Easy Brain Health

The electromagnetic waves used by cell phones can prevent and even reverse Alzheimer’s disease in mice, according to a new study.

A researcher team made up of scientists from the U.S., Japan and China exposed two groups of mice to the type of “radio waves” that ocme from cell phones. One group, of mice, was a special type which was more likely than most mice to develop Alzheimer’s disease. The other group were normal lab mice (control group). 

The researchers discovered that the waves protected younger mice prone to developing Alzheimer’s from losing brain function. The memory problems of older mice already showing symptoms of the disease vanished.

Even more interesting, the normal mice showed better-than-normal memory capacity after several months of exposure. Mice were exposed to the waves for 2 hours each day for 7 to 9 months. 

It took a lot of exposure (several months) for the positive effects to appear in the mice. Researchers suggest that this type of result in humans could take years to show up.

This study suggest the electromagnetic waves could be an effective, drug-free treatment for Alzheimer’s. The full report appears online in the January 7, 2010 edition of the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease.

Technorati Tags: brain age, brain health, brain research, Cure Alzheimer's, Improve Memory, Memory Loss

like soda can influence us a headache or something? or chocolate milk that can boost our brain power? how about guava juice, orange juice and etc. ? the positive and the negative, please? anything, but not alcohol or beer.

I heard a new study suggests apple juice makes ya smarter. (( Beer brings on my hay fever allergies.) It make a persons nose stuffy.)) Choclate milk boosts mood as well. Orange juice turns on your bodys mechansim of telling you when your full right away so you don’t overeat. Caffienated beverages do in fact boost your focus, but they also make ya shaky and hypertensive. All soda diet er not has acid it would do to drink with straws so as to not eat your teeth away as much. Green and white tea, especially green boost your immune system. Tea with echinacia does as well. That weight loss tea suppresses your hunger. the name escapes me right now. anyway theres a few.

No….Ideally it would be a balance of the 2.
IQ tests are flawed

Brain health shouldn’t be something you first start thinking about in middle- or old-age. Just as you need to exercise your body throughout life to keep it healthy so too does your brain require a daily workout to keep it vital and alert.

It is common for people to experience a gradual decline in their mental abilities as they age. We are told that this is normal and is the result of age-related structural changes in the brain – and that such changes are inevitable.

But you know what… there’s a lot of evidence coming from the latest research into brain health that brain aging is only ‘normal and inevitable’ if you do nothing to prevent it. This means that it doesn’t have to happen to you – that you can keep your brain healthy and in ‘tip-top’ shape, enjoy being creative and improve your memory with just a little bit of effort… whatever your age.

The question is how…?

Research findings point to three main ways to support your brain: healthy diet, mental activity and getting physical with the brain. The first two have been promoted for many years. However, the third – getting physical with the brain – is not widely known yet may well prove to be the most powerful factor in maintaining brain health.

What does ‘getting physical’ with your brain mean? To make the explanation simple I’ll define getting physical as anything that is clearly not diet related nor a mental activity such as puzzles, number sequence exercises, memory games, practicing musical instruments and so on.

So what can you do to get physical with your brain? Plenty! In fact, as you’ll discover shortly, there are many powerful ‘hands-on’ ways of using physical activity to boost your brain-power and keep you as sharp as a tack regardless of your age.

And, because they are based solely on natural health principles, they help your brain to help itself without having to resort to popping pills, taking supplements, mood enhancers or anything like that.

What’s more, you’re likely to find getting physical with your brain so easy and enjoyable that you can readily picture yourself doing it for life.

Here are some of the factors you should consider when developing a strategy to keep your brain healthy, alert and vital:

Physical exercise:

Physical exercise can encourage a healthy brain to function optimally in ways that are not widely known or their value appreciated. For example, exercise can help the brain by promoting the production of new neurons (brain cells) and strengthening the connections between neurons.

Reduce stress levels:

Stress plays havoc with the functioning of the brain and the body systems it controls. In particular, the sustained presence of stress hormones in the bloodstream can damage brain cells.

Encourage the flow of oxygenated blood to the brain:

Increasing blood flow and oxygen can help support the survival of new neurons and foster neuron ‘firing’. In simple terms, ‘firing’ means a neuron connecting with its neighbours – which is how messages are transmitted to and from the brain.

Sexual Energy:

Promote the generation and circulation of sexual energy around the body can play a key part in supporting mental health as it fosters, for example, the movement of chemicals called neurotransmitters between neurons. These play a critical role in the communication of information between nerve cells. As an illustration, the neurotransmitter serotonin associated with sexual behaviour and arousal is involved in a number of functions including influencing mood and alertness.

Control the breathing rate:

Another important factor in optimising brain health is the practice of slowing down the breathing rate as that can enhance the activity of the hypothalamus and the pituitary and pineal glands, the optimum performance of which is central to the maintenance of both physical and mental health.

Challenge the brain:

Challenge the brain with a variety of ‘new’ experiences – walking backwards is a simple example. By experiencing such unusual patterns of behaviour the brain is stimulated and there is some evidence that the brain can actually increase in size.

Stimulate the senses:

The bottom line here is that you should take every opportunity to engage your eyes and smell sensors by continually sampling your surroundings – consciously keep your eyes moving so you present your brain with new information to analyse and process while you ‘sniff’ the environment in search of smells and odours for your brain to identify.

In conclusion it is fair to say that all the above elements can have a marked positive influence on brain health in their own right. However, it is the synergistic impact of using them in combination that is likely to provide the most powerful benefits.

Ajay R (articlesubmit.net)
http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/how-to-keep-your-brain-healthy-and-your-mind-as-sharp-as-a-tack-whatever-your-age-97589.html

Your brain is your greatest asset but it is also your body’s most vulnerable organ. It requires constant support from other major organs and is your most susceptible organ to oxidative stress during aging.

Here are some brain facts:

1. Your brain makes up only 2% of your total body weight but requires 20% of your heart’s output of blood to sustain the amount of oxygen that it needs.

2. Your brain is the most oxygen-demanding organ in your body.

3. Your brain uses chemicals (neurotransmitters) to relay important messages to other parts of your body. These same chemicals are also involved in chemical reactions that produce damaging free radicals.

4. If your brain cells become weak or die they cannot repair themselves. Their functions then can be permanently lost if cell death or damage occurs.

Given these susceptibilities, your brain is especially vulnerable to conditions that threaten oxygen supply, such as in head injury, stroke, lung diseases and heart failure. Under these conditions, brain activity will continue even without enough oxygen. This can cause problems that lead to extreme levels of oxidative stress and the over-production of damaging free radicals.

In diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, other damaging factors are at work. In Alzheimer’s disease, a toxic protein called beta-amyloid, forms in your brain tissue. This protein acts as an irritant and causes inflammation in your brain. This inflammation then causes the production of free radicals that can destroy any membranes and cells in their path.

Parkinson’s disease results from unregulated production of the brain chemical dopamine which, with the help of free radicals, becomes toxic to the brain cells that control your motor functions.

Even in a healthy brain, oxygen radicals are produced every moment during normal high-oxygen demand of neuronal activity. In a healthy brain, enzymes and nutritional antioxidants neutralize these radicals.

Benefits of Dietary Antioxidants

What safeguards can healthy people take to reduce risk of diseases and especially to protect their brains from oxidative stress over a lifetime?

The simplest answer is to follow a diet that includes abundant sources of antioxidant chemicals derived from plant foods. Evidence for the benefits of such a dietary regimen has only been demonstrated in experiments with animals up until now, but the results are convincing. Over the past eight years, the research activities of Dr. Jim Joseph of the US Department of Agriculture, Boston, have focused on how to protect the brain from oxidative stress with dietary use of antioxidant-rich plants such as strawberries, cranberries, elderberries, blueberries and spinach.

Dr. Joseph’s research findings—a message closely pertinent to this essay—can best be represented by a quote from one of his research reports in 1998: “increased antioxidant protection through diets comprised of fruits and vegetables identified as being high in total antioxidant activity might prevent or reverse the deleterious effects of oxidative stress on neurons.”

Summary: Oxidative stress is a major factor in brain aging. This stress can be combated or balanced by including dietary antioxidants into your daily life. The best way to do this is by eating lots of colorful fruits and vegetables each day.

Reading

* Lau FC, Shukitt-Hale B, Joseph JA. The beneficial effects of fruit polyphenols on brain aging. Neurobiol Aging. 2005 Dec;26 Suppl 1:128-32.

* Joseph JA, Shukitt-Hale B, Denisova NA, Prior RL, Cao G, Martin A, Taglialatela G, Bickford PC. Long-term dietary strawberry, spinach, or vitamin E supplementation retards the onset of age-related neuronal signal-transduction and cognitive behavioral deficits.

J Neurosci. 1998 Oct 1;18(19):8047-55.

* Joseph JA, Nadeau DA, Underwood A. The Color Code. Hyperion, New York, 2002.

Copyright 2006 Berry Health Inc.

Dr. Paul Gross
http://www.articlesbase.com/advice-articles/antioxidants-and-brain-health-76954.html

A recent interesting report from the Alliance for Aging Research encourages all of us to keep our brains healthy.

It’s important as you age, but also important at any age.

At this time of the year, when people make all kind of resolutions, one of the most frequent is to improve our state of health in one way or another.

This can also include keeping our brain’s healthy.

Here is a list of actions you can take, and make part of your life to assure your brain stays in the best of shape.

Step 1 – Eat a Brain-Healthy Diet.

What is a brain-healthy diet?

It is one that is rich in omega-3 fatty acids (commonly found in fish, specially fed chicken (via their eggs) some fruits and vegetables), essential amounts of proteins only, plentiful antioxidants (found in a host of natural foods) lots of fruits and vegetables, foods rich in vitamin B (such as lentils); minimum amounts or no trans fats; and fiber-rich non-processed carbohydrates.

Step 2 – Stay Mentally Active

Every year resolve to learn something new. Let it be a language, a skill, some dance, something new each year. Keep your mind active.

Stay away from TV as much as you can, and replace it with the computer.

Take classes in something, and read as much as you can. The brain needs this stimuli to maintain its cognitive levels.

Step 3 – Exercise Regularly

Nothing is as important for the body and brain as regular exercise.

Regular exercise always increases circulation, improves one coordination, and helps prevent conditions that increase the risk of dementia such as heart disease, stroke and diabetes.

Step 4 – Remain Socially Active

Do not remain a recluse. Be with your friends, become a volunteer and work with people, take regular outings to new places, and new countries. Let your eyes see new sights, your ears new sounds, taste new foods.

Step 5 – Sleep Well

The healthy brain needs for your body to sleep and rest. When you are deprived of enough sleep, the brain suffers.

Step 6 – Stress Management

Simple stress is often healthful, but long protracted stress puts the brain (and body via the immune system) at increased risk.

There are wonderful ways to manage your stress, such as yoga, enjoyable hobbies, regular journeys to spas, healthful massage, and a host of other options. Use them, and let the stress pass away from you.

Step 7 – Safety

Don’t take chances.

The damage an injury to the head cannot be under-estimated, especially triggering the onset of dementia.

Step 8 – Watch Your General Health

Keep a healthy weight, control high-blood pressure, hypertension, and guard against diabetes.

Each of these can negatively affect your cognitive state.

Step 9 – Avoid Unhealthful Habits

If you smoke, stop now.

If you over drink stop, and limit yourself of moderate amounts of wine, and an occasional drink.

Illegal drugs of any kind will negatively affect your cognitive state, and surely hasten the onset of dementia.

Step 10 – Genetic Disposition

If there is any history of dementia, or other cognitive diseases in your family, you can take steps before it become too late.

The previous 9 steps are a good start, and consultation with your doctor can be the start of protecting your brain’s health

Sacha Tarkovsky
http://www.articlesbase.com/wellness-articles/brain-health-the-10-steps-to-keep-your-brain-healthy-92026.html