Fitness in Middle Age Lowers Dementia Risk
February 10, 2013 by admin
Filed under A Cancer Prevention Guide for the Human Race, Alzheimer's disease, Cognition, Fitness, HDL, Hypertension, LDL, Mental Health, Mental Illness, Robert Wascher, Weekly Health Update, aging, brain health, cardiovascular disease, cholesterol, cognitive function, dementia, diabetes, exercise, health, heart disease, high blood pressure, hyperglycemia, lifestyle, memory, physical activity, prevention, risk
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A new study finds that being physically fit in middle age may protect against Alzheimer’s disease later in life.
FITNESS IN MIDDLE AGE LOWERS DEMENTIA RISK The incidence of Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia are predicted to rise significantly as our population continues to age. At the present time, there is no cure for Alzheimer’s disease and most other forms of dementia. While the primary cause (or causes) of Alzheimer’s disease remains unclear at this time, it is clear that advancing age, diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol levels all appear to be linked with this debilitating and irreversible form of dementia. At the same time, it is also well known that regular exercise can reduce the risk of diabetes, high blood pressure, and elevated high cholesterol levels. Now, a newly published research study, which appears in the Annals of Internal Medicine, strongly suggests that being physically fit during mid-life may also help to protect against Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia later in life. In this study, 19,458 middle-aged adults were assessed for their level of physical fitness between 1971 and 2009. After an average of 25 years of follow-up, 1,659 of these research volunteers went on to be diagnosed with dementia. When researchers correlated levels of physical fitness during mid-life with the incidence of dementia later in life, they found that higher levels of physical fitness in middle age appeared to be protective against Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia later in life. In fact, the research volunteers with the highest levels of physical fitness during their middle age years were 36 percent less likely to develop dementia during the course of this study, when compared with volunteers who were at the lowest levels of physical fitness during mid-life. In addition to reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer, the findings of this newly published clinical study strongly suggest that regular exercise during middle age is also associated with a significant reduction in the risk of developing dementia later in life. In view of the many health benefits associated with regular exercise, if you are not currently getting 3 to 4 hours of at least moderate exercise per week, then please see your physician and a personal trainer, and begin your own personal exercise program! Links to Other Breaking Health News Horse Meat Scandal Rocks Britain Why Do Boys Receive Lower Grades than Girls? Negative Emotions and Feelings Can Damage Your Health Canker Sore Drug Cures Obesity (At Least in Mice…) How Technology is Changing the Practice of Medicine New Salt Intake Guidelines for Children High Levels of Distress in Childhood May Increase Risk of Heart Disease in Adulthood Quitting Tobacco by Age 40 Restores a Normal Lifespan in Smokers Cancer Death Rates Continue to Fall Self-Help Books Improve Depression Marines Try Mindfulness and Meditation to Reduce PTSD Dying Nurse Volunteers Herself to Teach Nursing Students about the Dying Falling Asleep While Driving More Common than Previously Thought Growing Immune Cells to Fight Cancer Celebrity Health Fads Debunked Thousands of Surgery Mistakes Are Still Happening Each Year New Graphic Antismoking Ads Debut in England Kids with Food Allergies May Become Targets of Bullies Obesity Among Young Children May Be Declining Tamoxifen for 10 Years (Instead of 5 Years) Significantly Improves Breast Cancer Survival Rate Fresh Fruits & Vegetables May Reduce Breast Cancer Risk Satisfaction with Life May Actually Increase with Age Brain Changes in the Elderly May Increase Susceptibility to Being Scammed “Talking” Therapy May Help Depression When Antidepressant Medications Fail Graphic Cigarette Labels in Australia Predicting Childhood Obesity at Birth
Dr. Wascher’s latest video:  Dark as Night, Part 1 At this time, more than 8 percent of Americans are unemployed. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, however, the unemployment rate for veterans who served on active duty between September 2001 and December 2011 is now more than 12 percent. A new website, Veterans in Healthcare, seeks to connect veterans with potential employers. If you are a veteran who works in the healthcare field, or if you are an employer who is looking for physicians, advanced practice professionals, nurses, corpsmen/medics, or other healthcare professionals, then please take a look at Veterans in Healthcare. As a retired veteran of the U.S. Army, I would also like to personally urge you to hire a veteran whenever possible.
For a groundbreaking overview of cancer risks, and evidence-based strategies to reduce your risk of developing cancer, order your copy of my bestselling book, “A Cancer Prevention Guide for the Human Race,” from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, Vroman’s Bookstore, and other fine bookstores! Within one week of publication, A Cancer Prevention Guide for the Human Race was ranked #6 among all cancer-related books on the Amazon.com “Top 100 Bestseller’s List” for Kindle e-books. Within three months of publication, A Cancer Prevention Guide for the Human Race was the #1 book on the Amazon.com “Top 100 New Book Releases in Cancer” list. Disclaimer: As always, my advice to readers is to seek the advice of your physician before making any significant changes in medications, diet, or level of physical activity
Dr. Wascher is an oncologic surgeon, professor of surgery, cancer researcher, oncology consultant, and a widely published author
I and the staff of Weekly Health Update would again like to take this opportunity to thank the more than 100,000 health-conscious people from around the world who visit this premier global health information website every month. Over the past 12 months, more than 2.5 million pages of high-quality medical research findings were served to the worldwide audience of health-conscious readers. As always, we enjoy receiving your stimulating feedback and questions, and I will continue to try and personally answer as many of your inquiries as I possibly can.
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Speaking Two Languages Improves Brain Function Late in Life
January 13, 2013 by admin
Filed under Alzheimer's disease, Behavior, Bilingual, Cognition, Foreign Languages, Language, Limbic System, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Monolingual, Multilingual, Weekly Health Update, aging, brain health, cognitive function, dementia, health, memory, performance
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A new study shows that speaking at least two languages improves brain function later in life.
SPEAKING TWO LANGUAGES IMPROVES BRAIN FUNCTION LATE IN LIFE Although there are an estimated 6,000 distinct languages spoken on the planet, only about 1 in 4 countries officially identify themselves as bilingual or multilingual nations. However, there are more people in the world who speak at least two languages than there are people who speak only one language. Therefore, the majority of humankind can be thought of as generally being bilingual or multilingual. Based upon previously published cognitive studies, being bilingual or multilingual appears to “strengthen” the areas of the brain that are involved in both language processing and other higher cognitive functions. Indeed, based upon these prior studies, lifelong multilingual people appear to experience a later onset of cognitive decline in life, and a lower incidence of Alzheimer’s disease, compared to monolingual people. Now, a newly published research study, which appears in the Journal of Neuroscience, provides fascinating new insights into exactly how bilingualism and multilingualism may help to preserve cognitive function in the brain as we age. In this study, 110 older monolingual and bilingual adults participated in several “task-switching” exercises that test cognitive function. Using a sophisticated imaging system that measures blood flow within specific areas of the brain (functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI), these monolingual and bilingual study volunteers were put through their paces with various task-switching exercises while their brain function was monitored by fMRI. Among the monolingual older adults, areas of the brain associated with the processing of information, and with decision-making, were highly activated during task-switching exercises, indicating that these areas of the brain were working very hard to complete the tasks assigned by the researchers. The bilingual older adults also experienced increased activity in the left lateral frontal cortex and cingulate cortex, but significantly less so than the monolingual study volunteers. At the same time, the bilingual volunteers consistently outperformed their monolingual fellow volunteers on the task-switching exercises, despite lower levels of activation of these two key areas of the brain. Thus, just as has been predicted by previous cognitive testing studies, lifelong bilingualism does indeed appear to increase the efficiency of the areas of the brain that are involved in high-level cognitive processing, and also appear to decrease the rate of loss of these cognitive abilities with advancing age, when compared to monolingualism. In this clinical study, the bilingual older adults were more successful in completing task-switching cognitive exercises than monolingual older adults; and at the same time, the brains of the bilingual adults accomplished this improved cognitive performance with less effort than their monolingual counterparts (based upon fMRI measurements of brain activity). While there are many potential personal, professional, social and cultural benefits to speaking more than one language, this elegant clinical research study confirms earlier predictions that lifelong bilingualism and multilingualism may help to preserve the cognitive efficiency and function of the higher processing centers of the brain much later in life. Given at least the perception that the United States lags behind many other countries in the world in the area of foreign language education, the findings of this new study offer yet another reason for schools in the US to ramp up their foreign language programs. We live in an increasingly competitive, globalized and multilingual world, and preparing our children for a successful future in that world should include early and continuous exposure to foreign language training, in my view.
Links to Other Breaking Health News Dying Nurse Volunteers Herself to Teach Nursing Students about the Dying Flu Cases Surge in US, Especially Among the Unvaccinated Falling Asleep While Driving More Common than Previously Thought Growing Immune Cells to Fight Cancer Celebrity Health Fads Debunked Thousands of Surgery Mistakes Are Still Happening Each Year New Graphic Antismoking Ads Debut in England Kids with Food Allergies May Become Targets of Bullies Obesity Among Young Children May Be Declining Tamoxifen for 10 Years (Instead of 5 Years) Significantly Improves Breast Cancer Survival Rate Fresh Fruits & Vegetables May Reduce Breast Cancer Risk Satisfaction with Life May Actually Increase with Age Brain Changes in the Elderly May Increase Susceptibility to Being Scammed “Talking” Therapy May Help Depression When Antidepressant Medications Fail Graphic Cigarette Labels in Australia Predicting Childhood Obesity at Birth
Dr. Wascher’s latest video: Dark as Night, Part 1 At this time, more than 8 percent of Americans are unemployed. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, however, the unemployment rate for veterans who served on active duty between September 2001 and December 2011 is now more than 12 percent. A new website, Veterans in Healthcare, seeks to connect veterans with potential employers. If you are a veteran who works in the healthcare field, or if you are an employer who is looking for physicians, advanced practice professionals, nurses, corpsmen/medics, or other healthcare professionals, then please take a look at Veterans in Healthcare. As a retired veteran of the U.S. Army, I would also like to personally urge you to hire a veteran whenever possible. For a groundbreaking overview of cancer risks, and evidence-based strategies to reduce your risk of developing cancer, order your copy of my bestselling book, “A Cancer Prevention Guide for the Human Race,” from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, Vroman’s Bookstore, and other fine bookstores! Within one week of publication, A Cancer Prevention Guide for the Human Race was ranked #6 among all cancer-related books on the Amazon.com “Top 100 Bestseller’s List” for Kindle e-books. Within three months of publication, A Cancer Prevention Guide for the Human Race was the #1 book on the Amazon.com “Top 100 New Book Releases in Cancer” list. Disclaimer: As always, my advice to readers is to seek the advice of your physician before making any significant changes in medications, diet, or level of physical activity
Dr. Wascher is an oncologic surgeon, professor of surgery, cancer researcher, oncology consultant, and a widely published author
I and the staff of Weekly Health Update would again like to take this opportunity to thank the more than 100,000 health-conscious people from around the world who visit this premier global health information website every month. Over the past 12 months, more than 2.3 million pages of high-quality medical research findings were served to the worldwide audience of health-conscious readers. As always, we enjoy receiving your stimulating feedback and questions, and I will continue to try and personally answer as many of your inquiries as I possibly can.
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Green Tea and Skin Health
May 15, 2011 by admin
Filed under Cancer, Cancer Prevention, Catechins, Nutrition, Tea, UV, Weekly Health Update, aging, diet, green tea, health, polyphenols, skin damage, skin health, sun exposure, ultraviolet light
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