From tea to tuna, take a look at 22 of the best and worst foods to feed your brain.
Flip through the slideshow and read the full article on MSN.com: http://www.msn.com/en-us/health/nutrition/22-best-and-worst-foods-for-your-brain/ss-BBr20Wc?ocid=spartanntp#image=1
Dr. Tisone’s scent painting activity involves mixing spices with water to make watercolor paints with the hope that the scents will bring back memories for the patients. Students are trained to elicit conversation based on reactions to those smells.
– See more at: Professor Uses Spice Painting to Slow Progress of Dementia
I love ScienceDaily! This article come to use from them, on chronic traumatic encephalopathy in deceased American Football players. If you are interested in reading more on this topic, please check out my posts on:
I decided to make this a separate post from the other I have written on wearable technologies in dementia care. These technologies, while super cool and having really interesting implications for understanding dementia, are less suitable for a person with dementia to be wearing as part of their daily life. But they do have some great implications for clinical use to get some insight into how a brain with dementia functions the same or differently than other brains.
This post comes to us curtsy of Stanford University’s Geriatrics department. It is about how the prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease is low in India and some reasons why this may be. One of the possible reasons discussed is relating to diet, and particularly to their use of Curcumin – one of the main ingredients in the spice Turmeric, which is used in many curry dishes (a spice known for anti-inflammatory effects). If you want to read more on this, check out my post on Curry helping the brain repair itself (også på dansk her).
According to recent studies conducted in Indians, the prevalence of dementia is lower compared to that of developed nations. These studies show that prevalence of dementia varies in different region of the country:
• in urban regions it varied from 18 per 1000(1.8%) (Vas et al, 2001) to 33.6 per 1000 (3.36%) (Shaji, 2005)
• in rural areas it was found to be 1.36% to 3.5%. The predominant type of dementia prevalent is dementia of Alzheimer’s type, and the next being vascular dementia.
The prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease is very low in India, but the predilection to diabetes and coronary artery disease increases the risk of multi-infarct dementia.
This post comes via Reader’s Digest. Well, it is a Reader’s Digest article that I came across on an Alzheimer’s and Dementia group on Facebook 😉 It’s got some good info on healthy habits and diets for ALL of us.
Happy and healthy reading!
A new survey from Reader’s Digest and the Alzheimer’s Association reveals that many Americans don’t realize certain habits can lower risk of cognitive decline and don’t prioritize brain health compared with other aspects of well-being. Continue reading
Given the growing evidence that people can reduce their risk of cognitive decline, and in recognition of Alzheimer’s & Brain Awareness Month in June, the Alzheimer’s Association and its experts are sharing 10 Ways to Love Your Brain, tips that may reduce the risk of cognitive decline:
1. Break a sweat. Engage in regular cardiovascular exercise that elevates your heart rate and increases blood flow to the brain and body. Several studies have found an association between physical activity and reduced risk of cognitive decline.
2. Hit the books. Formal education in any stage of life will help reduce your risk of cognitive decline and dementia. For example, take a class at a local college, community center or online.
3. Butt out. Evidence shows that smoking increases risk of cognitive decline. Quitting smoking can reduce that risk to levels comparable to those who have not smoked.
4. Follow your heart…
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Missing link found between brain, immune system
Overrturning decades of textbook teaching, researchers at the University of Virginia School of Medicine have discovered that the brain is directly connected to the immune system by vessels previously thought not to exist.
The finding could have significant implications for the study and treatment of neurological diseases ranging from autism to Alzheimer’s disease to multiple sclerosis.
“It changes entirely the way we perceive the neuro-immune interaction. We always perceived it before as something esoteric that can’t be studied. But now we can ask mechanistic questions.” said Jonathan Kipnis, PhD, professor in the UVA Department of Neuroscience and director of UVA’s Center for Brain Immunology and Glia (BIG).
“We believe that for every neurological disease that has an immune component to it, these vessels may play a major role,” Kipnis said. “Hard to imagine that these vessels would not be involved in a [neurological] disease with an immune component.”
The 18-to-34 set is the first generation to have information at their fingertips that can help prevent memory loss conditions, such as Alzheimer’s and dementia. It starts with your diet. (Photo: Getty Images)
Alzheimer’s is not a disease that strikes suddenly. Research shows that like diabetes and heart disease, it is a slow decline toward a devastating end.
This article comes from CNBC, and is a topic I am particularly interested in as I also like studying and being an entrepreneur in the gerontology and gerontechnology field! Aging2.0 is a GREAT program that is helping to launch many innovative and socially-beneficial companies, all focused on making life more enjoyable for aging adults! I had the pleasure of meeting with Stephen Johnston, the other co-founder of Aging2.0, when working on launching a start-up focused on making it easier to find a helpful and useful Assistive Technology. You can read more about that on my page on Adventures in Entrepreneurship in Dementia Care.
—By Julie Halpert, special to CNBC.com
Posted 08 April 2015
The longevity economy, representing all economic activity serving the needs of Americans over 50, is expected to top $13.5 trillion by 2032, according to Oxford Economics. This opportunity isn’t lost on savvy entrepreneurs.
Out of a total 290 entrepreneurs who attended the annual Boomer Summit last month in Chicago, 40 percent were entrepreneurs hoping to pitch their products to potential investors and get ideas on how to best appeal to this demographic. That was twice the amount as the previous year, and for the first time, they came from many different countries.
Katy Fike, co-founder of Aging2.0, a start-up accelerator program, and founding partner of Generator Ventures, a venture fund focused on aging and long-term care, said the industry is attracting graduates from top-tier business schools. Some entrepreneurs have already developed particularly successful products geared toward the demographic shift. Many of these ideas sprung from a personal experience and a desire to solve a problem endured by a loved one.
Here are 8 business owners who have already found millions in the longevity economy.
This question was posed on a support forum for people working with memory problems (family, professionals, anyone interested in memory issues and memory care). It’s not an uncommon question. In fact, many people who are close to someone with dementia worry that they are also showing signs of the degenerative syndrome. And it’s also known that people who care for someone with dementia tend to have more health risks and higher rates of depression – also risk factors for developing dementia. While depression, chronic lack of sleep, and stress can cause symptoms that can be mistaken for dementia, there are distinct differences. The takeaway: dementia is not only about memory loss!
The study, which looked at almost 50,000 people, raises the prospect that people in their 40s and 50s do a better job of translating emotional signals from other people, while seniors have more overall knowledge. Young adults, meanwhile, think faster and have more short-term memory.
Brainpower Peaks in Different Ways as People Age, Study Finds.
You know how there seem to be smart phone apps for nearly everything you do? – you can track your snacking, how much walking you do, emotions, make grocery list reminders, get suggestions for sales in the area, and so on. It spurred the popular saying “there’s an app for that,” which seems to increasingly be true. I did a little digging, and the saying is actually a trademark of Apple from 2009.
Doctor Dementia and the Dementia Adventure 