The flavanoids in strawberries and blueberries could help delay dementia. EPA/Bilawal Arbab
People who eat greater amounts of blueberries and strawberries could delay their cognitive ageing by years, according to data from a large-scale study conducted over more than three decades.
In a paper published in the journal Annals of Neurology, German and US researchers report that cognitive decline could be delayed by up to 2½ years in elderly people who eat more of the flavonoid-rich berries.
Flavonoids are compounds found in fruits, nuts and vegetables that have been linked to disease prevention through their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Berries are particularly high in a type of flavonoid called anthocyanidins, which can cross the blood–brain barrier to areas of learning and memory. [continue reading…]
Watch this Alzheimer patient come alive when he hears music. This is a documentary about the Music and Memory non-profit project, a film by Michael Rossato-Bennett. AliveInsideMovie.com What a great video this is.
Alzheimer’s and dementia are a reality for an increasing and often unseen population. Though well intentioned, many nursing homes are not equipped to fully meet the needs of these residents. We are left with several questions without any real or comforting answers: How do I want to age? What can we do for our loved ones? Can we do better?
Alive Inside investigates these questions and the power music has to awaken deeply locked memories. The film follows Dan Cohen, a social worker, who decides on a whim to bring iPods to a nursing home. To his and the staff’s surprise many residents suffering from memory loss seem to “awaken” when they are able to listen to music from their past. With great excitement, Dan turns to renowned neurologist Dr. Oliver Sacks, and we follow them both as we investigate the mysterious way music functions inside our brains and our lives.
Besides telling a moving story, it is our hope that this film will encourage widespread adoption of personalized music programs in nursing homes and outpatient therapy in homes. We hope that our film will inspire and educate the millions of people burdened by diseases that affect memory, and create a grassroots demand for this kind of low cost treatment, which could help not only patients but also caregivers across the globe. Like many films that concentrate on a simple story but echo into larger stories, we feel this film raises questions about how we as a society care for the elderly and afflicted.
Alive Inside focuses on one man’s journey, but it raises many deep questions about what it means to still be Alive Inside. It questions when we stop being human, and what it takes to re-start a life that has faded away. It asks questions about how we see our elderly, and how we are going to treat an epidemic of these degenerative diseases.
In Danville, California, the Traditions Alzheimer’s Care Unit houses 20 residents, most of who are shepherded by caregivers through scheduled activities like balloon baseball and bingo. For most residents, life is routine.
But for Lee Gorewitz, life is an odyssey.
From the moment she wakes up, Lee is on a quest for something that she can neither articulate nor comprehend. Confined by the limits of her physical boundaries, she scavenges for reminders of her old identity in the outside world.
A total immersion into the fragmented day-to-day experience of Alzheimer’s disease, You’re Looking at Me Like I Live Here and I Don’t is the first documentary filmed exclusively in an Alzheimer’s care unit, told from the perspective of someone suffering from the disease.
The film documentary airs nationally on PBS starting tonight, March 29, at 10 PM.Check your local PBS station for times in your area
A team of academic researchers has identified the intracellular mechanisms regulated by vitamin D3 that may help the body clear the brain of amyloid beta, the main component of plaques associated with Alzheimer’s disease.
Published in the March 6 issue of the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, the early findings show that vitamin D3 may activate key genes and cellular signaling networks to help stimulate the immune system to clear the amyloid-beta protein.
Previous laboratory work by the team demonstrated that specific types of immune cells in Alzheimer’s patients may respond to therapy with vitamin D3 and curcumin, a chemical found in turmeric spice, by stimulating the innate immune system to clear amyloid beta. But the researchers didn’t know how it worked.
“This new study helped clarify the key mechanisms involved, which will help us better understand the usefulness of vitamin D3 and curcumin as possible therapies for Alzheimer’s disease,” said study author Dr. Milan Fiala, a researcher at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and the Veterans Affairs Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System.
The flavanoids in strawberries and blueberries could help delay dementia. EPA/Bilawal Arbab