How to Improve Memory? Memory Loss? What Stops Causes of Dementia -- Symptoms of Dementia?

Want to avoid memory loss, fuzzy thinking and dementia at any age?

Want to stay sharp regardless of your age and do more than just brain teasers?

• Here's what to DO for your brain.

• But first, what NOT to do:

Most Used Meds Lead to Memory Decline?

Because they may hurt your brain and memory. How?

• Cognitive effects are the second most common problem after muscle aches reported by patients to the Statin Effects Study at the U. of California, Sandiego.

Statins are cholesterol lowering drugs such as Lipitor, Simvastatin and Zocor.

• Lowering high cholesterol may be most important for middle aged men who are under a lot of stress, but these medications may have negative effects for both men and women as they get older. Why?

• The brain is largely cholesterol, and much of this is in the myelin sheaths that insulate nerve cells and the synapses that transmit nerve impulses.

• Cholesterol is a fat that is required by the brain to function properly as we get older.

(The UCSD Statin Study group, headed by Beatrice A. Golomb, MD, PhD)

• Improve Circulation, High Cholesterol, High Blood Pressure NATURALLY?

Dementia Risk Increased with LOW Cholesterol

This effect has already been reported by research:

• People in their 50’s and 60’s with LOW cholesterol (HDL) had 27 to 53% higher risk of memory loss compared to those with HIGH cholesterol in a British Study of 3,700 people.

• Other heart disease risks did NOT have an association with mental/memory decline in this study, so that:

1) total levels of cholesterol and

2) levels of triglycerides – the amount of fat circulating in the blood --

did NOT have an impact on the memory-capacity of those tested.

Only people with LOW HDL or “good” cholesterol had more mental/memory loss.

• Such declines in ability often precede the development of dementia as in Alzheimers in the elderly.

• Researchers speculate that HDL cholesterol may ward off formation of the beta-amyloid plaques in the brain that are a hallmark of Alzheimers disease.

Scientists are identifying risk factors because of concern about a “dementia time bomb” because the fastest growing age group is that of 65 plus.

(A. Singh-Manoux, French National Institute for Health and Medical Research and the University College, London.)

• Doctors Deny Side Effects of High Cholesterol Drugs

• Lipitor Side Effects: No Benefits for Women & People over 70?

• Heart Attacks Not Caused by High Cholesterol?

Are YOUR Heart Meds Affecting Your Brain?

Headache

Digestive upset

Liver dysfunction

Muscle pain

Cognitive side effects such as memory-loss and fuzzy thinking associated with dementia is not yet on the patient information sheet for Lipitor, the popular cholesterol lowering medication.

Adverse experiences that many people have reported include:

memory/thinking problems

muscle pain

muscle weakness

fatigue

peripheral neuropathy

mood/personality changes

• Improving Symptoms of Dementia, Alzheimers Symptoms?

• Easy Test for Alzheimers Symptoms

Extreme Memory Loss = Lipitor Side Effects?

Dr Orli Etington, vice chairman of medicine at New York Presbyterian Hospital, has had at least two dozen patients in their 40’s who became unable to recall words or to concentrate after taking Lipitor.

• Dr. Etington said that while tests revealed nothing wrong, the symptoms vanished when this woman stopped taking Lipitor. When the patient resumed taking Lipitor, symptoms returned.

• Specialists such as Professor G. Devi report having had at least six patients whose mental problems were traceable to statins.

Dr. Gayatri Devi, an associate professor of neurology and psychiatry at the New York University School of medicine.

Usually changes start to occur within six weeks of starting the statin, and their cognitive abilities return quickly when people go off them.

• Unfortunately, people are not typically advised to stop or change their heart meds when they experience cognative problems.

Instead, when they can become forgetful, those around them often assume that they have Alzheimers.

For instance, a San Diego woman, aged 69, became so forgetful that her daughter began to find Alzheimers care for her.

However, after stopping taking the statin Lipitor, her mother was back to normal in eight days.

• Usually, neither a family doctor nor family members suspect the medications people are taking, to be robbing them of their mental capacity – instead they simply blame their age.

“My Father is Playing Bridge Again After Stopping His Heart Meds”

"Our family has recently witnessed the remarkable improvement in our 88-year-old father when an astute specialist in internal medicine pulled him off three of the medications he'd been prescribed by his family doctor (high blood pressure medication, cholesterol medication, and a prescription nasal spray).

In four days his blood sugar dropped from 25 to 7, his dizziness was gone, he stopped falling down at night, and his appetite was back.

• After two weeks, his mental ability/memory improved and he was back playing bridge again!

I am now reading Dr. Dennis McCullough's book, "My Mother, Your Mother".

It is interesting that Dr. McCullough's experience is that elders later in life do better on almost no medication!

• My Mother, Your Mother: Embracing "Slow Medicine," the Compassionate Approach to Caring for Your Aging Loved Ones

Keep Cholesterol In Range, Naturally

• Lowering Your Cholesterol Without Meds

• Scientists find Cholesterol Busting FOODS

• Eat More Eggs to Lower Your High Cholesterol?

What’s Worse Than HIGH Cholesterol?

They are recognizing that you need cholesterol for your brain – and that "higher" HDL cholesterol keeps your brain going!

So what’s worse?

There are two other, stronger predictors of heart disease and of an eventual heart attack:

1) HIGH blood levels of C-reactive proteins (CRP), and

2) LOW levels of glutathione (GSH) the MASTER ANTIOXIDANT.

• C-Reactive Proteins damage artery walls setting the stage for cholesterol deposits and heart disease in the first place.

C-Reactive Proteins – are the inflammatory markers that precede coronary artery disease.

Over the past 10 years, researchers have found runaway inflammation in most major health problems. They have determined that white blood cells can release large amounts of inflammation-causing substances called C-Reactive Proteins (CRP).

• These have in fact been found to play an early role in damaging artery walls and SETTING THE STAGE for cholesterol deposits and heart disease.

In a major study published in The New England Journal of Medicine, people with elevated CRP levels were four and a half times more likely to have a heart attack!

• The study concluded that INFLAMMATION, or elevated CRP, is a more accurate predictor of heart attack risk than cholesterol.

• Which Fruit Lowers Inflammation for Heart Disease?

Best Brain Food to Improve Memory?

Eating more fruit and vegetable -- especially FRUIT -- can protect your memory as you age.

Better cognitive performance has already been linked to a diet with lots of berries, spinach, fish, fruit and vegetables.

But now researchers found that people with higher daily consumption of fruit and vegetables is associated with BETTER VERBAL MEMORY.

VERBAL MEMORY -- the memory of words and their meaning is especially vulnerable to the effects of aging and Alzheimers Disease.

Good VERBAL MEMORY was also associated with a higher intake of vitamins C and E from foods NOT supplements. Neither was it associated with higher intake of vegetables.

• Vitamins C and E act as antioxidants, protecting brain cells from damage caused by free radicals.

EXECUTIVE FUNCTION -- mental processes involving planning, problem solving and multi-tasking.

Source: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 1,533 healthy men and women, aged 45 to 60 were followed for 13 years and measured for cognitive function and memory loss.

Vitamins as Brain Food to Improve Memory

• One serving = a medium sized fruit, 1/2 cup of raw or cooked vegetables, one cup of salad or 1/2 cup of 100% vegetable or fruit juice.

• VITAMIN C RICH PRODUCE:

This antioxidant protects brain tissues from oxidative damage and inflammation, which increase the risk of cognitive impairment and of Alzheimers Disease.

Include at least 3 servings of fruit and veg high in vitamin C and here are the best:

• cantaloupe

• grapefruit

• kiwi

• mango

• oranges

• papaya

• pineapple

• strawberries

Vitamin C-rich vegetables include

• broccoli

• brussels sprouts

• cabbage

• cauliflower

• green and red peppers

• kale

• tomato juice

VITAMIN E-RICH FOODS:

This nutrient helps shield brain cell membranes from harmful free radicals.

Vitamin E is thought to lessen the toxic effects of beta-amyloid, a sticky protein linked to Alzheimers Disease.

The best sources are:

• wheat germ oil

• sunflower seeds

• safflower oil

• sunflower oil

• grape seed oil

• almonds

• hazelnuts

• mixed nuts

• frozen spinach

• beet greens

• canola oil

• papaya

BERRIES AND WALNUTS:

These contain polyphenols, that protect brain cells by fighting free radical damage, reducing inflammation and increasing the clearance of toxins and toxic proteins that build up as you age.

Stop Brain Shrinkage after Age 40!

"Brain size shrinks in late adulthood, which can cause memory problems. Our results should encourage well-designed trials of physical exercise in older adults as a promising approach for preventing dementia and Alzheimer's disease,"

said Kirk Erickson of the University of Pittsburgh, whose study appeared in the journal Neurology.

This study of nearly 300 people in Pittsburgh who kept track of how much they walked each week showed that those who walked at least six miles had less age-related brain shrinkage than people who walked less.

• The research team found that people who walked roughly six to nine miles a week HALVED THEIR RISK OF DEVELOPING MEMORY PROBLEMS!

• Alzheimer's disease, the most common form of dementia, slowly kills off brain cells, and activities like walking have been shown to BUILD BRAIN VOLUME.

"Our results are in line with data that aerobic activity induces a host of cellular cascades that could conceivably increase gray matter volume," the team wrote.

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Nutrition: Brain Food to Improve Memory

• Causes of Dementia

• How Nutrition Helps Heart Health Compared to Meds

• Why Know Mini Stroke Warning Signs?

• What Nutrition Helps Heart Health Best?

• Harmful Warfarin Side Effects?

• How to Use Natural Blood Thinners?

• Simple and Best Heart Disease Prevention Diet

• Heart Disease Cure for YOUR Circulation & Brain Problems?

• How to Improve Your Brain with Better Circulation?

Worried About Memory Loss? Best Brain Food, Diet & Exercise Stop to Memory Loss & Symptoms of Dementia, Alzheimers Symptoms

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