An Early Blood Test for Parkinson’s Could Be Here Soon
Since a good deal of brain damage occurs before symptoms of Parkinson's disease appear, it’s vital to come up with a test that can identify the disease in the earliest stages. Existing lab tests have proven unreliable and even brain scans don't provide a definitive [...]
Do Anti-Inflammatory Drugs Play a Role in Alzheimer’s Prevention?
The latest clue in the search for new, more effective ways to treat Alzheimer’s disease happened by accident. Scientists were studying people being treated for inflammatory conditions like rheumatoid arthritis and discovered that when these patients took drugs called TNF inhibitors, the risk for Alzheimer’s [...]
Avoid This Sleep Pattern and Prevent Memory Loss
If there’s one thing we’re all losing sleep over in our golden years, it’s memory loss. Because chances are, your life is being directly impacted. Maybe it’s a family member… your spouse… your neighbor… or even yourself. Even worse? Memory loss doesn’t just show up [...]
The Vitamin Secret to a Healthy Brain
If you’re anything like me, you’re probably doing everything you can to avoid Alzheimer’s disease. Because without a sharp mind, you will slowly lose your independence… and identity. That’s why you never miss your morning tee time or bike ride… eat plenty of fresh produce… [...]
Does Your Memory Pass the Smell Test?
For many of us, the ability to smell the world around us is something we take for granted. If there’s something cooking in the oven, we delight in the delicious odors wafting from the kitchen. On a spring day, flowering plants release a pleasing odiferous [...]
This Fiber Can Cut Your Risk of Dementia
When the saying “roughage keeps you regular” was coined it reflected fiber’s ability to prevent or relieve constipation. Soon doctors were touting the benefits of dietary fiber for everything from helping maintain a healthy weight and lowering the risk of diabetes to reducing the risk [...]
Are Free Radical Levels a Predictor of Alzheimer’s Disease?
Cell-damaging free radicals in the brain are considered a consequence of Alzheimer’s. But in breakthrough new research, scientists now believe that free radicals, far from being a result of the disease, are a warning that an Alzheimer’s diagnosis lies ahead. A warning that we should [...]
Shocking Fad Really Works to Improve The Health of Your Body and Brain
Every wintertime people in cold weather climates take a “polar bear plunge” into an iced-over lake or river. Some might call it a test of physical strength while others might say it’s crazy. But this tradition is more than a wintertime fad. Medical researchers are [...]
Does Cannabis Hold a Key to Preventing Alzheimer’s Disease?
Cannabis has been used medicinally for over 2000 years and about half the states in the U.S. allow physicians to prescribe it in select medical conditions, Alzheimer's being one of them. Decades of lab research provides evidence of its value, but the use of medical [...]
New Nose Spray Shows Promise as an Alzheimer’s Treatment
When beta amyloid and tau proteins go rogue, they form the characteristic brain plaques and tangles thought to be a cause of Alzheimer's. But inflammation is also an early feature of the disease and strongly involved in its development. Previous attempts to relieve inflammation in [...]
Is Vitamin B Deficiency an Early Warning Sign of Dementia?
In an ongoing exploration of the origins of dementia, researchers from the United States and Israel coordinated a large cohort study to examine a common nutritional deficiency - folate, or vitamin B9. We already know that blood folate levels diminish with age, but what we [...]
Mental Health Mineral Prevents Dementia in New Research
Research this year confirms studies from the past decade that show small amounts of a certain mineral can lower your risk for Alzheimer’s disease. This trace mineral is sometimes found in tap water, and, in larger amounts, it has also been used to treat bipolar [...]
Can Antibiotic Use Lead to Memory Loss?
Frequent readers of this newsletter know I caution against antibiotic overuse. Sadly, it’s common for doctors to prescribe antibiotics even when they’re not 100 percent sure the patient has a bacterial infection. Indeed, research has shown that antibiotic use can result in a host of [...]
Get Social And Save Your Memory
As we emerge from this era of pandemic isolation, researchers have taken a closer look at the health repercussions of loneliness in older adults. The news is sobering. A brand-new study has revealed the detrimental health effects of isolation and the resulting loneliness on your [...]
This Five-Minute Animal Recognition Game Can Warn of Alzheimer’s Years in Advance
Numerous tests claiming to predict a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease years in advance are emerging from research around the world. Some of them rely on blood markers observed from a blood sample while others use technology that identifies minute delays in spoken word patterns. Still [...]
Is the Placebo Effect Real?
The placebo effect has confounded conventional medicine for years. This effect occurs when people take a placebo pill (a pill that contains nothing that is supposed to influence your health) or undergo a placebo (fake) procedure and enjoy a real benefit that improves their well-being. [...]
The Aging Brain Keeps Up with Younger Brains Well into Middle Age
It's usually assumed - and backed up by a large body of research - that thinking speed peaks when we're in our twenties, after which it's downhill all the way. But a massive new study using machine learning came to a different conclusion that will [...]
Is Information Overload Stealing Your Memory?
Our ability to access and use our memory grows with age. Hence the saying, with age comes wisdom. Yet it’s also known that our memory declines with age. How can wisdom and forgetfulness occur at the same time? This paradox is due in part to [...]
Can You Reverse Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI)?
New research published in the journal Neurology offers hope for those who face mild cognitive impairment (MCI).1 Investigators discovered that MCI could be reversed in certain individuals with a high education level and excellent written language skills. Let’s explore MCI in older adults and see [...]
Watching ASMR Videos Offers Relief from Stress
A seemingly odd trend came into existence about a dozen years ago. People began watching videos showing someone receiving a massage or having their hair brushed. Other videos included watching a person talking in whispers or tapping their fingers. Yet another could be watching someone [...]
