That's Fit

Spare tire, muffin top, jelly belly -- these are just a few terms used to describe what experts often refer to as central obesity (depending on the amount of belly fat present). Aside from increasing the risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and stroke, a new study in the journal Neurology shows that having an excess of stomach fat may also raise the risk of developing Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia.

In a 36-year study of over 6,500 men and women, researchers found that being overweight and carrying belly fat made people 2.3 times more likely to develop dementia than people with normal size belly size. Moreover, being obese and having a large belly made people 3.6 times more likely to develop dementia.

To cut your risk of dementia and other health complications, exercise for at least 30 minutes three times a week and reduce your intake of fast-digesting, simple carbohydrates (sweets, candy, pastry, white bread, white rice and other refined grains).

Dementia is certainly no laughing matter. This degenerative brain disorder affects roughly 28.9 million people worldwide, with an estimated 4.1 million new cases being diagnosed each year (to put this into perspective, that's approximately one new case every seven seconds). Therefore, it is in our best interest to take steps to help prevent the onset of this debilitating disease.

A study from the University of Washington suggests that engaging in regular exercise may help greatly in this effort. Just three half-hour sessions of moderate exercise per week may reduce the risk of dementia by as much as 40 percent. Moreover, if your form of exercise happens to be competitive sport, the thinking skills involved will further boost blood-flow to key areas of the brain, say researchers.

For more information on dementia, as well as up to date statistics, click here.

Belly fat doesn't just make your belt a little tighter -- it can be a risk factor for a host of conditions including certain cancers, stroke, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes. A recent study shows that belly fat can also be a risk factor for developing dementia later in life. In fact, it can be a larger indicator than family history.

More that 6,000 people were included in the study. Those with the most abdominal fat between ages 40 and 45 were three times more likely to develop dementia than those with the lowest amount of belly fat. According to the report, nearly 50% of American adults have an unhealthy amount of belly fat. And those that are at risk aren't limited to people who are obese. Many are at a healthy BMI or are only slightly overweight according to the scale, but carry their excess weight mostly in their abdomen. At this point, scientists don't know exactly what the belly fat/dementia link is. Theories include that belly fat increases the development of amyloid plaques in the brain (substances that are linked to Alzheimer's) or that dementia is linked to obesity-related illnesses such as heart disease.

If I were a venture capitalist invested in a promising brain fitness software company, I might be inclined to pump even more money into efficacy research. More and more of the Baby Boomers fueling our fitness boom will be entering the land of Social Security checks, and we all know what it means to collect SS -- you're getting pretty old. No doubt, as dementia, memory loss and Alzheimer's disease knock on Boomers' doors, one gigantic demographic will likely be interested in purchasing proven brain fitness software.

Considered a young industry, the U.S. market for brain stimulation products has more than doubled to $225 million between 2005 and 2007. One health insurer, Humana, has buddied up with Posit Science to offer Posit's brain fitness programs to a niche of Medicare members at a discount. Not only for the older adult, Cogmed has even tested a brain stimulation program on children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Some experts stress clinical data supporting the efficacy of these programs will be critical for a business model to succeed down the line. It'll be important for industry players to back up circumstantial evidence that brain stimulation software works in the short term -- at this point it's premature to conclude these programs actually lower the incidence of conditions such as Alzheimer's disease over the long term. Read what industry leaders have to say about the future of brain fitness in this interesting article. Perhaps someday in the retirement community you'll pencil in an hour for brain fitness after your round of golf or 50 laps in the pool.

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.

Aside from the more widely known risks of running high blood sugars, researchers at the University of California San Francisco report that elevated blood sugars may be linked to a risk of dementia and memory loss in older adults.

The belief is that chronically elevated blood sugar may directly damage brain neurons or eventually cause health conditions that indirectly impair cognition. Being a fairly new discovery, there is little information available on how to prevent high blood sugars from affecting cognitive abilities, save for methods of keeping blood sugar levels low in the first place.

If you've got elderly people in your life, you may not be a stranger to dementia. I have a grandmother with senile dementia, so I know what it can be like to take care of such individuals. Not a lot of estimates have been provided about this condition, so that's why researchers spent almost 15 years trying to come up with some.

A British study sought to make a connection between the survival rates of these people and other factors that may be taken into account. These factors include sex, age, education, and marital status (among others). Certain elements influenced the survival rate while others were irrelevant.

So what were the rates? For women, they lived an average of 4.6 years after dementia. But men lived 4.1 years on average after diagnosis. It's important to know which factors had an influence on lifespan after dementia sets in. Of course, this condition has to be dealt with on a case-by-case basis, so hopefully this provides some useful information.

Even smaller and more 'benign' brain events such as brief episodes of confusion, amnesia, or fainting can signal future strokes, according to new research.

Sometimes, these events -- which often have no easily explainable medical cause -- can lead to increased aptitude for stroke and dementia in the elderly.

The bad news is that many doctors dismiss these occurrences as 'benign occurrences,' and in many cases, they're clues about what could happen soon. Researchers discovered that these 'benign' clues were associated with a more than 50% higher risk of stroke and dementia.

A new study from Italy suggests that even walking every day may stave off the risk of dementia in people 65 and older.

In addition to simple walking, moderate exercise was also cited as preventing the onset of vascular dementia, the second-leading cause of mental dementia after Alzheimer's Disease.

The study, which took four years and involved nearly 750 men and women over the age of 65, looked at daily activity levels of the study participants from walking to climbing stairs.

At the end of the four years, 54 of the participants had developed Alzheimer's disease and 27 had developed vascular dementia, and the top 33 percent who walked the most had a 27 percent less potential of developing vascular dementia.

High blood pressure is no laughing matter -- and in elderly patients, it can lead to thinking difficulties that ultimately turn into dementia according to a report this week.

Hypertension (aka, high blood pressure) was linked to two types of mild cognitive impairment by the researchers in the study. What wasn't connected was hypertension and Alzheimer's Disease.

Now, although mild cognitive impairment does not necessarily mean dementia, it's a small step that can 'foreshadow' dementia's development. In many cases, mild cognitive impairment is not noticeable, and sometimes it can't even be detected in tests. It can, however, interfere with daily life.

A common effect of Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia is aggression, as many family members of patients know --a couple of my family members have been struck with this terrible condition and it's so sad to watch their personality change so drastically. Many doctors prescribe anti-psychotic drugs for patients, but new reports out of the UK could put an end to that.

A recent study shows that those who take anti-psychotic, or 'zombie' drugs as they're sometimes called, are up to twice as likely to die than those who don't. According to Prefessor Clive Ballard, "For the vast majority of people there are no benefits, and considerable harm, from using these drugs. There were clearly deteriorations in some of the core symptoms, particularly their ability to communicate effectively."

Yikes. Still, some might argue that for those who have severe dementia, death is a blessing. What do you think?

If you ask my 89-year-old great aunt, one of the major downfalls of living so long is that most of your close friends and family died years ago and you're all alone. Still, it's important to make new friends and stay in touch with distant ones, according to this article from Everyday Health. Maintaining relationships helps improve your quality of life as you grow older. It also helps ward off dementia and keeps you mentally sharp.

It's also important to engage in productive activities, whether you need to or not. These could include shopping, gardening, baking or any other chore, hobby or activity that you enjoy.

So, if you're retired, consider joining a club or taking up a hobby or activity that keep you busy and allows you to meet new people. You'll be happier and healthier for years to come.

The antioxidant known as beta carotene is a staple in the daily supplement ritual for many people (myself included). A study published this week stated that taking beta carotene for 15 years or more will dampen future dementia.

If you have a history of Alzheimer's disease, this study seems to suggest that you may want to read up on and begin taking beta carotene as part of your daily diet. Fruits and vegetables are full of this antioxidant, but many of us don't get enough fruits and veggies anyway.

The impact here from the researchers was the length of time taking beta carotene, not the simple act of taking it every day. Study lead author Francine Grodstein stated "my hypothesis is that it's how long you take it."

Did you know that 1 in 10 Americans over 65 are affected by Alzheimer's disease? I had no idea that the disease was so prevalent before I read this article from the Seattle Times. Age is the biggest risk factor for Alzheimer's, so it's natural that as a person gets older, it becomes more of a concern.

Surprisingly, however, though Alzheimer's may be on baby boomers' minds, they aren't talking about it with their doctors. A recent poll found that less than 10% of those who visited their general practitioner in the last 6 months had brought the subject up.

Mild memory lapses are a normal part of a busy life, but if you feel like you might be experiencing something more serious (or if you just want some peace of mind), tomorrow is National Memory Screening Day. You can follow that link for a list of participating sites. In addition to health care and senior sites, there appear to be several Kmart pharmacies on the list as well, so hopefully you can find a site that's convenient to you.

We've embraced the importance of physical fitness for our bodies -- at least intellectually! Now there is a wealth of new research on the importance of mental exercise to promote a healthy brain. I don't think it'll be long before we can slip brain exercise software into grandma and grandpa's Christmas stocking.

The folks over at SharpBrains interviewed 11 neuroscientists, psychologists and other experts around the world regarding brain health and fitness. Here is a samping of brain fitness myths, incorrectly believed by many:

• Myth: Brain health is genetic. Fact: Nope. A big part of lifelong brain health and development relies on what we do with our brains. Genes are part of it, but actions are critical, too.
• Myth: Schools should stick with Reading and Math. Fact: Flexing the 'working memory' mental muscle is fundamental to academic performance -- this is overlooked by the school system. I'm sick of it, but I'll keep playing my three-year-old daugher's My Little Pony Memory Game, even though she has beaten me.
• Myth: Brain games are for seniors. Fact: Brain exercises are good for all ages.
• Myth: Videogames are a waste. I'm a sucker for this myth. Fact: Short-term memory can expand with scientifically-designed, skill-building computer programs.

I watched the gradual mental deterioration of a dear great aunt who developed dementia through a hardening of arteries supplying blood to her brain. I can honestly say I am more frightened of losing my marbles than facing a physical disease. But it is comforting to know that I can delve into this promising arena of brain exercise to keep my mind as sharp as possible.