Posted on 09/01/2006 12:46:36 AM PDT by FairOpinion
Drinking fruit and vegetable juices more than three times a week can dramatically cut the chances of developing Alzheimer's disease, a new study has found.
Researchers followed almost 2,000 volunteers for up to 10 years while monitoring their juice consumption and brain function.
They found the risk of Alzheimer's was 76 per cent lower for those who drank juices more than three times a week compared to those who drank them less than once a week.
Other research has shown that eating curry can help stave off the disease and improve mental agility because of compounds found in the spice turmeric.
Drinking more than two cups of green tea a day has also been shown to halve the risk of mental decline in old age by up to a half.
The latest findings, carried out by researchers at the Vanderbilt University in Nashville in the US, were published yesterday in the American Journal of Medicine.
Various studies have suggested that polyphenols - a family of chemicals found in many foods with strong antioxidant properties - might disrupt these biological processes in the brain and provide some protection against the disease.
Antioxidants are known to neutralise the effect of damaging compounds in the body called free radicals which attack healthy cells.
The latest study did not specify which kinds of juices were found to reduce the risk of Alzheimer's. However it is known that red and orange fruit and vegetables and berries are a particularly rich source of antioxidants.
Dr Harriet Millward, deputy chief executive of the Alzheimer's Research Trust said yesterday: "Many scientists believe there is a link between the release of free radicals within the body and early changes to brain cells in people who ultimately go on to develop Alzheimer’s disease.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Looks like antioxydants do indeed play a major role in preventing a lot of diseases, including Alzheimer's.
PING
Guzzle time. (Runs in my family)
76% reduction is really significant.
They followed people for ten years, so that sounds like a credible study.
So drink your orange juice and V-8.
I also think doing brain exercises are important, you need to keep learning by reading books and keeping up to date on the news. Also it is important to do activities like crosswords, word searches, puzzles etc.
And a little tidbit about how socialized medicine works in the UK: rationing needed medication.
"The latest research comes at a time of widespread concern about proposed restrictions by the Government's NHS drug 'rationing' body, which would prevent Alzheimer's patients with mild symptoms from getting prescription drugs which can slow the disease.
Charities, doctors and drug companies, backed by a Daily Mail campaign, are appealing against guidelines planned by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence that only patients with moderate symptoms could be prescribed Aricept, Exelon and Reminyl.
If the guidelines go through, primary care trusts will stop funding NHS treatment for such patients. "
A no duh
AND stay away from stress:
Stress Accelerates Progression Of Alzheimer's Disease
http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7004700750
Researchers at the University of California, Irvine discovered that stress hormones induce the appearance of brain lesions characteristic of Alzheimer's disease. The results of the study show that management of stress as well as decreasing certain types of medicines for the elderly could help to slow down the disease.
Frank LaFerla, professor of neurobiology and behavior, led the study carried on genetically modified mice.
The study found that "the levels of the protein beta-amyloid in the brain increased by 60 percent," when young mice were injected with dexamethasone, a steroid hormone with anti-inflammatory properties - dexmethasone regulates the metabolism of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats just as stress hormones do.
When beta-amyloid production rises, they turn into plaques, which are one of two characteristic brain lesions associated with Alzheimer's. Another signature lesion of Alzheimer's is caused by increased levels of a different protein known as tau.
Frank LaFerla told Asia News International, "It is remarkable that these stress hormones can have such a significant effect in such a short period of time. Although we have known for some time that higher levels of stress hormones are seen in individuals in the early stages of Alzheimer's, this is the first time we have seen how these hormones play such a direct role in exacerbating the underlying pathology of the disease."
Interesting study, but the biggest question I have, was it the juice that did it? Generally, people who drink veg and fruit juices tend to think more about what they eat, they consume less junk food, consciously exercise, and generally live healthier lives.
I'd have to see their methods, because if they took people who didn't exercise, who smoked, and who lived in a medically questionable manner, yet drank juice, and the incidence was reduced, then I'd think you'd have something to report.
But I doubt that is the situation.
It appears they made adjustments for other factors:
"The study followed more than 1,800 participants in the Kame Project, a research project of Japanese people and their health who live in Hiroshima, Japan; Oahu, Hawaii; and Seattle. They reported on their consumption of fruit and vegetable juice starting in 1992, and their mental function was tested every two years thereafter.
The reduction in incidence of Alzheimer's disease in those who regularly consumed juice "was stronger after adjustments for potential confounding factors, and the association was evident in all strata of selected variables," the report said."
http://www.forbes.com/forbeslife/health/feeds/hscout/2006/08/31/hscout534709.html
Address Mental Illness in the Aging
By John E. Carey
What are the costs of a progressive brain disease on an aging society?
Experts believe one hundred billion dollars per year goes to treating about 4.5 million American patients with Alzheimer’s now. But this overlooks the fact that many suffer the ill effects of the disease but receive no care and that our aging population is growing at a breathtaking rate.
According to the Department of Health and Human Services Administration on Aging, the older population--persons 65 years or older--numbered 36.3 million in 2004 (the latest year for which data is available). They represented 12.4% of the U.S. population, about one in every eight Americans. By 2030, there will be about 71.5 million older persons, more than twice their number in 2000. People 65+ represented 12.4% of the population in the year 2000 but are expected to grow to be 20% of the population by 2030.
Nobody can say for sure how many people among us will have Alzheimer’s in the future but some experts say we will have 16 million or more Alzheimer’s sufferers in America by 2050. The treatment costs for these people could be somewhere between 350 and 500 billion dollars annually.
But a lot of people are never properly diagnosed or receive any treatment for Alzheimer’s. And what do we know about the untreated? I’ll give you an example. My friend Dave lives alone and has no family to care for him. He is not yet eighty. He drives. He had three automobile accidents in the last nine months. Usually we go to lunch and a prayer service once a week. I have become accustomed to the fact that, after leaving his apartment he always has to return to make sure he turned off the stove, flushed the toilet, and locked the door.
This is one of many symptoms; others are more bizarre. He trusts no one and won’t or can’t discuss his illness but I know what it is. We are seeking some help from county social services.
My own Mother died last year after a long bout with Alzheimer’s. I “chewed” her last cookie for her, moving her jaw with my own hands. So I am not an unbiased participant in the debate. But neither are Nancy Reagan and scores of others who have been personally moved by the devastation of mental disorders and diseases, especially Alzheimer’s. We consider Michael J. Fox’s outreach on Parkinson’s disease an interrelated effort to Alzheimer’s disease research. The brain is a tricky place.
Alzheimer’s is terrifying, dangerous to the victim and sometimes even people near by.
Where does federal research money for Alzheimer’s go?
On July 21, 2006, the 10th International Conference on Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders, ICAD for short, ended in Spain. The conference attracted the largest assembly of Alzheimer’s experts ever—just above 5,000 from 50 countries.
Many of the seminars discussed an array of new and different early detection and diagnostic efforts. Others dealt with new brain imaging and MRI methods to understand the disease’s progression.
And there are a wealth of promising treatments being evaluated in laboratories. For example, a new drug reverses learning and memory deficits in mice. The drug, called AF267B, reduces the brain-clogging buildup of protein – one of the believed causes of the symptoms many of us have seen, experienced or heard about.
Doctors and researchers are challenged to develop an effective treatment that can be implemented before symptoms of Alzheimer's dementia appear. Researchers now believe the disease starts to destroy neurons in the brain 10 to 20 years before anyone notices any Alzheimer’s symptoms. That means all you youngsters and you legislators, before you cut funding for Alzheimer’s research, need to be evaluated before you start acting loony. Or loonier.
With Alzheimer's Disease looming as one of the costliest health problems ever, the Bush administration cut funding for the National Institutes of Health’s Alzheimer's research from $656 million in 2005 to an estimated $652 million this year to a recommended $645 million in 2007. Congress has done nothing to reduce the downward slide.
Among those arguing for more money is Steve McConnell, vice president of advocacy and public policy at the Alzheimer's Association. "It's the disease of the century and could bankrupt our society if we don't find a way to stop it," he said. "There's been enormous progress in disease-modifying treatments, but with the funding cut we slow the day we get an intervention."
The issue is when and how our nation will deal with a rapidly growing aging population, and address the illnesses.
But in the near term, the Congress needs to adequately fund federal research efforts for Alzheimer’s.
John E. Carey writes frequently for The Washington Times.
Drinking more than two cups of green tea a day has also been shown to halve the risk of mental decline in old age by up to a half.
One possible reason the Indians and Asians are kicking our behinds in the high-tech sector...?
OK. Fruit juice, tummeric, green tea added to mental and physical excercise on the list of things to keep me sane and healthy. Guess I need to get a juicer now.
I think eating the fruits and vegetables, without juicing them would have the same or more beneficial effects.
I think it's just that people are more likely to drink a glass of juice, than actually eat six tomatoes or oranges or wahtever.
I hope my six hours a day on FREEPERS count. lol.
I wonder why President Bush is slashing the money given to Alheimers? He must have a reason. Does he not think it will ever effect him? We don't know who it effects. I would think he would increase the funding especially with the population aging. Interesting...
I think family history and gene analysis is a good indicator, along with plaques in the brain (don't know if they can measure that unabtrusively). So....what do you think GWB's reason is? For slashing rd to alziemers that is?
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