Brain Enhancing Healthy Foods

More bad news for junk food, as a recent study published in the journal Neurology shows that elderly people having higher levels of certain vitamins and omega 3 fatty acids in their blood score better on mental acuity tests than those who eat the junk.  Further, researchers found that eating better might even reduce the brain shrinkage associated with with Alzheimer's disease. Booyah!

The study, conducted at Oregon State University, and one of the first of its kind, looked at 104 people at an average age of 87, and specifically measured a wide range of blood nutrient levels (instead of basing results on food questionnaires, which are less precise and less reliable).

"The vitamins and nutrients you get from eating a wide range of fruits, vegetables and fish can be measured in blood biomarkers," said Traber Maret Traber, a principal investigator at the Linus Pauling Institute and study co-author. "I'm a firm believer these nutrients have strong potential to protect your brain and make it work better."

Yes, so am I! I've been preaching for years. Always happy to see the science back up a universal truth--whole, natural foods are healing and health enhancing. We've gone through millions of years of evolution feeding ourselves the foods of the earth--can't think of any Doritos shortages that challenged mankind, can you?

The principle vitamins they found to help neurological health are some of my personal favs--vitamins B, C, D and E, as well as the omega 3 fatty acids--which increased mental quickness and brain size.

Elderly people that had diets high in unnatural and unhealthy foods, like those laden with trans-fats, fared worse on cognitive tests. Although the researchers found that age and education had major effects on cognitive function and brain size, nutrient status accounted for 17% of the variation in scores, and 37% of the differences in brain volume.

Well, what can I say other than...been tellin' ya. Eat well--it'll take you far. This study looked at people with typical American diets--some good, some...well, not so much. But it's not too late to make the switch--in fact, perfect time for the new year. 

I'll leave it to study co-author Gene Bowman of the Oregon Health and Science University to conclude with, "It is very exciting to think that people could potentially stop their brains from shrinking and keep them sharp by adjusting their diet." Indeed.

Freeway Air Could Cause Brain Damage

Here's a real estate tip: You'll find massive deals on homes and rentals located next to freeways in the near future.  How do I know?  Because recent research shows that the air around freeways is filled with tiny particles and debris that could lead to brain damage, so you'd be crazy to move near a highway or major commuter road.  Check it:

Researchers from the University of Southern California reported in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives that mice subjected to freeway air (not actual freeways) showed gradual brain damage.  Mice neurons for learning and memory were considerably damaged, while signs of premature aging and Alzheimer's disease were detected in their inflamed brains.  And in developing mice that were exposed to freeway air, neurons did not grow as well as they did in those not exposed to the pollution.  Wow! 

The real genius of this study lies in the development of freeway air recreated by scientists.  Co-author, Constantinos Sioutas, developed technology that captured freeway particles--nanoscopic particles from 12-200 nanometers, approximately one-thousandth of the width of a single human hair--in a liquid suspension, which was then used to expose the mice to for relatively short periods (total of 150 hours spread over ten weeks, three five-hour sessions per week).

Freeway air is made up not of gasoline but a mixture of paving material, weathering car parts and burning fossil fuel.  Nice!  To think we're breathing this muck on a daily basis.  And before you take comfort in your car's filtration system, just know that nanoscale particulate matter (nPM) passes right through these filters.  Yikes!

Senior author, Professor Caleb Finch, said:

"You can't see them, but they are inhaled and have an effect on brain neurons that raises the possibility of long-term brain health consequences of freeway air."

Yes, yes...I know mice ain't man, but mammalian are we both, and what happens to our rodent ancestors could, and probably does, happen to us.  If they are exhibiting brain damage from 150 hours of exposure, then what the heck is happening to our nervous systems on Route 66?  And what can we do about it?

Well, Electric cars aren't the answer, researchers point out, because the particulates would still be floating around in the air.  Says Finch,

"It would certainly sharply decrease the local concentration of nanoparticles, but then at present, electrical generation still depends upon other combustion processes - coal - that in a larger environment contribute nanoparticles anyway.

It's a long-term global project to reduce the amount of nanoparticles around the world. Whether we clean up our cars, we still have to clean up our power generation."

Human autopsies in Mexico found significantly more signs of brain inflammation and early aging among deceased individuals in Mexico City, compared to people in other cities with less pollution...and I live in Los Angeles!

So here's my advice: Unless you're looking for dirt-cheap housing, I'd stay away from condos with the freeway view.  We get enough polluted air as it is--nobody needs to freebase it through their front door.  As for our drive-all-day-culture...well, I've made it a priority to live close to work, but I do realize that not everybody has that luxury.  Perhaps to you long-distance commuters, I'd say: Stay home on the weekends, and maybe even move to the country.  Hopefully we'll figure out this pollution mess before we all become the walking demented.

Volunteering Mind Helps Seniors Slow Aging

How can seniors both reduce the effects of aging on the brain and give back to society? By tutoring children, that's how. And it is exactly what thousands of elders are doing--teaching kids how to read, write and do math--giving many of the older folk a renewed sense of purpose.

According to a recent study, seniors who have volunteered for Experience Corps, a program matching elementary students in low-income schools with seniors who serve as tutors, showed improvements in the "executive function" regions of the brain involved in thinking and the ability to organize multiple tasks. The children had much greater reading comprehension and ability to sound out words compared to kids who were not tutored.

The study looked at eight women considered high risk of cognitive impairment because of their low income status, low education level [they had only completed an average of 12 years of school (high school)] and low scores on a cognition test. Researchers say that these preliminary results are encouraging, especially if they can carry over to prevention of Alzheimer's disease.

Very nice. And no surprise to me. I know how important keeping the mind sharp is to staying young and vibrant. Obvious? Not really. The process of learning is instrumental in creating new dendrites, which leads to new processing pathways formed in the brain. New processing pathways = youth. Old processing pathways = wisdom. Youth + wisdom = vibrancy, influence and growth. Who doesn't value that?

Research shows that keeping the mind conditioned through systematic mental exercise can protect against dementia and Alzheimer's disease. Yes, physical exercise helps too--particularly cardiovascular work--and we know how vital staying social is to warding off cognitive decline; but when it comes to maximal brain function and protection, nothing beats good old fashioned learning.

On a final note, there is evidence that having "purpose" can actually prolong life--and volunteering is one phenomenal way to go about it. A recent study showed that retirees over age 65 who volunteered had less than half the risk of dying compared to their non-volunteering peers. Now that's impressive. If you love helping others, consider volunteering your time and mental prowess to teaching children how to read and solve equations. Really, it's a win-win situation--they get smarter and you keep trucking. Now what can be better than that?

Antibiotic Overuse Raises Ethical Questions

As medical technology advances, modern society is increasingly faced with tough ethical questions--questions regarding right to life and quality of life issues. Take for example a new study which suggests that antibiotics are overused in people dying of dementia diseases and should be considered more carefully in light of the growing problem of drug-resistant superbugs. In other words, should people at the end stage of disease be given life-saving treatments despite the fact that time is not on their side? Or should medical practitioners consider the larger implications to the public health as a whole?

According to study co-author Dr. Susan Mitchell, a senior scientist with the Harvard-affiliated Hebrew Senior Life Institute for Aging Research in Boston, "Advanced dementia is a terminal illness; if we substituted 'end-stage cancer' for 'advanced dementia,' I don't think people would have any problem understanding this." What she is referring to is withholding antibiotics from people in the end-stages of Alzheimer's disease, a fatal brain disease. Although many dementia patients die from infections like pneumonia, the underlying cause of illness and deterioration is damage to brain cells.

In the study, over two hundred people with advanced stage dementia residing in nursing homes in the Boston area were followed over an eighteen month period or until they died. Almost half the subjects died during the study. All subjects failed to recognize loved ones, had stopped speaking, were unable to walk or feed themselves, and were incontinent. Researchers looked at the patient's medical records and found that 42% received antibiotics--many intravenously--within two weeks of their death. And here's the kicker: The closer the patients were to dying, the more likely they were to receive antibiotics.

The problem with the practice of administering antibiotics to people near death is that we are in the midst of a superbug (antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria) epidemic; and the indiscriminate use of anti-bacterial medicines is more than a little to blame. Liberal prescribing of antibiotics is common in nursing homes, in children with ear infections, in adults with coughs and sore throats, and in many other ailments which, for the most part, will resolve on their own over time, or for which antibiotics are useless, like viral infections. But the fact is that, in nursing homes, the standard of care is for doctors to see the residents only one time per month or once every two months. According to Dr. Daniel Brauner, a geriatrician and ethicist at the University of Chicago Medical Center who was not involved in the study, "I'm sure a lot of these antibiotics were prescribed over the telephone." I'm sure of that, too.

So the question remains: Should medical treatments be administered to people who are at the end stage of terminal illness? I'm certain there is no real answer. If the person is your loved one--your wife, husband, mother, father, and so forth--I'm quite convinced the answer will be YES! We all want the extra time with our closest family members. But in the bigger picture, perhaps a dignified death with the help "the old man's friend", as pneumonia was once called, is in order. As bioethicist Bruce Jennings, consultant at the Hastings Center, a research institute on medical ethics, says, "You might rescue the patient from life-threatening pneumonia and they live a few days, weeks or even months longer, but the extra time you have bought them by that rescue is not beneficial."

Many Advantages to Mental Sharpness

Being conscientious and focused can prevent the onset of Alzheimer's later in life, current research shows. According to a study started in 1994 and involving Catholic nuns, priests and brothers (read about it in detail in The Six Keys to Optimal Health, coming soon), people who are conscientious--that is, those who are governed by or conform to the dictates of conscience, are self-disciplined, and scrupulous --are half as likely to develop Alzheimer's as they age.

According to Robert S. Wilson, professor of neuropsychology at the Rush University Medical Center in Chicago and lead author of a report in the October Archives of General Psychiatry, conscientiousness is "a broad-based trait that is particularly about impulse control, self-discipline and delayed gratification." The study's findings seemed to hold up even when the researchers controlled for other personality traits and risk factors such as physical, cognitive and social activity, among others.

I'm really not surprised by these findings. One of the major premises in my upcoming book is the importance of keeping mentally sharp. Mental sharpness includes cognitive ability which depends on continuous education, focus and discipline which depend on consciousness, or better yet--mindfulness, and keeping one's perspective balanced (more on this later--really, read my book--it's all in there). All of these activities stimulate dendritic growth; that is the formation of new nerve pathways that keep the central nervous system functioning at optimal levels.

Hey, we've all got a choice to live a life of consciousness or one without. No judgements here, but a conscious life--to me--just seems fuller . It's not easy and definitely not always a joy. Dammit, a conscious life is painful. But isn't life about every side? Good, bad; easy, tough; cake, dung? Experiencing all sides is what life is truly about. And sticking to your guns, that is, staying true to who you are (not giving in) during trying times is precisely what determines conscientiousness. It's not just about how you act but how you see things. What's really important is not avoiding life's drudgeries, but instead embracing them and carrying them out--that is the secret to conscientiousness.