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Health See other Health Articles Title: Keeping brain sharp may ward off Alzheimer's protein CHICAGO (Reuters) - People who challenge their brains throughout their lifetimes -- through reading, writing and playing games -- are less likely to develop protein deposits in the brain linked with Alzheimer's, U.S. researchers said on Monday. Prior studies have suggested that people who are well educated and stay mentally active build up brain reserves that allow them to stay sharp even if deposits of the destructive protein called beta amyloid form in the brain. But the latest study, based on brain-imaging research, suggests that people who stay mentally engaged beginning in childhood and remain so throughout their lives actually develop fewer amyloid plaques. "We're not talking about the brain's response to amyloid. We're talking about the actual accumulation of amyloid," Dr. William Jagust of the University of California, Berkeley, whose study appears in the Archives of Neurology, said in an interview. "It's a brand new finding." While small, the study also shows that starting brain-stimulating activities early enough might offer a way to prevent Alzheimer's-related plaques from building up in the brain. Currently, there are no drugs that can prevent Alzheimer's disease, which scientists now think begins 10 to 15 years before memory problems set in. Alzheimer's Disease International estimates there are now 36 million people with the disease worldwide. As the population ages, that number will increase to 66 million by 2030, and to 115 million by 2050. Last week, the U.S. government released draft recommendations for a national Alzheimer's plan that calls for finding effective treatments or prevention strategies by 2025. The new study involved the use of an imaging agent known as Pittsburgh Compound B or PiB, which works with positron emission tomography, or PET scanners. This chemical sticks to and highlights deposits of beta amyloid. "Beta amyloid is the protein that many people feel may be the initiating factor in Alzheimer's disease. It is the protein that is in the plaques of the brains of people with Alzheimer's," Jagust said. STARTING CROSSWORD PUZZLES LATE WON'T HELP The researchers studied 65 healthy, cognitively normal people aged 60 and older. Study participants were asked a battery of questions about how mentally active they had been during different periods of their lives starting at age 6. The questions included whether they had read newspapers, went to the library, wrote letters or e-mails and played games. They also underwent extensive testing to assess their memory and thinking skills and their brains were scanned using the new tracer to look for amyloid deposits in the brain. The team compared the brain scans with those of 10 Alzheimer's patients and 11 healthy people in their 20s. They found that people who had been the most mentally active had lower levels of beta amyloid than others who had been less mentally active. People in the study who had recently taken up crosswords and other mental exercises did not appear to see much benefit. "What our data suggests is that a whole lifetime of engaging in these activities has a bigger effect than being cognitively active just in older age," said Susan Landau, another Berkeley researcher who worked on the study. She said amyloid probably starts accumulating many years before symptoms appear, so by the time memory problems start, there is little that can be done. "The time for intervention may be much sooner," she said in a statement. One weakness is that the study relies on people's memory of their mental activities, Jagust said. He said staying mentally engaged may make the brain more efficient, which could have a protective effect, but that is still not clear. Poster Comment: Something school teachers need to emphasize in class and then take students to visit an old geezers' warehouse. From among comments: Sandra: Mom used to say "ask your father what time it is and he will tell you how to build a watch". He bought his first computer in the eighties. UNC graduate. Fighter pilot. At 75 we noticed he was slipping. From age 80 to 85 he was in the Alzheimer's unit at the VA. He couldn't speak or feed himself, etc. He had always done crossword puzzles, even made some. He was on line before I was. NOTHING CAN STOP IT!!!!!! I told my son to shoot me if I get it. It is a CRUEL disease. Because I could do nothing for my father I became a caregiver for the elderly, 6 years now. I have seen so much suffering. I'd rather have cancer. keshi i • Langley, Canada prepare your food with tumeric... an indian spice . You wont get Alzheimer if you take tumeric every day..Also eat apples and dates +3 tmoondancer My old Granny, who lived to be 93 and was sharp as a tack every day of her life, told me that your brain is like any other muscle in your body. If you don't use it, it atrophies. My grandfather bought himself a bench lathe when he was 63 and taught himself to run it to the point where he was doing journeyman-quality machinist work by the time he was 65 because "...it was fun and interesting". He taught himself to fix radios and TVs when he was 71; learned it out of books because he said the TV repairman gouged him and "...they can't be that difficult...". At the time he passed away (at 78) he was studying atomic theory. When I asked him why he said "Why not?" You can't argue with logic like that. He told me that they can neither garnishee nor sue you for what you learn. I'm 73 now, and I went to University last Fall and took a course in the Humanities because why not? While I was there, someone told me a quote supposedly by Gandhi. "Live as if every day was the last day of your life. Learn as if you were going to live forever." +9 Dean • Brampton, Canada • I work for a pharmaceut company and I will tell you this A BIG CAUSE OF ALZHEIMERS ARE THE STATIN DRUGS. They have NO BENEFIT and they increase your risk of Alzheimers. They reduce cholesterol by 50% but reduce your chance of heart attack by 2 % ....yes 2% First L • Red Deer, Canada take up a musical instrument , you use more parts of your brain to do this, and its fun! Phil Rollen • Ottawa, Canada in a related article, reading yahoo articles makes you stupid. (so skip right to the comments next time) Quint • Montreal, Canada I've been meaning to start doing this, but I keep forgetting. Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
#1. To: Tatarewicz (#0)
I work with Alzheimer's patients. This article is nonsense. A cure is needed, not some Band-aid that won't even even stick. Serial killer psychopaths ruin families. Corporate psychopaths ruin societies -- Prof. Robert Hare
Very good article. I read everyday and this forum is full of interesting articles worth reading and researching. If more people spent their time reading instead of watching the tube, and drinking, we would not have such a high illiteracy rate in this country. Everytime I go to this store and pay for my purchases, as the checkout clerk gives me my change they always ask if I wish to donate to the illiteracy fund. I tell them no and that the best way to curb illiteracy is to get people young and old back into reading. There are even tutors available to coach those people. I'm available for a reasonable fee. Then, I took my change with a smile and left the store.
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