Mediterranean diet may lower risk of brain damage

February, 2010

Seniors who were most closely following a Mediterranean-like diet were 36% less likely to have brain infarcts than those least following the diet.

Following on from studies showing that a Mediterranean-like diet may be associated with a lower risk of Alzheimer's disease and may lengthen survival in people with Alzheimer's, a six-year study of 712 New Yorkers has revealed that those who were most closely following a Mediterranean-like diet were 36% less likely to have brain infarcts (small areas of dead tissue linked to thinking problems), compared to those who were least following the diet. Those moderately following the diet were 21% less likely to have brain damage. The association was comparable to the effects of high blood pressure — that is, not eating a Mediterranean-like diet was like having high blood pressure. The Mediterranean diet includes high intake of vegetables, legumes, fruits, cereals, fish and monounsaturated fatty acids such as olive oil; low intake of saturated fatty acids, dairy products, meat and poultry; and mild to moderate amounts of alcohol.

http://www.physorg.com/news184869984.html

Reference:

The study will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 62nd Annual Meeting in Toronto April 10 to April 17, 2010.

seniors

Lifestyle

Related News

Learning Facebook may keep seniors sharp

Preliminary findings from a small study show that older adults (68-91), after learning to use Facebook, performed about 25% better on tasks designed to measure their ability to continuously monitor and to quickly add or delete the contents of their

Cognitive decline in old age related to poorer sleep

Recent research has suggested that sleep problems might be a risk factor in developing Alzheimer’s, and in mild cognitive impairment.

Early surgical menopause linked to faster cognitive decline

The issue of the effect of menopause on women’s cognition, and whether hormone therapy helps older women fight cognitive decline and dementia, has been a murky one. Increasing evidence suggests that the timing and type of therapy is critical.

Why learning gets harder as we get older

A new study adds more support to the idea that the increasing difficulty in learning new information and skills that most of us experience as we age is not down to any difficulty in acquiring new information, but rests on the interference from all the old information.

Hearing loss accelerates cognitive decline in older adults

I’ve written before about the gathering evidence that sensory impairment, visual impairment and hearing loss in particular, is a risk factor for age-related cognitive decline and dementia.

Intensive training helps seniors with long-term aphasia

Here’s an encouraging study for all those who think that, because of age or physical damage, they must resign themselves to whatever cognitive impairment or decline they have suffered.

Inhibitory control deficits common in those with MCI

Providing some support for the finding I recently reported — that problems with semantic knowledge in those with mild cognitive impairment (

Chewing ability linked to reduced dementia risk

Previous research has pointed to an association between not having teeth and a higher risk of cognitive decline and dementia. One reason might have to do with inflammation — inflammation is a well-established risk factor, and at least one study has linked gum disease to a higher dementia risk.

Ginkgo biloba doesn’t prevent Alzheimer’s

Sad to say, another large study has given the thumbs down to ginkgo biloba preventing Alzheimer’s disease.

Popular cognitive test for Alzheimer’s insufficiently sensitive

New research suggests that reliance on the standard test Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale—Cognitive Behavior Section (ADAS-Cog) to measure cognitive changes in Alzheimer’s patients is a bad idea. The test is the most widely used measure of cognitive performance in clinical trials.

Pages