How eating Flavonoid compounds helps in Cognitive Decline in elders (learning and aging)

What is Cognitive Decline?

Cognitive decline is deterioration in cognitive function.  There is a normal process of age related cognitive decline across the life-span characterised by increasing difficulties with memory (new learning) speed of information processing, language and other cognitive functions.  This normal process of age related decline is often termed primary ageing. 

Secondary ageing is the rapid deterioration in function due to a pathological process such as dementia, stroke or acquired brain injury. 

Flavonoid, compounds

They exist in plants, are extremely powerful antioxidants and anti-inflammatory substances. E.g. strawberries and blueberries. According to strict botanical definition, a berry is a fleshy fruit produced from a single ovary, such as a grape. However, in everyday layman's English, a berry refers to any small, edible fruit - they are typically round or semi-oblong, juicy, brightly colored, and have no pit (stone).

 

New Research-Strawberries And Blueberries Halt Cognitive Decline In Elderly

Elderly individuals who eat plenty of strawberries and blueberries are less likely to experience cognitive decline, compared to those who rarely or never eat berries, researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School reported in Annals of Neurology. According to their findings, the authors explained that adding flavonoid-rich berries to elderly people's diet could delay their cognitive decline by up to two-and-a-half years.

Flavonoid, compounds which exist in plants, are extremely powerful antioxidants and anti-inflammatory substances. Scientists say inflammation and stress play a major role in cognitive decline, and that consuming plenty of flavonoid helps reduce their effects.

Previous studies had already shown that consuming flavonoid, especially anthocyanidins, can improve cognitive functions. However, they were all either animal studies or very small human ones. The US elderly population - people aged at least 65 years - rose by 15% during the first ten years of this century, compared to an overall population increase of 9.7%, according to the 2010 US Census.

Team leader, Dr. Elizabeth Devore, said, As the U.S. population ages, understanding the health issues facing this group become increasingly important. Our study examined whether greater intake of berries could slow rates of cognitive decline.

The researchers gathered data from the Nurses Health Study, which has information on 121,700 female, registered nurses. They had all completed questionnaires which included data on their health and lifestyle. The nurses were aged between 30 and 55 when they were questioned. The study started in 1976. From 1980 onwards, the participants were monitored every four years regarding their dietary habits. 16,010 of them had their cognitive function assessed between 1995 and 2001 at two-yearly intervals. All of the 16,010 were aged at least 70 years. In the present study, the women's average age was 74 and their BMI (body mass index) was 26.

The authors found that those whose consumption of blueberries and strawberries were high had slower cognitive decline, compared to the other participants. A reduction in cognitive decline was also found among those with a greater consumption of anthocyanidins and total flavonoids.

The elderly females whose berry consumption was higher had an average 2.5 year slower cognitive decline, compared to their counterparts whose berry intake was low.

The researchers emphasized that despite having taken some factors into account, there might still be others which are linked to higher berry intake which could affect their findings. For example, possibly those who eat more berries also exercise more.

Dr. Devore said, We provide the first epidemiologic evidence that berries may slow progression of cognitive decline in elderly women. Our findings have significant public health implications as increasing berry intake is a fairly simple dietary modification to test cognition protection in older adults.

(Source- Annals of Neurology)

Watch 10 Toxic Chemicals which are causing Autism and Learning Disabilities

What is Autism? What Causes Autism?

Autism is known as a complex developmental disability. Experts believe that Autism presents itself during the first three years of a person's life. The condition is the result of a neurological disorder that has an effect on normal brain function, affecting development of the person's communication and social interaction skills.

People with autism have issues with non-verbal communication, a wide range of social interactions, and activities that include an element of play and/or banter.

Learning disabilities

These are problems that affect the brain's ability to receive process, analyze, or store information. These problems can make it difficult for a student to learn as quickly as someone who isn't affected by learning disabilities.

There are many kinds of learning disabilities. Most students affected by them have more than one kind. Certain kinds of learning disabilities can interfere with a person's ability to concentrate or focus and can cause someone's mind to wander too much. Other learning disabilities can make it difficult for a student to read, write, spell, or solve math problems.

New Research- Top 10 Toxic Chemicals Causing Autism and Learning Disabilities

 

An editorial published in the prestigious journal Environmental Health Perspectives calls for increased research to identify possible environmental causes of autism and other neurodevelopment disorders in America's children and presents a list of ten target chemicals including which are considered highly likely to contribute to these conditions.

Philip Landrigan, MD, MSc, a world-renowned leader in children's environmental health and Director of the Children's Environmental Health Center (CEHC) at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, co-authored the editorial, entitled A Research Strategy to Discover the Environmental Causes of Autism and Neurodevelopment Disabilities, along with Luca Lambertini, PhD, MPH, MSc, Assistant Professor of Preventive Medicine at Mount Sinai and Linda Birnbaum, Director of the National Institute OF Environmental Health Sciences.

The editorial was published alongside four other papers - each suggesting a link between toxic chemicals and autism. Both the editorial and the papers originated at a conference hosted by CEHC in December 2010. The National Academy of Sciences reports that 3 percent of all neurobehavioral disorders in children, such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), are caused by toxic exposures in the environment and that another 25 percent are caused by interactions between environmental factors and genetics. But the precise environmental causes are not yet known. While genetic research has demonstrated that ASD and certain other neurodevelopment disorders have a strong hereditary component, many believe that environmental causes may also play a role - and Mount Sinai is leading an effort to understand the role of these toxins in a condition that now affects between 400,000 and 600,000 of the 4 million children born in the United States each year.

A large number of the chemicals in widest use have not undergone even minimal assessment of potential toxicity and this is of great concern, says Dr. Landrigan. Knowledge of environmental causes of neurodevelopment disorders is critically important because they are potentially preventable. CEHC developed the list of ten chemicals found in consumer products that are suspected to contribute to autism and learning disabilities to guide a research strategy to discover potentially preventable environmental causes. The top ten chemicals are:

1. Lead

2. Methyl-mercury

3. PCBs

4. Organophosphate pesticides

5. Organochlorine pesticides

6. Endocrine disruptors

7. Automotive exhaust

8. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

9. Brominated flame retardants

10. Perfluorinated compounds

In addition to the editorial, the other four papers also call for increased research to identify the possible environmental causes of autism in America's children. The first paper, written by a team at the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee, found preliminary evidence linking smoking during pregnancy to Asperger's disorder and other forms of high-functioning autism. Two papers, written by researchers at the University of California - Davis, show that PCBs disrupt early brain development. The final paper, also by a team at UC - Davis, suggests further exploring the link between pesticide exposure and autism.

(Source- Environmental Health Perspectives)

Anti-Depressants May Be Doing More Harm than Good

What are Anti-Depressants?

Antidepressants are medicines that treat depression. Your doctor can prescribe them for you. They can improve your mood, sleep, appetite and concentration. It may take several weeks for them to help. There are several types of antidepressants. You and your doctor may have to try several before finding what works best for you. Medicines sometimes cause unwanted side effects. For example, when you first start your antidepressant you may feel tired, have trouble sleeping or feel sick to your stomach. The side effects usually go away after a short time. Tell your doctor if you have any side effects. You should also let your doctor know if you take any other medicines, vitamins or herbal supplements.

What are the common signs or symptoms of depression?

Depression is a deep sadness that won't go away. It can also be the loss of interest in doing things you usually enjoy. Common symptoms include:

•Sad, anxious, or "empty" mood that lasts more than 2 weeks.

•Trouble sleeping.

•Appetite changes - either less appetite and weight loss, or eating more and weight gain.

•Loss of interest in doing things you once enjoyed, including sex.

•Feeling restless and cranky.

•Nagging physical symptoms that don't get better with treatment (like chronic pain).

•Trouble paying attention, making decisions, or remembering.

•Feeling tired all the time or like you have no energy.

•Feeling guilty, hopeless, or worthless.

•Thoughts of suicide or death.

Depression is treatable. You can get better. The most common treatments for depression are antidepressant drugs, counselling, or a combination of the two.

New Research-Anti-Depressants May Be Doing More Harm than Good

Be careful when you are using them

Commonly prescribed anti-depressants appear to be doing patients more harm than good, say researchers who have published a paper examining the impact of the medications on the entire body. We need to be much more cautious about the widespread use of these drugs,says Paul Andrews, an evolutionary biologist at McMaster University and lead author of the article, published in the online journal Frontiers in Psychology.

It's important because millions of people are prescribed anti-depressants each year, and the conventional wisdom about these drugs is that they're safe and effective.

Andrews and his colleagues examined previous patient studies into the effects of anti-depressants and determined that the benefits of most anti-depressants, even taken at their best, compare poorly to the risks, which include premature death in elderly patients.

Anti-depressants are designed to relieve the symptoms of depression by increasing the levels of serotonin in the brain, where it regulates mood. The vast majority of serotonin that the body produces, though, is used for other purposes, including digestion, forming blood clots at wound sites, reproduction and development.

What the researchers found is that anti-depressants have negative health effects on all processes normally regulated by serotonin.

The findings include these elevated risks:

• developmental problems in infants

• problems with sexual stimulation and function and sperm development in adults

• digestive problems such as diarrhoea, constipation, indigestion and bloating

• abnormal bleeding and stroke in the elderly

The authors reviewed three recent studies showing that elderly anti-depressant users are more likely to die than non-users, even after taking other important variables into account. The higher death rates indicate that the overall effect of these drugs on the body is more harmful than beneficial. Serotonin is an ancient chemical. It's intimately regulating many different processes, and when you interfere with these things you can expect, from an evolutionary perspective, that it's going to cause some harm, Andrews says. Millions of people are prescribed anti-depressants every year, and while the conclusions may seem surprising, Andrews says much of the evidence has long been apparent and available. The thing that's been missing in the debates about anti-depressants is an overall assessment of all these negative effects relative to their potential beneficial effects, he says. Most of this evidence has been out there for years and nobody has been looking at this basic issue. In previous research, Andrews and his colleagues had questioned the effectiveness of anti-depressants even for their prescribed function, finding that patients were more likely to suffer relapse after going off their medications as their brains worked to re-establish equilibrium.

With even the intended function of anti-depressants in question, Andrews says it is important to look critically at their continuing use.

It could change the way we think about such major pharmaceutical drugs,he says. You've got a minimal benefit, a laundry list of negative effects - some small, some rare and some not so rare. The issue is: does the list of negative effects outweigh the minimal benefit?

(Source- Journal Frontiers in Psychology)