Death is Obsolete

Big meals linked to memory loss

A link between memory loss and a high calorie diet has been suggested by researchers in the US.

They were investigating mild cognitive impairment (MCI), which can be an early sign of dementia.

Research, presented at a conference, claimed a high calorie diet was linked to having twice the risk of MCI, compared with a low calorie diet.

Alzheimer’s Research UK said a healthy lifestyle was known to help protect against dementia.

Mild cognitive impairment has become increasingly interesting to researchers as it may help predict who will go on to develop dementia, such as Alzheimer’s.

A team at the Mayo Clinic in the US has investigated the effect of diet in 1,233 people aged between 70 and 89. None had dementia, but 163 were diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment.

Doubling

The patients were divided into low calorie intake (600 to 1,526 calories a day), middle (1,526 to 2,142.5) and high (2,142.5 to 6,000) and the incidence of mild cognitive impairment was compared.

The results were presented at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology. They showed no difference in the low and middle groups, however, the high intake group had more than double the incidence of MCI.

Researcher Dr Yonas Geda said: “We observed a dose-response pattern which simply means; the higher the amount of calories consumed each day, the higher the risk of MCI.”

The study cannot say that a high calorie diet causes MCI, people who are cognitively impaired could end up eating more food or there could be another factor involved which increases the risk of both.

It has also not yet been published in a peer-reviewed academic journal.

But Dr Geda did suggest there was potential for therapy: “Cutting calories and eating foods that make up a healthy diet may be a simpler way to prevent memory loss as we age.”

Dr Marie Janson, from Alzheimer’s Research UK, said the findings were interesting, and fitted in with “the bigger picture of a healthy lifestyle preventing Alzheimer’s in later life”.

She said it was “difficult” to work out what a mechanism linking calories and cognitive impairment would be.

But she added: “We know that age is one of the greatest risk factors for dementia, but adopting a healthy lifestyle including a balanced diet and regular exercise, is beneficial in protecting against dementia along with a number of other chronic diseases.”

Cure to Alzheimer’s could be on the horizon

Destructive plaques found in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients have been rapidly cleared by researchers testing a cancer drug on mice.

Sections of Alzheimer's, left, and healthy brain tissue showing brain shrinkage with the condition

The US study, published in the journal Science, reported the plaques were broken down at “unprecedented” speed.

Tests also showed an improvement in some brain function.

Specialists said the results were promising, but warned that successful drugs in mice often failed to work in people.

The exact cause of Alzheimer’s remains unknown, but one of the leading theories involves the formation of clumps of a protein called beta-amyloid. These damage and kill brain cells, eventually resulting in memory problems and the inability to think clearly.

Clearing protein plaques is a major focus of Alzheimer’s research and drugs are already being tested in human clinical trials.

Read the rest of this BBC News item here

Bread & rolls number one source of sodium in the American diet

Bread and rolls are the No. 1 source of sodium in the American diet, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Salty snacks like chips and pretzels come in at No. 10.

The finding seems unlikely, since bread isn’t actually saltier than chips or many of the other foods on the list. But Americans tend to eat more bread and rolls, compared with other foods.

Overall, the report found, Americans are over-consuming sodium in a big way. The average American’s daily sodium intake was 3,266 mg a day, which far exceeds the government’s recommended daily limit of 2,300 mg. The limit is set lower, at 1,500 mg a day, for risk groups, including blacks, people over 51, and those with high blood pressure, diabetes or chronic kidney disease — that’s about half the U.S. population. Nearly 90% of all Americans eat too much salt, which increases their chances of developing hypertension, a risk factor for heart disease and stroke.

The study found that 10 foods account for 44% of of all the sodium we eat. Broken down, they are:

  1. Bread and rolls, 7.4%
  2. Cold cuts/cured meats, 5.1%
  3. Pizza, 4.9%
  4. Fresh and processed poultry, 4.5%
  5. Soups, 4.3%
  6. Sandwiches like cheeseburgers, 4%
  7. Cheese, 3.8%
  8. Pasta dishes like spaghetti with meat sauce, 3.3%
  9. Meat dishes like meatloaf with tomato sauce, 3.2%
  10. Snacks, including chips, pretzels, popcorn and puffs, 3.1%

The CDC report was based on food surveys conducted among 7,227 Americans, including more than 2,500 children and teens, in 2007-08. Participants were surveyed twice, about 3 to 10 days apart, and asked each time to recall what they had eaten in the previous 24 hours. The researchers then categorized the various foods and tallied their sodium content.

Most participants reported eating foods from one or more of the top 10 ranked food categories during at least one survey: about 80% had eaten bread or rolls in the previous 24 hours, 56% had eaten cheese, 51% salty snacks, and 48% had had poultry.

If we could reduce the sodium content in the top 10 foods by 25%, the report suggests the average American’s daily sodium intake could drop by 11%, or 360 mg. That in turn could avert up to 28,000 deaths and save $7 billion in health-care costs a year.

Wreath-laying ceremony today for last known World War 1 veteran

Florence Green died 15 days before her 111 birthday

Kansas City, Mo. — The National World War I Museum in Kansas City is planning a wreath-laying ceremony to mark the death of the last known veteran of the Great War.

The remembrance for Florence Green will take place today on a glass bridge that overlooks a field of 9,000 silk poppies. They represent the 9 million combatants who died in the fighting.

Green was 110 when she died Saturday in eastern England. She was serving with the Women’s Royal Air Force as a waitress when the guns fell silent in November 1918.

The museum also had a ceremony to mark the February 2011 death of Frank Buckles,  the last known American World War I veteran.

Museum head Brian Alexander says it’s more important than ever to keep the memory of the veterans alive.

 

Wreath-laying ceremony today for last known World War 1 veteran