Remember this.

The British may have more health care coverage than we do, but at least our old people have better memories. Or so finds a new a study in BMC Geriatrics. Older people in both countries were asked to remember a list of words, and the American test subjects did significantly better than their English counterparts. So much better that, on average, 75-year-old U.S. residents had memories as good as 65-year-olds who lived in England, reported HealthDay. The researchers attributed the difference to disparities in education, net worth, depression and cardiovascular treatment.

Or maybe it's because we have a Starbucks on every corner. Another study, published by the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, found that a lot of caffeine (the equivalent of 5 cups of coffee daily) reversed Alzheimer's symptoms....in mice. The next step is research in humans, scientists told HealthDay.

So go ahead, take a coffee break to celebrate our national superiority. Hey, if you have enough, maybe you'll even remember what you were supposed to be doing when you get back to your desk.

Labels: Alzheimer's

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posted by Stacey Butterfield at 11:48 AM   0 Comments

Product placement, of sorts, but for a good cause

Those same viewers who are learning about HIV transmission via TV show Grey's Anatomy may soon be funding research into skin cancer, Alzheimer's disease, and neurologic conditions.

The popular show has created an online wedding registry for betrothed Drs. McDreamy and Grey which includes the option of donating to the American Academy of Neurology Foundation, the American Skin Association, and the Alzheimer's Association. Loyal fans can give a straight-up cash donation to any of these charities, or for only $5, buy a "virtual brain"--essentially, a little brain icon with one's name and message slapped on it, which will appear on the AAN Web site.

Now, who says television rots the brain?

Labels: Alzheimer's, McDreamy, neurology, skin cancer

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posted by Jessica Berthold at 2:04 PM   0 Comments

Alzheimer's, Alzheimer's, and more Alzheimer's

The International Conference on Alzheimer's Disease is happening this week in Chicago, and not surprisingly, there's a lot of news coming out of it about Alzheimer's. A quick run-down of the findings:

• Several lifestyle factors have been found to relate to the development of dementia. Living alone in middle age increases your risk, but ruminating about things (like your single status, perhaps?) decreases the risk. Metabolic syndrome (which the Alzheimer's Association press office apparently considers a lifestyle factor) also increases risk.
• Studies at the conference indicated some promising new avenues for early diagnosis of the disease, including tests of blood, spinal fluid, brain enzymes and PET scans.
• Of course, early diagnosis doesn't help much without a treatment. Researchers reported a variety of successful drug trials, almost all in Phase II.
• Another study found that insulin and diabetes drugs might treat/prevent Alzheimer's. Although diabetes has been shown to increase risk for the disease, patients who were on both drugs and insulin had fewer brain lesions than nondiabetics.
• And, in studies almost worthy of Medical News of the Obvious, researchers found that communicating with Alzheimer's patients in babytalk makes them angry and that exercise is good for you.

Labels: Alzheimer's

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posted by Stacey Butterfield at 3:13 PM   0 Comments