_ Extra Pounds Even Worse Than We Thought By article Mortality risks of being overweight or obese are underestimated, according to University of Pennsylvania researchers who published their study in the March 2014 issue of the open-access journal Population Health Metrics. A release from the university quotes lead researcher Andrew Stokes as saying, "The scholarly community is divided over a large meta-analysis that found that overweight is the optimal BMI category and that there are no increased risks associated with obese class 1."
_ Green Tea Boosts Your Brain By article Green tea is said to have many positive effects on health. Now researchers at the University of Basel in Switzerland are reporting the first evidence that green tea extract enhances cognitive functions, in particular the working memory. The findings, published in April 2014 in the journal Psychopharmacology, suggest promising clinical implications for the treatment of cognitive impairments in psychiatric disorders such as dementia.
_ Exercise For Alzheimer's Patients By Jane Farrell article Editor’s Note: Exercise has myriad benefits, and the same holds true for people with Alzheimer’s. In addition to mental exercise and social interaction, physical activity is essential. It can help keep muscles and the heart in shape, reduce stress and depression and maintain an even weight. The companionship it provides with visitors or caregivers can also be helpful. Here, from the National Institute on Aging’s Go4Life program, are some tips for caregivers to help their loved ones get into a physical routine, or maintain one:
_ Caffeine May Help Guard Against Dementia By Jane Farrell article Ordinary caffeine appears to have a positive effect on one of the key proteins responsible for Alzheimer’s, researchers report. Researchers from the University of Bonn and the University of Lille said the discovery may pave the way for treatment of Alzheimer’s. The results were published in the journal Neurobiology of Aging.
_ 5 Steps to Clearing Your Mind of Clutter By article By Andrea Warshaw Wernick I often find that I try to do too much at one time, which leaves little time to focus on one particular task that really needs to be accomplished. If you find yourself unable to focus on one task, here are some tips to help you take a deep breath and declutter your mind of all the other things you have going on so that you can really dive into that important project. You’ll finally be able to cross it off your to-do list once and for-all:
Advance Directives Critical for Elderly Still at Home By Sondra Forsyth article More than 70% of elderly Medicare beneficiaries experience cognitive impairment or severe dementia near the end of life and may need surrogate decision makers for healthcare decisions. Advance care planning for older adults with dementia may be particularly important for individuals who do not reside in a nursing home or a long-term care facility, according to research done at at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and published in the April 2014 issue of Health Affairs.
An Alzheimer's Toolkit For Caregivers By blog If you’re caring for someone with dementia symptoms you’ll already be aware of the complex challenges it presents. People with Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia are affected by a range of symptoms, including memory loss, difficulty communicating, changes in mood, agitation, depression, physical issues and so much more. These symptoms are not difficult just for the person who is ill, but for their loved ones as well. In fact, they can be overwhelming.
_ Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Breakthrough By article Researchers at the RIKEN Center for Life Science Technologies in Japan, in collaboration with Osaka City University and Kansai University of Welfare Sciences, have used functional PET imaging to show that levels of neuroinflammation, or inflammation of the nervous system, are higher in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome than in healthy people.
_ This Is Your Brain on Meditation By article Brown University researchers have intergrated mindfulness meditation with brain imaging and neural signal data to form testable hypotheses about the science of the practice, and the reported mental health benefits. The investigators maintain that their method of coding the reports meditators provide about their mental experiences can be “rigorously correlated with quantitative neurophysiological measurements”.
_ More People Are Making Living Wills By Jane Farrell article The number of older people who have living wills has nearly doubled in recent years, researchers have found. The change indicates that millions of people are less timid about discussing the complicated, frightening issues surrounding end-of-life medical treatments. Investigators from the University of Michigan and the Veterans Affairs Ann Arbor Health Care System found that the percentage jumped from 47 percent in 2000 to 72 percent in 2010.
_ Sleep Health Reversing Age-Related Sleep Problems By article With increasing age, many people experience a decline in sleep quality that in turn reduces their quality of life. In a study publishing April 1st 2014 in the journal PLOS Biology, scientists at the Max Planck Institute (MPI) for Biology of Aging in Cologne, Germany present findings that suggest that age-related sleep decline can be prevented and might even be reversible.
_ Why It May Be More Than "The Blues" By Jane Farrell article Everyone feels blue now and then. It’s part of life. But if you no longer enjoy activities that you usually like, there may be a more serious problem. Feeling depressed without letup can change the way you think and the way you experience emotions. Doctors call this clinical depression.
_ Caregivers for Wounded Veterans By article More than 1.1 million spouses, parents, and friends are caring for the injured and disabled who have served in the U.S. military since Sept. 11, 2001, often doing so without a formal support network and putting their own well-being at risk, according to a new RAND Corporation study.
_ Exercise The Zero Gravity Lesson We Learned from Astronauts By article By Roger Landry, MD, MPH “Houston, we have a problem.”
_ Aging Well Helping Boomers Age in Place By article As the Baby Boom generation ages, the number of older adults living in America will double by 2050, with nearly 19 million of those adults age 85 or older. While the needs of this older adult population continue to grow and change, the current paradigm of care—institutional settings like nursing homes and assisted living facilities—is an inflexible and expensive way of caring for older adults with physical limitations or chronic health conditions.
_ Getting The Most From Springtime Walking By Jane Farrell article With spring returning, most of us want to get out and walk, especially if we’ve been stuck at home for most of the winter. Springtime walking isn’t just great exercise; it also lets us observe the beauty of a reawakening world. At this time of year, it’s no wonder that people go outside urban settings and walk on country or unpaved roads. But as wonderful as that can be, rural and even some suburban walking have their own set of hazards.
_ A More Effective Form Of Chemotherapy By Jane Farrell article Researchers have developed a drug that can manipulate the body’s signaling systems, triggering an attack and shutdown of deadly cancer cells. The finding was published in the journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition. The drug, called ZL105, is a compound based on the metal iridium. The study, by researchers from the University of Warwick in the UK, has found ZL105 could potentially replace currently used anticancer drugs. Those drugs become less effective over time, have a number of side effects and damage both healthy and cancerous cells.
Mentally Challenging Job = Sharp Mind After Retirement By article A mentally demanding job may seem stressful but data from the University of Michigan Health and Retirement Study show that you’re probably doing you brain a favor in the long run.