Walking 30 minutes a day, five days a week might not seem like much. In fact, to someone like me, who is adament about getting to the gym, this would be considered a lazy week. But in someone who is at risk for dementia, it can make a big difference by helping boost your memory and delay the onset of Alzheimer's and other dementia issues.

And although these results don't sound impressive, Australian researchers say anything that delays the onset of Alzheimer's can make a big impact. How big? According to officials representing a study done at the Mebourne University,"'If illness onset could be delayed by 12 months, 9.2million fewer cases of Alzheimer's disease would occur worldwide."

But whether you're worried about Alzheimer's or not, you should definitely be getting some sort of exercise for at least 30 minutes a day, and walking is a great start.

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Forget fitting into your favorite pair of jeans, ladies. Forget burning tons of calories too. Yes, these are great reasons to exercise. But take a look at the bigger picture -- the reason, well five reasons, we simply must exercise. Each one falls into the category of living longer and better.

• Exercise wards off Alzheimer's. All is takes is moderate exercise two to five times per week early in life.
  

• Exercise boosts energy. Exercising when you're tired won't leave you exhausted. Instead, it will relieve your fatigue.
  

• Exercise slows down aging. The bodies of active folks can be 10 years younger than couch potatoes of the same age.
  

• Exercise helps manage menopause. Daily walking can cut stress and anxiety triggered by depleted estrogen. Try 35 minutes at four mph per day.
  

• Exercise reduces the need for drug treatment. Want to avoid drugs for managing diabetes, hypertension, and high cholesterol? Walk as little as three to eight miles per week.
  
  

Pick up a copy of the latest Oprah Magazine for more on this healthy topic.

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Each week, we'll be naming a Super Food and offering unique ways to use those Super Foods that pack nutritional power. After all, you are what you eat -- make it count!

Being someone who loves to travel, I'm drawn to ethnic foods, tastes from around the world. So many cultures have different forms of curry, but my favourite is a good, spicy Indian curry. Provided it's not loaded with too much cream or sodium, curry is loaded with healthy ingredients like fresh veggies and spices. One of the key ingredients, of course, is Turmeric, and it's one of the main reasons you should eat more curry.

Why? The reasons are almost endless.

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It looks like it may be time to pop open another bottle of Cristal, playa. Nothing screams decadence and unnecessary expenditure like this choice champagne, which is why it flows like water in so many hip-hop videos. But it turns out that paying $250 per bottle may actually be worth it in the long run.

The Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry published the results of a recent joint study by the University of Reading and University of Cagliari that showed moderate consumptions of Champagne may help the brain cope with the trauma of stroke, Alzheimer's, and Parkinson's disease. Antioxidants found in red wine -- called polyphenols -- are also found in abundance in champagne.

I know what you must be saying -- why spend $250 on a bottle of Cristal when you can spend about $10 on a bottle of Korbel? There are two reasons: 1 - Cristal is made from Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grapes, the two varieties scientists linked to the greatest reduction of stroke risk, and 2 - Because you'll be carrying around the coolest medication of all time.

Many competitive athletes have to undergo drug tests. Is drug testing for scholars in our future, too? According to the UK's Academy of Medical Sciences, certain drugs have been used by healthy people to boost alertness and mental awareness.

Aricept (an Alzheimer's treatment), Ritalin (for ADHD), and modafinil (for day-time sleepiness) have been used by some people to get an edge up on tests and exams. Like steroids or other performance-enhancing drugs used by some athletes, this gives the student an unfair advantage. Also like steroids, using drugs in ways other than they are prescribed for can be seriously detrimental to health.

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Certain lifestyle changes have been shown to affect, if slow down, the progression of age-related dementia and Alzheimer's disease. Here are some of the more common recommendations, excerpted from the website of Dr. Andrew Weil.

• Follow a diet rich in antioxidants, with an emphasis on whole grains, fruits, vegetables, fish, nuts and seeds.
• Supplement with vitamins E and C.
• Institute a program of daily exercise to improve circulation and keep the brain oxygenated.
  
• Get adequate mental exercise through reading and socializing.
• Consider taking a daily low-dose aspirin, as doing so has been shown in studies to reduce the risk of Alzheimer's.
  

If age-related dementia or Alzheimer's is a concern you have for yourself or a loved one, speak with a physician about additional methods of prevention.

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Do you know there's a link between a variety of heart conditions and the risk for dementia? Most people don't.

A survey of more than 2,000 people nationwide, most of them African-American, shows most people don't know about this connection. Specifically, one-third of African-Americans surveyed reported having high blood pressure and one in five said they had high cholesterol. More than half of these folks recognized that these factors put them at risk for heart attack or stroke but only eight percent knew their conditions put them at risk for dementia, a general term for brain disease that causes confusion and memory problems. Alzheimer's is the most common form of dementia.

Since African-Americans are at greater risk for heart disease, stroke, and dementia, says a spokesperson for the American Stroke Association, they need to take action now to ward off these diseases. The key? The same key used to prevent all sorts of health problems: A healthful, low-fat diet and regular exercise.

We all know 30 minutes of exercise most days of the week does the body good. Add these steps to your 30-minute routine, and Michael F. Roizen, MD, says you'll keep your brain young.

• Eat Indian. Each week, eat six curry dishes or six teaspoons of dark mustard, or a combination of the two, and you may lower your Alzheimer's risk.

• Teach. You're more likely to retain information if you explain it to someone else.

• Go Tomatoes. Take in 10 tablespoons of tomato sauce (with olive oil and no added sugar). Do this every week and your brain will thank you.

• Laugh. Laughter really is good medicine. It's good enough to improve memory, in fact.

• Drink Coffee. More help on the Alzheimer's front. No cream or sugar allowed.

• Go Fish. Make it fish with low toxins, three to four times per week, or take molecularly distilled fish oil each day.

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We hear the terms "dementia" and "Alzheimer's" quite often, and we even make jokes about having them when we can't remember where we parked our car in the parking lot or why went to the kitchen. But what are Alzheimer's and dementia really?

Dementia is defined as a significant loss of cognitive abilities caused by the death of brain cells. Dementia is a general term that can apply to any number of more specific conditions, such as Alzheimer's, which define the symptoms even further.

What's important to remember is that Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia are generally characterized by memory problems that are so severe they interfere with daily functions. Little "glitches," like temporarily spacing out your ATM pin number and forgetting where you put your car keys, don't always mean dementia and could be due to any number of other causes such as stress, lack of sleep, and medications. But if you feel you or someone close to you may have a serious problem don't hesitate to see a doctor and get a cognitive exam -- many times if caught early progress can be slowed and symptoms can be managed effectively.

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I'm only 26 but every now and then, when I am absolutely without a doubt positive that I parked my car on the other side of the parking lot, I wonder if I am a victim of early-onset (like really early-onset) dementia. Does anyone else have that problem or am I really losing it?

At least, the readers of Women's Health Magazine share some of the same fears as me. 16% are afraid they might be losing their hair, 35% are afraid their memory's going, 36% are worried they'll lose all their teeth, 27% worry they'll catch a bug overseas, 14% are afraid of going blind and that's not all. But common sense and a bit of medical know-how will ease your fears -- if you live a healthful life and take care of yourself, chances are you'll be fine. Read the article for more information.

What's your fear?

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From boosting cardiovascular health to minimizing the symptoms of ADHD to aiding in dementia prevention, Omega 3 fatty acids have long been lauded for their health benefits. Studies now suggest that Omega 3s can also help prevent or slow the onset of Alzheimer's disease. To further test this possibility researchers with the Alzheimer's Disease Cooperative Study will conduct an 18-month clinical trial.

It will be interesting to see if the study can definitely find a positive correlation between Omega 3s and Alzheimer's. In the meantime, it's safe to say that Omega 3 fatty acids are a healthy part of any diet. They reduce inflammation, protect fluidity of cell membranes, lower LDL, prevent excessive blood clotting, and reduce the risk of obesity.

Flax seeds, walnuts, salmon, soybeans, halibut, and scallops are just some of the nutritious sources of this essential fatty acid. You can also find Omega 3s in supplement form.

We now have news out on another small device for diagnosis health issues: this one uses sniffing to detect health problems varying from Alzheimers to a deviated septum.

The idea is that the sense of smell is one of the most delicate of senses and may act as a sort of "canary in the mine" to give early warnings of impending or already existing issues. By measuring how deeply a person sniffs when smelling a scent or odor experts can determine if their sense of smell is impaired or not, and then find out why if it is.

I hope I'm not asked to take this test anytime soon because the smells they use include ripe cheese mixed with rancid meat, burning mixed with skunk scent, and then (a sigh of relief for participants) bananas.

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Millions of people, 5 million+ people according to recent estimates, are living with Alzheimer's right now. That's a ten percent increase in the last five years, and with Alzheimer's being an age related disease those numbers are only projected to go higher and higher as the baby boomer population hits retirement age. Some are even using the word epidemic to describe the fact that by the year 2030 experts predict almost 8 million people will have the diagnosis.

Lay the blame on unbalanced technology -- we're keeping people alive longer by treating things like heart disease and cancer more effectively, only to be helpless when they come down with a diagnosis like Alzheimer's a few years later.

Oh, the irony.

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The NY Times reports that Dr. Richard Mayeux of Columbia University has found a common genetic marker in Alzheimer's patients after studying patients from the Dominican Republic living in Manhattan. His study, which was done with several other doctors, was released today by Nature Genetics. Dr. Mayeux was initially able to find the gene because the Dominican Republic is made up of a single population that was isolated for a long period of time, which makes mutated genes easier to detect. He then enlisted the help of other doctors to screen other populations for the same gene,

Does this mean that a cure for Alzheimer's is on the way? Not yet, but every new discovery is another step towards determining what makes it happen and how we can prevent it.

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