Want More Brain Power?

Just Do THIS!

You're not the only one who can't find your keys.

Memory decline begins early--around age 30 for most adults.

That's the bad news.

But the good news is that it's actually pretty easy to boost your memory and even build new brain cells.

How?

Exercise.

When we get our bodies moving and the sweat dripping it not only builds muscle, but also new brain cells in the part of the brain associated with memory and memory loss, according to research from Columbia University Medical Center in New York and the Salk Institute in La Jolla, California.

The study: In this study of mice and men, 11 healthy adults participated in a three-month aerobic exercise program. Each volunteer's overall fitness was assessed through measurements of oxygen volume before and after the training program. In addition, magnetic resonance imaging scans of their brains were taken before and after.

The results:

When the mice exercised, they grew new brain cells in the dentate gyrus, a part of the brain's hippocampus that is affected in age-related memory decline.

In humans, exercise generated blood flow to the dentate gyrus. As each person improved his or her fitness level, the MRI detected even greater blood flow.

"The remarkable similarities between the exercise-induced cerebral blood volume changes in the hippocampal formation of mice and humans suggest that the effect is mediated by similar mechanisms," wrote Dr. Scott Small, a neurologist at Columbia University Medical Center in New York, and brain expert Fred Gage of the Salk Institute in La Jolla, California in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

That is, the researchers found the same patterns in mice and people, which suggests that human beings, just like the mice, grow new brain cells when they exercise.

This finding is significant because it was accomplished via the first-ever observation of neurogenesis, the growth of neurons, within a living brain. Using an MRI imaging technique developed at Columbia, the researchers were able to identify neurogenesis within the dentate gyrus region following exercise. Previously, researchers were only able to prove neurogenesis upon postmortem exam in animal studies. "No previous research has systematically examined the different regions of the hippocampus and identified which region is most affected by exercise," said Small.

What kind of exercise is best for improving your brain power? They're working on that. "Our next step is to identify the exercise regimen that is most beneficial to improve cognition and reduce normal memory loss, so that physicians may be able to prescribe specific types of exercise to improve memory," Small said.

--From the Editors at Netscape

Conventional Medicine Catching Up on Treating Alzheimer's Naturally

- With experts predicting Alzheimer's cases to double in 25 years, Americans are facing an epidemic.

However, unlike with some illnesses, this disease can easily be avoided by changing basic lifestyle choices. www.mercola.com/2004/sep/25/alzheimers_treatment.htm

Eat this herb and it will boost your memory!

Spice up your food and your memory--and possibly ward off Alzheimer's disease while you're at it--with sage.

If your grandmother spiked your tea with sage and told you to drink up, she probably knew this secret that was first discovered some 400 years ago by herbalists. They wrote in 1597 that sage "quickens the nerves and memory.

Now researchers from the northern English universities of Newcastle and Northumbria have confirmed it scientifically:

Healthy, young adults who took sage oil extract in capsule form in the medically-controlled study experienced a marked improvement in their memory capabilities and performed significantly better on a word recall test than those who took a placebo.

And that's not all. Researchers at the Universities' Medicinal Plant Research Center concluded that sage can possibly help Alzheimer's patients by protecting a key chemical that the disease destroys.

"This research does have serious implications for people suffering from Alzheimer's disease, as it will inform drug research and development," lead researcher Nicola Tildesley said in a statement.

This proves how valuable the work by old herbalists is, and they shouldn't just be ignored because they were writing centuries ago." Best of all, sage has no side effects.

The next step: Researchers will try to figure out how sage actually boosts the memory, especially in Alzheimer's patients. The findings were published in the British journal Pharmacology, Biochemistry, and Behaviour.

Prevent Alzheimer's disease Eat the right diet

Scientists have long known that foods rich in antioxidants are good for us and have the power to help combat fatal illnesses, including Alzheimer's, cancer, and heart disease. Until recently that list was pretty much dominated by cranberries and blueberries.

The list just grew longer--a lot longer

Federal researchers at the United States Department of Agriculture have conducted what they say is the largest, most comprehensive analysis to date of the antioxidant content of 100 commonly consumed foods and spices.

And surprise! Artichokes, beans, Russet potatoes, pecans, and even cinnamon are among foods newly-identified as being high in these life-saving chemicals, reports Science Daily.

Each food was measured for antioxidant concentration, as well as antioxidant capacity per serving size.

The bottom line is the same: Eat more fruits and veggies," says Ronald L. Prior, Ph.D., a chemist and nutritionist with the USDA's Arkansas Children's Nutrition Center in Little Rock, Ark., and lead author of the study.

"This study confirms that those foods are full of benefits, particularly those with higher levels of antioxidants. Nuts and spices are also good sources."

Fruits with the highest level of antioxidants:

Chocolate

Cranberries

Blueberries

Blackberries

Vegetables with the highest level of antioxidants:

Beans

Artichokes

Russet potatoes

Nuts with the highest level of antioxidants:

Pecans

Walnuts

Hazelnuts

Spices with the highest level of antioxidants:

Ground cloves

Ground cinnamon

Oregano

The study findings were published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, a peer-reviewed publication of the American Chemical Society, the world's largest scientific society.

Here's another reason to eat your veggies

A new study suggests certain vegetables like broccoli and spinach may help older women keep their brains sharper.

Researchers found that women in their 60s who ate more cruciferous and green leafy vegetables than other women went on to show less overall decline over time on a bundle of tests measuring memory, verbal ability and attention.

Such foods include broccoli, cauliflower, romaine lettuce and spinach.

The federally funded study didn't include men, but the effect would probably appear in them too, said Jae Hee Kang, an instructor at Harvard's Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.

She spoke in a telephone interview before presenting the work Monday in Philadelphia at the International Conference on Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders.

Other studies released Monday showed evidence that obesity, high cholesterol and high blood pressure can raise the risk of developing Alzheimer's or other dementia later on, and that leisure activities with mental, physical and social aspects may reduce the risk of later dementia.

Kang's study and the other two "add to the growing understanding that we may be able to reduce our risk of Alzheimer's by changing our lifestyles --

losing weight, changing our diets and staying mentally and socially active," said Marilyn Albert, who chairs the Alzheimer Association's Medical and Scientific Advisory Council. Kang stressed that her findings need to be confirmed by further studies.

She and colleagues looked at 13,388 nurses participating in a long-running health study.

They compared the participants' questionnaires on long-term eating habits over a span of 10 years, when they were in their 60s, to their performance in two test sessions when they were in their 70s.

Researchers noted how much the scores declined in the two years between sessions.

The tests included such tasks as remembering word lists after 15 minutes, naming as many animals as possible in one minute, and reciting a list of numbers backward.

A pronounced drop in performance on such tests may foreshadow Alzheimer's. 'It was almost like they were younger' While most women in the study showed some decline, those who had habitually eaten the most of the green leafy vegetables showed less decline than those who ate the least.

It was almost like they were younger by one or two years in terms of their cognitive declining.

The contrasts appeared between those who ate about eight servings versus three servings of green leafy vegetables a week, and those who ate about five servings versus two servings of cruciferous vegetables a week.

One of the other new studies found evidence that obesity, high cholesterol and high blood pressure in middle age each added substantially to the risk of developing Alzheimer's or other dementia later on.

Each problem roughly doubled the risk, and study participants with all three traits ran six times the risk of somebody without any of them, said researcher Dr. Miia Kivipelto of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm.

Her study included 1,449 Finns whose body-mass index, which signals obesity, was calculated when they were around 50 years old. When examined an average of 21 years later, 61 had developed dementia, mostly Alzheimer's.

Results showed the risk of any dementia or Alzheimer's in particular roughly doubled with a BMI of more than 30 (considered obese), cholesterol of more than 250 or a blood pressure reading in which one of the numbers exceeded 140.

The effect appeared in both sexes, though the obesity factor was slightly stronger in women, Kivipelto said.

Exercise every day to keep your mind sharp, for your mind and memory

Researchers from the V.A. Medical Center in San Francisco found that adults who were the most fit at the start of a six-year study maintained their mental sharpness over time and did better in tests of their mental function conducted years later than did their less physically fit peers.

"Physical activity appears to be good for the brain as well as the body," study author Dr. Deborah E. Barnes. Older adults with higher levels of cardiorespiratory fitness experience a slower rate of cognitive decline over time.

Cardiorespiratory fitness

reflects how well the heart and lungs process oxygen during exercise.

In this study, the researchers gave 349 adults aged 55 and older a treadmill test to measure their cardiorespiratory fitness, as well as a mental function test that required them to register and recall words and follow instructions.

No one had any symptoms of cardiovascular disease, physical disability, or mental impairment at the start of the study.

Those who were most fit at the beginning of the study were also the least likely to experience mental decline over the six-year period, while those who were the least fit were also more likely to suffer a mental decline as time went on.

A person who has cardiorespiratory fitness may also be at a lower risk for cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes, all of which are known to be associated with poor mental function in older adults.

In addition, cardiorespiratory fitness may be directly associated with blood flow in the brain.

Reduced blood flow to the brain has been linked to lower mental function in both Alzheimer's disease patients and normal older adults, . The study findings were published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

Walking give your brain a workout?

There is evidence that better cardiovascular health is related to better cognitive function. Physical activity also appears to have a direct effect on the brain itself.

"It appears to promote the production of chemicals in the brain, called nerve growth factors, that improve the brain cells' survival and growth."

Use it or lose it, Your Mind

If you're between the ages of 35 to 55, you'd better do THIS daily to protect your mind once you hit your golden years. Use it or lose it.

We're talking about your mind. In a study with more than 5,300 people, researchers from University College London have determined that people ages 35 to 55--

that is, those who are approaching and in the middle-age years--

who participate in intellectually challenging leisure-time activities, such as reading or taking classes, have sharper minds than people who prefer solitary activities, such as gardening or household tasks.

And doing this from ages 35 to 55 will help protect your mind as you age. Our intellectual ability is definitely influenced by what we do. "Participation in complex leisure activities keeps the brain active and engaged," lead researcher Dr. Archana Singh-Manoux.

The study: In addition to testing short-term memory, mathematical reasoning skills, and vocabulary, the UK researchers asked 5,352 people between the ages of 35 and 55 what they did for fun.

The results: Those who spent more time on leisure activities had higher and better mental function than others, reports Reuters. Of particular value were activities that engaged the mind or brought the person into contact with people.

These included cultural visits, playing cards or chess, reading, listening to music, or volunteering.

To control for the fact that people who already have sharper minds are more likely to engage in such leisure time activities, the researchers used statistics to remove the influence of education and profession, two obvious factors that influence one's intellectual ability.

Previous research has shown that when older people engage in hobbies and socializing, it helps protect their minds against the ravages of aging. Now it seems that the earlier we begin the better.

Exerting the mind in middle-age can protect it in old age.

"Not all individuals decline at the same rate in old age, so some factors during the 'lifecourse,' both in early adulthood and middle age, must offer protection," explained Singh-Manoux.

The study findings were reported in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

Aug. 9, 2004 -- Brain-Busting Job = Alzheimer's Protection

Got a mind-draining job? It might protect you from Alzheimer's disease, a new study suggests.

The causes of dementia and Alzheimer's disease are still being scrutinized.

Scientists know that genetics account for only a part of the 4.5 million Alzheimer's disease patients in the U.S.

But they have difficulty teasing out the impact of such factors as education, diet, and socioeconomic status -- including occupation.

Several studies have found that blue-collar workers develop more cases of dementia and Alzheimer's disease in their later years. But why?

This current study delves more deeply into occupation to understand the specific job demands that make the difference, lead researcher Kathleen Smyth, PhD, a sociologist at Case Western Reserve University and University Hospitals of Cleveland.

Her study, which appears in the current issue of the journal Neurology, involved a group of people over age 60. Through extensive testing, 122 patients were diagnosed as having signs of Alzheimer's disease.

The 235 people in the comparison group were the patients' friends and neighbors whose tests showed no signs of Alzheimer's. Family members provided information about jobs the Alzheimer's patients held.

The comparison group provided similar job history details. Researchers then sifted through thousands of Department of Labor job descriptions.

That helped them identify factors like job complexity, training required, aptitude required, whether activities required abstract, creative abilities vs. routine and concrete ones, physical demands, and work conditions.

Early Signs of Dementia?

The Alzheimer's patients had held mostly blue-collar jobs. However, another pattern emerged.

When both groups were in their 20s, there were few differences in the mental demands of their jobs.

But in their 30s, 40s, and 50s, we did find differences -- increased mental demands among [the comparison group].

For those with Alzheimer's disease, the mental demands from their jobs stayed flat ... they did not advance." In those early years, something had changed.

"We don't know exactly what. One theory: Even as early as their teens or 20s, Alzheimer's may have been affecting them in some subtle way, keeping them from moving into more advanced jobs.

Many researchers feel that a big piece of dementia is 'brought to the table' at a very early age. Another theory: Life circumstances kept them from getting more advanced jobs.

They didn't get the right opportunities and got stuck in low-level jobs. It's use it or lose it.

Over three decades, if you're not mentally stimulating yourself, it's not good for your brain. We're hoping this is the take-home message -- build variety into your job.

Choose jobs where you have variety. And if you have a job that is routine, compensate in other ways. Studies looking at leisure activities show they have an impact.

There's pretty wide acceptance that trying to keep your mind active is what's important.

A Second Opinion

All these Alzheimer's studies have a fundamental problem that is tough to overcome --

that people are very complex, and success in your career is much more than book smarts and educational achievement, Indeed, the development of Alzheimer's may start much earlier than once thought.

Or another contributing factor may be in place, like a developmental problem.

A famous study of 30 nuns from the order of the School Sisters of Notre Dame who provided blood samples and underwent testing of their mental abilities from their 70s until their deaths.

The nuns also gave permission to be autopsied after death. The findings have helped provide answers to the puzzle of Alzheimer's disease.

Researchers analyzed essays the nuns wrote 50 to 60 years earlier, when they were novitiates in their teens or early 20s. Their writing indicated their linguistic abilities, a measure of intelligence.

But their writing -- whether it was complex or not -- also showed subtle signs of Alzheimer's disease. It could be that something was going on in their brains that affected their writing, that also played a role in their developing Alzheimer's disease later on.

Nevertheless, the continue counseling patients to do crossword puzzles and to continue interpersonal interactions, to keep their brains in good operating condition.

It's something a lot of us would like to believe is true -- that we can actively prevent dementia. We don't know for sure it's going to help, but we know for sure it's not going to hurt.

A Sharp Mind When You Need It

Almost everyone stresses out before a big speech or major test.

But if anxiety is interfering with your ability to think clearly, use simple relaxation techniques that help keep your mind sharp. Our hearts race and muscles tighten.

Experts offer explanations for the phenomenon and also provide strategies for keeping a sharp mind. You can use a series of three or four deep breaths.

When you're anxious, breathing becomes shallow. You should breathe from your diaphragm, practicing deep breathing ahead of time.

First place your hand on your stomach just above your naval so you can feel it rise and fall with proper breathing. Breathe in, counting to three seconds, then breathe out, counting to three seconds.

Breathe in through your mouth and out through your nose abd breathe evenly.

A Sharp Mind Begins With Preparation

Also work on your self-confidence. Turn off defeatist self-talk. Find books or tapes that teach strategies such as affirmations, meditation, and desensitization, Sleep, Food, and Exercise.

What about breakfast?

Nutritionist say to never skip breakfast.

Does comfort food call to you when you're stressed? Should you take a Snickers bar?

A research study described in the September 2003 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences showed that eating high-fat, high-carbohydrate food reduced the release of stress-related hormones in an acutely stressful situation.

Most research into how foods affect memory and concentration is inconclusive.

For example, a recent study showed that food high in sugar boosted short-term memory, but too many variables existed to recommend the strategy.

And while some people get a lift from coffee, there's the potential to overdose and get the jitters.

People should use their own judgment about what makes them feel alert. It's well documented that exercise improves memory and concentration.

But view it as a long-term strategy. What to Do If You Still Can't Cope. If coping strategies don't work for you, consider the possibility of relaxation, and meditation. There's no reason to put up with excessive anxiety because it's very treatable.

Worry vs. Reality: The Real Risks You Face

When weighing risks, don't let your heart overrule your head.

When it comes to evaluating medical risk -- or risk of any kind, for that matter -- it gets very personal, and when we're weighing threats to ourselves or to others we care about, we tend to think with our hearts rather than our heads.

We Can't Help Ourselves! Blame it on human nature.

Our bodies are primed by millions of years of evolution to react first and think later by pumping out stress hormones such as adrenaline (also called epinephrine) when we're suddenly confronted with the choice of fight or flight.

Those hormones get the heart racing, send the blood pressure soaring, put muscles on alert, and help prepare our bodies.

"However, humans as a species have had to deal with risks from our earliest tribal and pre-tribal days, and clearly those that were best at surviving risks were the ones that propagated the next generation

So we have very, very deeply seated, hard-wired responses to risks that have nothing to do with graphics or numbers, because in essence the human species has had to be geared up to intuitively deal with risk over eons.

But that instinct for self-preservation can also cause us to put ourselves in, rather than out of, harm's way. For example, when you're being charged by a grizzly bear, Foolish wildlife experts recommend that you stand your ground.

But do you listen to your brain telling you to stay still, or to your guts screaming, "Get me outta here! Is It Safe? The keys to making clear-headed decisions about specific risks, experts agree, are knowledge and trust.

Your Memory Is Best at THIS Age.

If you need to remember something, ask a little kid.

The typical 5-year-old can beat most adults on a recognition memory test, at least under certain conditions.

Why? Adults know too much. And all that knowledge decreases our ability to remember correctly, according to a study from The Ohio State University in Columbus.

"It's one case where knowledge can actually decrease memory accuracy," study leader Vladimir Sloutsky, director of the Center for Cognitive Science at Ohio State University.

Without knowing anything about the purpose or content of the research, 77 young children who were about 5 years old and 71 college students were shown various pictures of cats, bears, and birds.

When they were later asked about those pictures, the children identified them accurately 31 percent of the time, while adults hit the mark just 7 percent of the time.

Sloutsky told Reuters that he thinks the kids did better than the grownups because they used a different form of reasoning--something called similarity-based induction--when they analyzed the pictures.

For instance, when shown subsequent pictures of animals they looked carefully to see if the animal looked similar to the original cat they had seen. But adults used category-based induction to try to remember the pictures.

Once they determined that the pictured animal was a cat, they paid no more attention.

So when they were tested later, the adults didn't recognize the pictures as well as the children, reports Reuters.

"The adults didn't care about a specific cat--all they wanted to know was whether the animal was a cat or not," Sloutsky said.

Here's an interesting tidbit:

When the children were taught to use category-based induction, their ability to remember the pictures dropped to the same low level as the adults.

The study findings were reported in the journal Psychological Science.

Your Brain Makes You Tired, Not Your Muscles -

The fatigue you experience following a rigorous workout is triggered by your mind, not your overworked muscles.

Discover the important role your brain plays in telling your body when to slow down and find out about some excellent meditation tools that will help your body and mind to achieve inner peace and relaxation.

For more Information: http://www.mercola.com/2004/aug/14/brain_fatigue.htm

Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

Cause of Death	Prevalence
Heart disease	1 of every 2.6 deaths
Heart disease (women)	1 of every 2.5 deaths
Cancer	1 of every 4 deaths
Breast cancer (women)	1 of every 30 deaths
Sources: American Cancer Society, American Heart Association

The AHA points out that cardiovascular diseases -- heart disease and stroke -- kill nearly half a million American women every year, accounting for more deaths annually than the next seven causes of death (including breast cancer and all other forms of cancer) combined.

ease and stroke -- kill nearly half a million American women every year, accounting for more deaths annually than the next seven causes of death (including breast cancer and all other forms of cancer) combined.

Are you or someone you know unfocused, disorganized, and unable to finish things? At any age, this may indicate the presence of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, or ADHD.

Build Your Brain Power:

The connections between physical, emotional and mental health are widely accepted, and scientific research indicates that regular exercise plays a vital role in achieving optimal health in all three areas.

Physically, exercise has a positive influence on everything from weight control to cancer and heart disease risk. Mentally and emotionally, exercise is a natural stress reducer, self-esteem booster and anti-depressant.

But here's a benefit that is often overlooked: Exercise stimulates mental acuity, as well.

The biological changes prompted by exercise improve our "capacity to master new, and remember old, information," says Dr. John J. Ratey, Harvard University professor of clinical psychiatry and author of A User's Guide to the Brain (Alfred A. Knopf, 2001).

Ratey explains that "physical movements call upon many of the same neurons used for reading, writing and math" and that "physically active people reported an increase in academic abilities, memory retrieval and cognitive abilities."

Formerly, scientists believed that individuals lost brain function as they aged, due to an outright loss of nerve cells.

Today, research indicates that memory lapses are more likely due to a breakdown in the synapses or connections between nerves.

In fact, researchers from the University of California at Irvine found that a healthy brain continues to grow new neurons indefinitely, which can actually slow the brain's aging process and even reverse existing damage.

But a healthy brain is a product of a balanced lifestyle that includes proper nutrition, stress management, and mental and physical exercise.

What makes physical exercise so important? In addition to reducing stress, aerobic exercise washes the brain in fresh oxygen and increases the production of growth agents for nerve cells.

Study participants at the Beckman Institute for Science and Technology at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champagne who moved from a sedentary to active lifestyle

(three 45-minute aerobic workouts per week) improved their mental performance by as much as 25 percent in six months.

Chocolate is one of your Best foods for you

because a diet rich in antioxidants is also very helpful. Reactive forms of oxygen, called free radicals, are a natural byproduct of our metabolism.

Free radicals break down cell membranes throughout the body and can affect cell connections in the brain.

While our bodies produce antioxidants to protect and repair cells from this process, the production slows with age; hence the need for dietary assistance.

Individuals whose diets included vitamins C, E, B and beta-carotene scored higher on memory tests and appeared to maintain mental function better than individuals who didn't get adequate amounts of these nutrients.

Fruits like Chocolate and vegetables are a great source of antioxidants.

Finally, experts recommend giving your brain a mental workout

as well. Word puzzles, hobbies, socializing, reading, travel -- any thought-provoking activities -- stimulate the brain, increasing blood flow and strengthening both the brain cells and the connections between them.

Cardiorespiratory fitness

reflects how well the heart and lungs process oxygen during exercise.

No one had any symptoms of cardiovascular disease, physical disability, or mental impairment at the start of the study.

In addition, cardiorespiratory fitness may be directly associated with blood flow in the brain. Reduced blood flow to the brain has been linked to lower mental function in both Alzheimer's disease patients and normal older adults.

The study findings were published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.