Neurology Diagnostics

Posts Tagged ‘Alzheimer’

Beyond that produces intensely flavored with curry seasoning meals are neuroprotective properties, especially against Alzheimer’s.

The word “curry” derives from kari, which means “sauce” in Tamil, one of the dialects spoken in India. Curry is a mixture of different spices used in cooking Pakistani, Indian and China. The spices used are turmeric and ginger, which gives the product its characteristic yellow color. Other spices that are used quite often are garlic, Ceylon cinnamon, onion, coriander, cumin, fennel, nutmeg, white pepper and black.
Curry has antioxidant

Curry has become very popular not only in Asian countries but around the world and is especially used by English and Dutch cooks. Some of the dishes that can be flavored with it are the rice and curry, the curry chicken , turkey steak tomato and curry, cold apple soup with curry, eggplant curry, pork chops, curry, pineapple with curry cream … All of them taste great.

Longa Turmeric is a plant of Asian origin that has a high content of antioxidants, the rhizome of this plant is extracted curry, which is why this species may have a role in cardiovascular disease prevention. In laboratory animals has been seen that curcumin can reduce blood cholesterol levels and prevent the formation of atherosclerotic plaques.

Curry is good for the brain

Researchers at the David Geffen School of Medicine, Los Angeles, and the Human Biomolecular Research Institute, San Diego, have shown that curry may have beneficial effects in preventing the onset of Alzheimer’s disease. What does this protective effect could be due? Probably the bisdemethoxycurcumin, an active ingredient found in curcuminoids, a natural substance that is present in turmeric root.

Using blood samples from patients with Alzheimer’s disease, scientists have determined that bisdemethoxycurcumin can encourage macrophages to destroy the protein beta amyloid, which is responsible for neuronal death in people with this disease. This substance could become useful in the manufacture of a vaccine against the disease.

Apparently the benefits of curry on health is not achieved with consumption once a week, but with the intake of three times a week, along with a healthy diet. As a curious note that the curry is consumed in high quantities in India , a country with very low levels (1%) of patients with Alzheimer’s .

Other foods good for the brain

Curry is not the only food that has proven to be good for preventing disease Alzheimer’s , has also been seen with vitamin E-rich foods (eg olive oil), vitamin C (eg kiwi, orange, etc. .) or rich in essential fatty acids.

In short, the curry may have a preventive role in the onset of Alzheimer’s disease and may be the basis of a vaccine against this disease.

From the 40 years starts on brain aging, often associated with a gradual decline in memory.

Our brain consists of about 100,000 million neurons that are “surrounded” by a trillion supporting cells. These cells are set trillion synapses (connections), that are modulated by different chemicals that are known by the name of neurotransmitters. One of the neurotransmitter is acetylcholine.
Acetylcholine and hippocampus

Acetylcholine is associated with memory , attention, learning and sleep. It has been observed, for example, that people with Alzheimer’s disease have low levels of acetylcholine at cerebral cortex can have up to 90% less than normal people. This decrease in acetylcholine is directly responsible for memory impairment experienced by patients with Alzheimer’s.

In any case, a person has memory lapses or forgetfulness does not necessarily mean you are at the beginning of a process of dementia, most cases of memory lapses are simply due to the existence of inattention. Does having many slip indicates that our brain acetylcholine concentration is low? Nor is this relationship in 100% of cases.

Anatomical level, lapses of memory are caused by defects in the functioning of the hippocampus , the area of the brain responsible for storing our memories. You could say that the hippocampus is the “memory of our brain.” This region is involved in some psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia or depression.

Memory lapses and excess glucose

In one study, by MRI, the size of the hippocampus was correlated directly with the memory function. This study was conducted in 102 elderly, aged between 81 and 94 years, they showed that the best results in the neuropsychological tests correlated with people who had larger volumes of the hippocampus. In other words, the larger the size of our hippocampal memory works best for us. This could explain why patients with schizophrenia or depression, which have decreased the size of the hippocampus, have impaired memory.

In another study, also conducted magnetic resonance imaging in the elderly was found that the higher the concentration of glucose in the hippocampus was his worst performance, especially in an area called the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus. This area is responsible for episodic memory control-unlike similar situations and places. Alterations of the dentate gyrus is what produces the famous déjà vu (the inability to differentiate between two similar situations). The dentate gyrus is the one that plays the tricks to have the sensation of having lived there before.
Memory lapses and exercise

In a study of 60 adults aged between 60 and 80 years found that aerobic exercise (brisk walking) at least 30 minutes three times a week, increased hippocampal volume, which resulted in improved memory. Moreover, increased hippocampal volume was also associated with higher levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor.

In conclusion, limiting consumption of sugar, treating glucose intolerance and increasing aerobic exercise could limit the number of forgetfulness.

In Spain, researchers at the University of Navarra claim that stress can increase the risk for Alzheimer’s, a disease in which only one percent of patients are genetically predisposed to suffer.

Solas Maite Navarra, commissioned the study, performed the experiment with mice exposed to stress both postnatal (early life), as in adulthood, in both cases, we found that anxiety contributed to the development of cognitive deficits and increased markers present in Alzheimer patients.

The specialist added that age and genetics may be decisive in the initiation and progression of Alzheimer’s. “If we can control the stress involved with drugs, perhaps we are witnessing a fundamental therapy for treating disease,” he said.

In this sense, the Spanish researcher, Ángel Mínguez Strainer, said that clues to understanding the origin of the disease is now focusing on analyzing factors that are known determinants, “the lack of sport, high cholesterol, hypertension, a diet low healthier, less social relations and a brain less worked, all typical of modern life.

A multicenter study is published today in JAMA has identified two genes that may be risk factors for development of Alzheimer’s disease late onset, although not help quantify the risk in carriers of these alterations.

Researchers at Boston University, U.S., in collaboration with scientists from the Rotterdam Study, coordinated by Monique Breteler, the Cardiovascular Health Study, led by Oscar Lopez, AGES-Reykjavik study, coordinated by Lenore Launer, the study in May AD , directed by Steve Younkin, the European Consortium of Alzheimer’s Disease, who leads Philippe Amouyel, the ACE Foundation in Barcelona, coordinated by Merce Boada, and the Consortium for Genetic and Environmental Risk of Alzheimer’s Disease, directed by Julie Williams, have identified two genes that may be risk factors for developing Alzheimer’s disease late onset.

The work, published today in The Journal of the American Medical Association, was carried out by analysis of genome wide association. The researchers have identified two new genes in specific locations in DNA. These genes appear to be independent of those already established by its association with the disease of Alzheimer’s, such as apolipoprotein E (APOE). Read the rest of this entry »