Encouraging Health

If you sometimes have trouble cutting yourself off after only one cup of coffee in the morning, don’t fret.

Actually, going back for a refill might not be a bad move. A few recent large-scale studies have uncovered some new by-the-cup health benefits of coffee. Check ‘em out:

1 cup . . . may lower your risk of cancer. A 13-year Japanese study revealed that men and women who drank a cup or more a day were half as likely to develop cancer of the mouth, pharynx, and esophagus compared with people who didn’t drink coffee.

2 cups . . . may fend off strokes. In a 24-year study, women who drank 2-3 cups a day were 19 percent less likely to have a stroke compared with women who drank less than a cup a month. One caveat: The benefit applied only to nonsmoking women with no history of high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or diabetes.

3 cups . . . may safeguard your neurons. Middle-aged adults who reported drinking at least 3 cups of coffee a day were 65 percent less likely to have developed dementia or Alzheimer’s by the time most of the group had reached their mid-sixties to seventies. Now, that’s a lotta coffee. But not for everyone.

What’s in Those Magic Beans?
Although it’s not clear how coffee does all of these wonderful, protective things, researchers suspect that the coffee bean’s high level of inflammation-fighting antioxidants (called polyphenols) may have something to do with it. But is instant coffee as healthful as brewed?

Go enjoy some coffee!

Memory loss that disrupts everyday life is not a normal part of aging. It may be a sign of Alzheimer’s disease, a fatal brain disease that gets worse over time and causes changes in thinking, reasoning and behavior. Although the disease is more common in people 65 and older, it can also strike those in their 30s, 40s and 50s.

10 warning signs of Alzheimer’s from the Alzheimers Association:

1. Memory loss.
Forgetting recently learned information is one of the most common early signs of dementia. A person begins to forget more often and is unable to recall the information later.

What’s normal? Forgetting names or appointments occasionally.

2. Difficulty performing familiar tasks.
People with dementia often find it hard to plan or complete everyday tasks. Individuals may lose track of the steps to prepare a meal, place a telephone call or play a game.

What’s normal? Occasionally forgetting why you came into a room or what you planned to say.

3. Problems with language.
People with Alzheimer’s disease often forget simple words or substitute unusual words, making their speech or writing hard to understand. They may be unable to find their toothbrush, for example, and instead ask for “that thing for my mouth.”

What’s normal? Sometimes having trouble finding the right word.

4. Disorientation to time and place.
People with Alzheimer’s disease can become lost in their own neighborhoods, forget where they are and how they got there, and not know how to get back home.

What’s normal? Forgetting the day of the week or where you were going.

5. Poor or decreased judgment.
Those with Alzheimer’s may dress inappropriately, wearing several layers on a warm day or little clothing in the cold. They may show poor judgment about money, like giving away large sums to telemarketers.

What’s normal? Making a questionable or debatable decision from time to time.

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Risks of taking Anti-psychotic medications may mean early death.

A new study that adds to concerns already known about such anti-psychotic medications, such as, Risperdal, Thorazine and Stelazine. “For the vast majority of Alzheimer’s patients, taking these drugs is probably not a worthwhile risk,” said Clive Ballard, the paper’s lead author, of the Wolfson Centre for Age-Related Diseases at King’s College London.

During the study, which followed Elderly patients with moderate to severe Alzheimers over a two year period, more died in the group taking the anti-psychotic medications than taking placebos.

The use of anti-psychotic medications are supposed to be given on a temporary only basis. But in nursing homes, the study found that they are routinely given as a permanent inducement to keep Alzheimers patients quiet, over their entire stay. Simon Lovestone of the Institute of Psychiatry at King’s College in London said psychiatrists should try environmental or behavioral therapies instead of anti-psychotics, but many nursing homes may have limited psychiatric help, if any at all. It’s easier to medicate the clients into submission than helping them heal.

The experts are unsure how the anti-psychotic medications are harming Alzheimers patients, but they are certain the sedative affect is harming their brains. Any medication, used improperly, can do more harm than good. There is a trend that has been ongoing for decades that a sedated patient is easier to deal with than an alert one. More Alzheimers specific professionals are needed in America’s nursing homes–ones that are familiar with the sypmptoms, aggression, memory loss, delusions and hallucinations. America’s elderly deserve better.

Blanche Danick may be 86 years old, but she’s pretty hip. She keeps up with all the latest health news, and a while back, she called her daughter wanting to know whether she should start taking the herb ginkgo biloba. She’d heard it might stave off Alzheimer’s disease.

Studies have shown that physical exercise, the kind that keeps the heart healthy, also keeps the brain healthy, according to the National Institutes of Health’s Cognitive and Emotional Health Project.

People are like rats, London says. “If you put a rat in a cage by itself, it won’t do well on cognitive tests. But if you give it toys and put other rats in its cage, they’re going to be smarter rats.”

In addition to playing with toys and hanging out with your fellow rats, here are five other tips for keeping your memory sharp. London says they help work on memory centers of the brain, including the cerebral cortex and the hippocampus, identified in the diagram above.

1. Antioxidants

London makes sure her mother takes vitamins A, C, and E. They’re antioxidants, which prevent cell damage and are believed by some to slow down diseases of aging. “There are studies that suggest antioxidants might prevent dementia,” she says.

2. Fish oil supplements

Dr. Gary Small, director of the UCLA Center on Aging, says aging brains show signs of inflammation, and fish oil has anti-inflammatory properties.

3. Phosphatidylserine supplements

Phosphatidylserine is a lipid found naturally in the body. Small says he’s not 100 percent convinced these supplements will help stave off dementia, but they’re worth a try. “If I start having memory problems when I get older, I’ll give them a trial run and see if they help,” says Small, author of the new book “iBrain: Surviving the Technological Alteration of the Modern Mind.”

4. Curry

Small, who’s 57, says that as he gets older, he might also try eating more foods with curry in them. “Some studies in Singapore show that those who ate curry once a week had better memory scores,” he said.

5. Cross-training your brain

“Our brains can be made stronger through exercise,” says Andrew Carle, assistant professor of in the department of health administration and policy at George Mason University. “In the same way physical exercise can delay many of the effects of aging on the body, there’s some evidence cognitive exercise can at least delay the onset of Alzheimer’s.”

But Carle says it’s not enough to do just one kind of brain exercise. “Doing a crossword puzzle every day is good, but it’s the equivalent of doing only pushups — your arms will get strong, but not the rest of your body.”

He recommends doing other activities in addition, such as computing numbers in your head instead of using a calculator, or using one of the “brain gym” computer games designed to enhance brain function.

As for London, who’s 60, she thinks her best bet at staving off dementia doesn’t come in a bottle, or on a dinner plate, or in a computer game. “I’m going to keep working on my research, and surround myself with young people, and do a lot of exercise,” she says. “I’m going to be a happy old lady. That in and of itself is going to do a lot of good for my brain.”

For Marshall Welles, the secret to looking and feeling healthy - at age 101 - is discipline and eating right.

Courtesy of Caroline An:

“I only eat what is on my plate and no more,” the Duarte resident said. Training started early. When as a child he wanted a piece of candy, he was allowed to eat one marshmallow.

He is such an inspiring example of near perfect health the residents at the retirement community where he lives “watch me like a hawk” during meals, he said.

“They want to know what to eat,” Welles said.

He eats six servings of fruits and vegetables each day, some cheese and no dessert.

“I’m lactose-intolerant due to my old age,” Welles said.

The former missionary and physician still drives himself around, never misses his weekly social breakfast meeting and planned his own 100th birthday celebration attended by 200 people.

Welles’ credited his disciplined lifestyle to his upbringing. He endured the Great Depression and spent three years in a civilian camp in Thailand.

He was the inspiration for a book written by Arcadia neurologist Vincent Fortanasce, “The Anti-Alzheimer’s Prescription” (Gotham, $26) which focuses on preventing or delaying the disease.

Welles does not have Alzheimer’s. He became a patient of Fontanasce’s after suffering an injury many years ago. He recently stopped in for a routine checkup.

“His heartbeat is like a clock,” Fortanasce marveled as he listened through his stethoscope. “It runs perfectly.”

Alzheimer’s destroys the brain cells that affect memory, thinking and behavior. The disease can be severe enough to interfere with a person’s ability to work, practice hobbies or maintain a social life. According to the Alzheimer’s Association, it is the sixth-leading cause of death in the United States.

Nationally, about 5 million people have Alzheimer’s, and that number is expected to double by 2030, largely because the number of older adults will rise as more baby boomers reach 65, according to the County of Los Angeles Public Health Department.

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I LOVE berries! Recently, a friend invited me to go up Interstate 5 near Everett, WA to buy berries fresh from the actual farmers. I bought a 1/2 flat of blueberries and immediately stuck them in the freezer, on the pretense of enjoying them in the winter. There were 8 baggies of them, now I think I have 3 or 4 left. They are so good!

Been known to gorge on blueberries in late summer and early fall, when they’re abundant and in season? Go ahead! Even in the world of fruits and berries, which is loaded with health-boosting, age-fighting nutrition stars, blueberries are a supernova.

They’re linked not only to skin, heart, eye, and urinary health but also to a lower risk of cancer, diabetes, and Alzheimer’s.

So how much should you be eating to reap the protective health benefits? About 1 to 2 cups a day says Steven G. Pratt, MD, author of the new book SuperFoods HealthStyle: Proven Strategies for Lifelong Health.

First off, you may be thinking, “Wow, that’s a lot of blueberries, even in August!” Second, if they’re not in season, you’re wondering how on earth you’re going to eat a cup or more a day. Here’s how:

Stock your freezer. There’s evidence that frozen blueberries provide the same benefits of fresh, says Dr. Pratt. The big tip-off? A European study found that men who ate frozen berries daily had as much as 50% more quercetin, a particularly powerful anticancer antioxidant, in their blood than did men who abstained from eating berries.

When fresh blueberries are so last season, here are a few suggestions from Pratt and others on how to use frozen ones to get that “cup a day”:

• Put a cup of frozen berries in the fridge in the evening to defrost; in the morning, sprinkle them over cereal or stir them into yogurt. Forgot to defrost? Throw those chilly berries in the blender, and whip up a quick all-fruit smoothie.

• Boost the fiber and nutrients in your baked goods by tossing a handful into muffin or quick-bread batter. Just add 5 to 15 minutes to the baking time to compensate for their chilling effect.

• Float a few in a glass of cold club soda or lemonade as festive, edible ice cubes. (Kids will get a kick out of this.)

• Eat them plain, like tiny popsicles. (Another kid pleaser.)

• Add them to a salad of winter fruit about 15 minutes before serving.

Eating fistfuls of blueberries every day is certainly no risk to your weight. You’re only looking at 79 calories a cup. And all those antioxidants pay off big-time.

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Hate the thought of losing your mental edge — or worse, growing senile — as you age? Well, here’s a simple way to slash your risk of dementia by 73 percent:

Go for a power walk. People who regularly walk may be that much less likely to develop dementia compared with their couch-potato peers. Yeah, it’s that simple!

More Blood, Please
Vascular dementia is the second most common form of dementia after Alzheimer’s. It’s the nosedive that memory and other cognitive functions can take when ailing blood vessels restrict — and sometimes block — the flow of blood to the brain. But because exercise — even mild exercise like walking — increases cerebral blood flow, it may shrink the risk.

Other Brain Savers
People with high blood pressure, diabetes, and high cholesterol up their odds of vascular dementia, so controlling those conditions is a start toward staying sharp. Here are a few other brain boosters to try:

Drink up! (Juice, that is.) Drinking fruit or vegetable juice at least three times per week may lower a person’s risk of Alzheimer’s disease, a recent study suggests. Antioxidants in the juice may be responsible for the effect. To keep your waistline from expanding, choose low-calorie or pure juices without any added sugar.

Slim down. Get your BMI under 25. It turns out that being seriously overweight not only translates into a greater risk of heart attack, stroke, and a host of other life-threatening conditions, but recent findings indicate that it’s bad for the brain as well. Especially if the weight is concentrated around the middle, because it’s associated with the brain changes linked to Alzheimer’s disease.

Pop the right pills. Vitamin E and a daily aspirin are a good start.

Have a question about food? Head on over to Food Past and Ask Gillian!

There may be a newly discovered bonus to good blood sugar control: better recall.

Turns out that Alzheimer’s disease and the #1 blood sugar disorder, diabetes, share something in common — something that wreaks havoc on normal brain function: lack of insulin.

Not All in the Genes
A long-term Swedish study revealed that too little insulin ups Alzheimer’s risk. Men with low insulin secretion at age 50 had a significantly greater risk of the mind-robbing disease — as well as other types of dementia — later in life. One caveat though: The link was strongest in men without the gene that predisposes people to Alzheimer’s.

What It Means to You
Exactly how an impaired insulin response bumps up Alzheimer’s risk isn’t clear. But it definitely underscores the importance of diabetes prevention efforts.

Being active is a big part of living a healthy lifestyle. It offers up many health benefits. This is true for people of all ages and especially true for people with or at risk for pre-diabetes or type 2 diabetes. Check out the benefits of being active, how much activity is best for you and get a few tips to become more active now.

Top 10 Benefits of Being Active

Improve blood glucose management. Activity makes your body more sensitive to the insulin you make. Activity also burns glucose (calories). Both actions lower blood glucose.

Lower blood pressure. Activity helps your heart pump stronger and slower.

Improve blood fats. Exercise can raise good cholesterol (HDL) and lower bad cholesterol (LDL) and triglycerides. These changes are heart healthy.

Take less insulin or diabetes pills. Activity can lower blood glucose and weight. Both of these may lower how much insulin or diabetes pills you need to take.

Lose weight and keep it off. Activity burns calories. If you burn enough calories, you’ll trim a few pounds. Stay active and you’ll keep the weight off.

Lower risk for other health problems. Reduce your risk of a heart attack or stroke, some cancers, and bone loss.

Gain more energy and sleep better. You’ll get better sleep in less time and have more energy, too.

Relieve stress. Work out or walk off daily stress.

Build stronger bones and muscles. Weight-bearing activities, such as walking, make bones stronger. Strength-training activities, such as lifting light weights (or even cans of beans), make muscles strong.

Be more flexible. Move easier when you are active.
Just How Much?

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans is put out every few years by the federal government. These Guidelines were revised in 2005 and for the first time they suggest how much activity Americans should aim for. Read through these below. Keep in mind, they are goals, not the place to start. Note that the American Diabetes Association (ADA) supports these Dietary Guidelines and believes they are good advice for people with diabetes or those who want to prevent it.

People with pre-diabetes, diabetes, or the general adult public should aim for a minimum of 30 minutes most days (Walking, gardening, doing yard work, swimming, or cleaning house will all work to meet this goal. Anything that increases your heart rate and causes you to break a light sweat.)

Children &, teens should aim for at least 60 minutes most days.

The Diabetes Prevention Program — a large study done in people with pre-diabetes — showed that 150 minutes of physical activity a week (30 minutes, five times a week) helped prevent or delay type 2 diabetes. In this study, people also lost 10 to 20 pounds by making changes in their eating habits.

Do these guidelines seem hard to fit in to your busy life? It’s not easy to find the time. You won’t go from zero to thirty or sixty (minutes), in a day or week. Take one step at a time. Slowly build up to your goal.

First, Doctor’s OK

Most adults without medical problems don’t need their doctor’s OK to exercise. But because people with pre-diabetes and diabetes may have a heart or other diabetes-related problem, ADA suggests you get your doctor’s OK. Talk to your doctor about your plans for activity. Learn from your doctor how to stay safe while you exercise.

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Experimental shot stopped plaque, but not dementia, researchers say

Some doctors have long suspected that if the plaque that builds up in the brains of patients with Alzheimer’s disease could be removed, they could be saved. But a new vaccine that did just that suggests the theory is wrong.

British researchers gave 64 patients with moderate Alzheimer’s disease an experimental vaccine designed to eliminate plaque from their brains. Some patients were followed for up to six years.

Autopsies on seven patients who died of Alzheimer’s during the study showed that nearly all of the sticky beta-amyloid protein thought to be dangerous had been removed. But all patients still had severe dementia.

“It may be that these toxic plaques trigger the neurodegeneration, but don’t have an ongoing role,” said Clive Holmes of the University of Southampton, lead author, in a press statement. The study was published Friday in the medical journal, The Lancet.

The study was paid for by the Alzheimer’s Research Trust, a British charity.

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia and affects about 25 million people worldwide.

Other experts said that the study’s findings pointed to a major gap in our understanding of the disease. Doctors have never been sure whether the brain plaques are the cause of Alzheimer’s disease or just a side effect.

“We still don’t have enough understanding of what we should target,” said Dr. Bengt Winblad, director of the Alzheimer’s Centre at Sweden’s Karolinska Institute. Winblad was not connected to the study.

Brain tangles may play a role
Aside from the plaque build-up, scientists also think that tangles of another brain protein called tau play a major role in Alzheimer’s. Because those tangles form later than the plaque, some experts think they should be the focus instead.

“It may be harder to get a response from targeting plaque because that forms years before people actually have Alzheimer’s,” said Dr. Simon Lovestone, professor of Old Age Psychiatry at King’s College in London. “By the time you do something, it may be too late.”

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