

Evidence suggests both the DASH Diet and a Mediterranean-type dietary pattern have significant brain benefits. A dietary pattern that combines the best of both of these may be even more protective. The MIND (Mediterranean-DASH Intervention of Neurodegenerative Delay)...
What is Good for the Heart is also Good for the Brain

What is Good for the Heart is also Good for the Brain

Over five years of research, older adults who did not engage in moderate to high levels of exercise experienced greater declines in cognitive processing speed and memory function. This decline was the same as would have been expected with 10 years of aging instead of...
Marijuana and Cognitive Function

Marijuana and Cognitive Function

Today many portray marijuana use as harmless. With more and more states legalizing its use, many believe it has no long-term effects on memory or other areas of cognitive function. Researchers followed over 3000 individuals for 25 years. Current marijuana use was...
Too Much TV Time Leads to Worse Cognition

Too Much TV Time Leads to Worse Cognition

Middle-age adults who had 25+ years of high TV viewing (3+ hours per day) and low physical activity were 2X as likely to have poor cognitive performance (cognitive speed, memory, and executive functioning) compared to those with low TV viewing  and high physical...
Fitness in Middle-age Reduces Risk of Dementia

Fitness in Middle-age Reduces Risk of Dementia

Researchers at the Cooper Institute report that individuals in the highest quintile of cardiorespiratory fitness at age 50 had a 36% lower risk of dementia after age 65 when compared to those in the lowest fitness group. This finding is based on an analysis of almost...

A Stroke Impacts Spouse’s Health, Too

Swedish researchers report caring for a spouse who had a stroke may negatively impact their mental and physical health for years to come. The two most important predictors of the caregiver spouse’s quality of life was the extent of the spouse’s stroke...

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