by G.S. Mudur for The Telegraph

Ashwagandha, a plant used for centuries in Ayurvedic medicine, cleaned out abnormal protein deposits in the brain and reversed damage and behavioural changes observed in Alzheimer’s disease when tested on mice, a team of Indian scientists announced today.

The scientists have shown through experiments on mice that extracts of Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) can reverse within 30 days the abnormal accumulation of a protein, called beta-amyloid plaque, in the brain that is linked to Alzheimer’s disease.

The researchers at the National Brain Research Centre (NBRC) at Manesar in Haryana fed genetically-engineered mice, which had symptoms similar to those of Alzheimer’s disease, a daily oral dose of a cocktail of chemicals called withanosides and withanolides, extracted from Ashwagandha.

by James P. Richardson, MD, MPH for KevinMD

Mark Twain, the American author and humorist once said, “It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble.  It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.”  In my experience as a geriatrician, I’ve encountered many misunderstandings about this degenerative neurologic disease that devastates both patients and their families.  Countering these can help patients, families, professionals, and all those who have someone in their lives with Alzheimer’s disease.

1. There’s no difference between Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.  The confusion here is understandable, as Alzheimer’s disease is the cause of at least 60% – and perhaps a much larger proportion – of all those diagnosed with dementia.  Although the terms are used interchangeably, dementia is the umbrella which covers all diseases that cause cognitive decline in adulthood, including Alzheimer’s disease.  The next most common cause of dementia is vascular disease, such as occurs after multiple strokes or one very large one. 

by Fred Lee for Healthcare Hacks

The brain is not a muscle, but in certain ways, it may be viewed as one. That is because an increasing body of evidence indicates that maintaining mental acuity as we age is analogous to strengthening and toning our muscles through exercise. This process of continually stimulating our brains might even lower our risk for developing Alzheimer’s disease.

Support for this idea comes from a new study that has found that reading a book or solving a puzzle, activities that force us to use our brains, might help to reduce the levels of certain protein deposits that are linked to age-related dementia. The deposits in question, beta amyloid proteins, are hallmark signs of Alzheimer’s disease and have become a new area of focus in Alzheimer’s research.

by Alzheimer’s Support

Alzheimers is a disease with seven stages. They don’t happen sharply or over a specified period of time, everyone is different and everyone’s progression may be different. One of the symptoms of Alzheimers is dementia. As you’ll see from this list, the final 3 stages are the symptoms of dementia. Though Alzheimers is the most often cause of dementia, there are other diseases that cause  dementia, also.

THE SEVEN STAGES OF ALZHEIMER’S

Stage 1 - NO SYMPTOMS OF ALZHEIMER’S ARE SEEN.

Stage 2 - FORGETFULNESS: Very mild cognitive decline. For example, problems such as: vagueness of where familiar objects are, complaints about not remembering well, forgetting names once well known. There is however, no loss of abilities in social interactions or in employment situations.

Foods found in diet that help maintain a healthy heart keep our brains strong, too
by Robyn Flipse for Health Goes Strong

If it seems to you the foods that can help prevent heart disease grab all the headlines, your eyesight is fine! Heart disease is the number one cause of death for men and women alike in the U.S., so controlling it makes news.  Keeping the brain sharp is also on people’s minds, but it takes more than cross-word puzzles to do it. What you eat can also help prevent or delay the onset of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.

The good news is that the diet that’s good for your heart is good for your brain, too!

The dietary guidelines that support a healthy heart and strong brain include eating:

by James Urquhart for RSC

Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s could be caused by an accumulation of iron in regions of the brain, Australian researchers say. Following this discovery, the team went on to actually prevent neurodegeneration in transgenic mice by giving them an iron chelator. The finding could offer new avenues of investigation for finding treatments for these incurable diseases.

Tangles of tau protein inside the brain have been linked to Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s before. ‘The field has been inclined to think of these tangles as poisonous junk. But there is no proof that tangles are the sole culprit in nerve death in these incurable disorders,’ says Ashley Bush who led the research at the University of Melbourne. ‘Genetic studies have implicated tau in both Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, but there is no certainty about what goes wrong.’

by Deborah Kots for The Boston Globe

Reading, playing a variety of games, and engaging in other intellectual pursuits on a daily basis over the course of a lifetime could help prevent the formation of amyloid plaques that gunk up the brain and are a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease. But we may need to get our brains engaged early in life – years or decades before we start to forget things – to reap the most benefits.

In the first study of its kind, researchers used positron emission tomography scans to examine the amount of beta amyloid deposits in the brains of healthy seniors with no signs of dementia and found that those who reported doing daily brainy activities from the age of 6 onward had very low levels of amyloid plaque – on par with of an average person in their early 20s. Those who never or rarely engaged in these activities had higher plaque levels, according to the study published online last week in the Archives of Neurology.

This could mean that by the time people start to forget their phone number or where they live, it may be too late to prevent further progression of the disease.

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The white stuff: Milk drinkers five times more likely to succeed in memory tests
by Sadie Whitelocks for Daily Mail

Drinking just one glass of milk a day could boost your brain power, say scientists. A study found that milk drinkers were five times more likely to succeed in tasks testing memory and brain function compared to non-milk drinkers.

It is now thought that, in addition to the many established health benefits of dairy, such as building stronger bones, the potential to stave off mental decline may benefit an ageing population.

Scientists from University of Maine in the U.S. say that although more research is needed, people should be encouraged to increase their milk intake.

Lead researcher Merrill Elias said: ’The reality is that dairy has many benefits in those who are not restricted from consumption for health reasons.

by Dementia and Alzheimer’s

Caring for someone with Alzheimer’s is not an easy job. When that role involves a person you love, the task can become even more difficult. Aggression, temper tantrums, and accusations by the one with dementia are among those behaviors most hurtful to family caregivers.

While a paid caregiver might find these difficult to tolerate at times, they do not feel the pain of being mistreated by one you’ve loved. As the disease progresses, the personality of the one you’ve known and loved may change drastically. The meek, gentle grandfather may deteriorate into an angry, gruff character that frightens the grandchildren. The fun-loving and playful aunt may become withdrawn. Two Alzheimer’s-related factors that contribute to these changes are paranoia and hallucinations. As an Alzheimer’s caregiver, you might witness one or both of these symptoms.

by Clinton Memorial Hospital

People who regularly stimulate their brains with activities such as reading, writing and playing games appear to have lower levels of a protein that helps form the plaque found in brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease, according to a small study published online in Archives of Neurology.

The main study group was made up of 65 healthy adults whose average age was 76. All underwent positron emission tomography (PET) scans—a type of nuclear medicine imaging test that lets doctors see how well organs are functioning. The scan used a new type of radioactive compound that makes it possible to see beta-amyloid protein in the body.