Those who carry out “brain exercises” are much less likely to suffer from dementia, such as Alzheimer’s disease. Keeping the brain active helps to maintain the synaptic pathways through it – the very pathways which allow thinking to occur. Any sort of exercise will help in maintaining these essential pathways, and a program of such exercise will have cumulative effects.

Past studies have shown that activities such as gardening, singing, and even DIY tasks – to the extent that they can be performed – all help to maintain brain health. And regularly doing sudoku exercises or crossword puzzles is a big help too.

A study in Bavaria quite recently, enrolled 50 people in a program of brain activity. This consisted of a variety of physical activities and movement, and mental exercises. These included puzzles, playing games such as bowling, and carrying out balancing activities.

After a year, the participants carrying out the program were found to have a very similar brain function to that which they had at the beginning of the program – very little deterioration was noted. In fact, those on the program attained benefits at least equivalent to those taking drugs. Additionally, those on the program were better able to perform various daily tasks than those just taking drugs – not surprisingly, as exercises which emphasise balance, for example, are going to help you with any daily tasks you have to perform.

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• Daily crossword or sudoku could be key to battling dementia (news.bioscholar.com)
• Puzzles And Bowling Could Slow Progression Of Dementia: Study (huffingtonpost.com)

Puzzles Reduce Dementia is a post from: Alternative HealthZine

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A recent study shows that the £60million a year ($85million) that Britons spend on fish oil capsules is money well spent – in helping avoid Alzheimer’s disease.

Anybody in the natural healthcare profession is able to tell you that supplementing your diet with fish oil capsules, plus eating oily fish up to 3 times a week along with ample vegetables and fruit, is a good way to stay healthy. The recent study shows that such a diet stops your brain from shrinking as you age. A reduction in volume of the brain is an inevitable part of ageing, but the more we can reduce this, the more we can ward off dementia, such as Alzheimer’s disease.

A large proportion of the brain is omega-3 fatty acids, the type found in fish oil, so it should be no surprise that supplementing omega-3 fats helps maintain bulk of the brain.

About 750,000 people in the UK suffer from dementia. And this figure is set to double by 2050.

As well as helping dementia, omega-3 fats reduce the chances of developing blood clots and have a beneficial effect on cancer cells.

In time, treatments for Alzheimer’s will be developed. Until then, keep taking the fish oil!

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/292370

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Though it has long been known for sure that smoking is associated with cancer of the lung, oesophagus, throat and larynx (and probably some others…) its role in breast cancer has been questioned. This is because it has something of a protective effect as well, because it tends to block oestrogen, which can reduce breast cancer risk.

Well, now the opposing risks have been better evaluated and the news is: (not surprisingly) it’s better to avoid smoking.

The latest research shows that there is a small window during which smoking may have this protective effect: but for most of a woman’s life the downside to smoking is overall more damaging to breast cancer risk.

So, yet another reason to kick the habit.

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An early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Disease is more possible due to a recently developed test. The disease will be able to be identified years before symptoms are seen.

Early detection is important because early treatment delays the onset significantly.

The study was of 300 people in their 70s and 80s who showed no memory loss at the time. It was found that Alzheimer’s could be predicted by the detection of a certain protein in the brain.

Such tests are particularly important bearing in mind that the incidence of Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia is set to soar as the population ages. Currently, approximately half a million people in the UK have Alzheimer’s out of a population of around 60 million. In ten years this will rise, on current trend, by 30%: and the total affected by dementia of all types in ten years is expected to be a million.

If it was diagnosed earlier, many millions of pounds would be saved every year in unnecessary treatment.

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• Storytelling soothes seniors struggling with dementia (thehandiestone.typepad.com)
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According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about one out of every 20 hospital patients will contract an infection related to their treatment. In intensive care units the figure is nearly one in three.

This makes Hospital Acquired Infections (HAIs) the fourth most common cause of death in the US, as 5% of these infections will kill their victim.

Ouch!

One new way to reduce the infections has been discovered: to use antimicrobial copper in place of stainless steel wherever possible – meal tray stands, intravenous stands, metal tables, bed pans, and so on.

When this was done in South Carolina, bacteria reduction by 97% (!) and HAIs were down by 40%.

This has to be good news: so don’t be surprised if copper is rolled out to replace stainless steel in a hospital near you.

It might be expensive to implement: but not as expensive – in both human and economic cost – as continuing with the current level of HAIs.

• Copper’s New Role: Germ Killer (singularityhub.com)

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Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is an auto-immune disease where the body has trouble distinguishing between the body’s own healthy tissues and invading pathogens. It thus tends to destroy its own healthy body cells.

However, not only does the RA cause damage itself, it can make a sufferer more prone to other, related ailments: partly because of the condition itself and partly because of the effects of the treatments used.

It is worthwhile being informed about these other conditions so that a sufferer can do what they can to reduce the possibility of this happening.

Some of the related conditions include:

- Rheumatoid lung disease: a factor in this may be the high blood inflammation levels often present with RA.

- Carpal tunnel syndrome: there is a correlation between RA and this syndrome, where a nerve in the hand swells, causing numbness and restricted movement.

- Osteoporosis: A prolonged use of drugs used for treating rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, asthma and seizures can make a person susceptible to osteoporosis. It may be worth keeping an eye on this as best you can, and taking a good quality calcium and magnesium supplement as a preventive aid.

In RA, inflammation is always involved. The inflammation present in the blood can be monitored by measuring a protein called c-reactive protein – CRP – in the blood. A private test is, unfortunately not cheap (in the UK around £100: US less). But in the UK your doctor may be persuaded to do it – at least once. The best natural remedy for maintaining a low level of inflammation in the blood is fish oil.

(Personally, I take nearly 3 grams of fish oil a day – 8 capsules – to help maintain general health.)

For a full list of ailments which a person may be prone to if they have RA, check this page:

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/diseases-that-are-related-to-rheumatoid-arthritis.html

It does not make happy reading: but I think it’s worth being prepared if you or a loved one (or client) has got RA.

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UK NHS Computer System Scrapped (Getty Images)

At last, the much vaunted UK National Health Service computer system, one of “New Labour’s” big ideas, is being consigned to the scrapheap. Okay, it was a great idea; standardise the way health authorities record patient records, then have them accessible by any hospital or doctor anywhere in the country. The idea grew until it was also to include x-rays and an e-mail system.

However, the gremlins struck, and the cost grew from the initial £6 billion announced in 2002, two £12 billion today. And the worst thing; they ended up with a big mess.

Now it is all being thrown away, and replace with a choice of regional systems which will not communicate with each other. What a shame. It looks to me like the usual problem of lack of planning at the beginning resulting in unclear execution.

The IT scheme was criticised by the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee earlier this year who pronounce it “unworkable”. And in May the National Audit Office said the system was patchy and poor value for money.

John Prescott, who ultimately authorised the scheme, told the BBC that civil servants kept ministers in the dark about the “unbelievable scale of the disaster”. Personally, I think it’s more likely they didn’t realise themselves. What a mess – and a wasted opportunity.

http://www.walletpop.co.uk/2011/09/22/nhs-computer-system-scrapped-costing-12-billion/

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UK NHS Computer System Scrapped – £12m ($18m) Loss is a post from: Alternative HealthZine

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Brain Decline with Alzheimer's

Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia can certainly be affected by diet. One obvious source of problems is the generalised inflammation which occurs with a high sugar diet.

“High sugar” includes the sugar derived from all starches in the diet. Starches include potatoes, rice, bread and pasta. All these foods consist of 95% or more sugar. They do not taste sweet, but when they are broken down in digestion sugar is released.

The high level of generalised inflammation which these sugars in the diet tend to cause is made worse, the more starches that are eaten. Refined sugar is the worst type of starch to eat; but all starches have this inflammatory effect to some degree.

A recent study showed that in just a matter of four weeks cognitive skills were adversely affected by a diet relatively high in starchy food and sugar and high in saturated fats. Those in the study consisted of 50% of people with with mild cognitive disability, and 50% who were healthy.

Read details at this blog post. Diet does affect brain function.

http://livingto150.com/dementia-low-saturated-fat-low-sugar-helps

It is pretty clear that diets can make cognitive decline, including Alzheimer’s disease, more likely; and faster to take hold.

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Hand Sanitizer

While in hospital in Australia, a man who was undergoing treatment for alcohol addiction gain access to, and drank, two litres – nearly four pints – of hand cleaner. This gave him a blood alcohol reading of five times over the Australian legal driving limit in.

The hospital authorities were stunned that he could manage to drink so much of this disgusting mixture – six, 375 ml (12oz) bottles.

The nursing staff noticed that the man was becoming drowsy stop when cleaning around his bed, the empty hand cleaner bottles were discovered, and the man admitted to drinking the lot.

In other countries, hand sanitizer bottles are generally screwed to the wall. I have a feeling the Australians may be following suit soon. in

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Before and after liposuction (Wikipedia)

It has been found that liposuction – fat-sucking – results can be only temporary, according to a recent study.

The fat comes back after around a year. However, it comes back to different places.

In 2010 over 200,000 liposuctions were carried out in the USA.

In the study, 32 were women were divided into 2 groups. They were aged between 18 and 50.

All the women agreed to change habits – such as exercise and their diet. Half had liposuction: half did not.

After a year there was no significant difference in body fat between the two groups.

The results need to be confirmed with more studies: but it makes you think, doesn’t it?

Link to report

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