Latest news
Recent findings on dementia, depression, and related treatments.
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January 2019
Long-term study: regular dancing is the most effective way to prevent dementia
A 21-year study by the Albert Einstein Academy of Medicine in New York, following people aged 75 and over, examined which physical and mental leisure activities affect mental acuity, measured by degree of dementia in old age, including Alzheimer's.
Almost none of the physical activities tested offered protection against dementia — with one striking exception.
- Reading
- −35%
- Cycling and swimming
- −0%
- Crossword puzzles, 4+ days/week
- −47%
- Playing golf
- −0%
- Regular dancing
- −76%
Published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Source: Stanford University.
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August 2018
English scientists find a link between certain medications and dementia
Anticholinergic medications block the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, which the brain needs for memory, cognitive processing, and learning. Researchers found that taking such medications — prescribed for depression, bladder disease, or Parkinson's — increases dementia risk by 13 percent, though they caution against abruptly stopping them. Published in the British Medical Journal.
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July 2018
Leipzig study on the connection between obesity and dementia
The LIFE Adult Study, spanning five research units and 10,000 randomly selected participants, found that unemployment increases depression risk — less surprising than its finding that obesity reflects changes in the brain's appetite-regulating region. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute in Leipzig haven't yet determined whether obesity affects the brain, or whether its cause already exists there.
See sources of supply for Greek mountain tea and its extracts.