
{"id":13946,"date":"2010-11-18T09:00:44","date_gmt":"2010-11-18T14:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/?p=13946"},"modified":"2010-11-18T16:09:45","modified_gmt":"2010-11-18T21:09:45","slug":"can-you-prevent-alzheimer%e2%80%99s-disease-by-doing-crossword-puzzles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/2010\/11\/18\/can-you-prevent-alzheimer%e2%80%99s-disease-by-doing-crossword-puzzles\/","title":{"rendered":"Can you prevent Alzheimer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s disease by doing crossword puzzles?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>By Sara Peach<br \/>\n<\/strong><em>UNC Health Care\u00e2\u20ac\u00a8\u00e2\u20ac\u00a8<\/em><\/p>\n<p>CHAPEL HILL  \u00e2\u20ac\u201c By stripping patients of their memories, Alzheimer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s disease gradually robs people of their very identities. Patients eventually lose the ability to care for themselves and to control basic bodily functions, such as swallowing and urination. No one has a cure.<\/p>\n<p>It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s little wonder then that Alzheimer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s-prevention tips proliferate on the web and in the media. Many urge older people to stay mentally agile by doing crossword puzzles, learning new languages or remaining socially engaged.<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, there is no strong evidence that such activities actually prevent the disease, said Philip Sloan, a professor of family medicine at UNC.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d be surprised if it actually makes a difference,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In April, an independent panel convened by the National Institutes of Health concluded that there is \u00e2\u20ac\u0153no evidence of even moderate scientific quality\u00e2\u20ac\u009d that any intervention, including exercise, drugs, dietary supplements or increased social engagement, reduces the risk of Alzheimer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s disease.<\/p>\n<p>The disease sickens people by damaging and killing nerve cells. Abnormal structures \u00e2\u20ac\u201c beta-amyloid plaques and a twisted protein fragment called tau \u00e2\u20ac\u201c form in the brain. They build up first in memory regions and then spread to other regions.<\/p>\n<p>The disease most often strikes people older than age 65, but it can also affect people in their 30s, 40s and 50s, according to the Alzheimer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Association. About 5.3 million Americans have Alzheimer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s disease.<\/p>\n<p>An Alzheimer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s patient usually deteriorates over the course of years, and damage to the brain often begins before others notice memory lapses. That slow onset \u00e2\u20ac\u201c requiring years of study to track \u00e2\u20ac\u201c is a challenge in researching prevention strategies, Sloane said.<\/p>\n<p>In addition, researchers must also show whether activities linked to reduced risk actually prevent the disease. For example, maintaining a wide network of friends might help your brain stay healthy. But the reverse is also true: If you have a healthy brain, you may be more likely to have plenty of friends. Observational studies, which track groups of people over a number of years, can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t distinguish between cause and effect in such cases.<\/p>\n<p>But Daniel Kaufer, an associate professor of neurology and director of the UNC Memory Disorders Clinic, said that even if you can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t prevent the disease, you may be able to delay onset. Avoiding metabolic syndrome may be particularly important in staving off the disease. Metabolic syndrome is a group of conditions, including high blood pressure, extra weight around the waist, elevated insulin levels and abnormal cholesterol, that increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases and diabetes. Over the long term, abnormalities in the body\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s metabolic activity may harm the brain, Kaufer said.<\/p>\n<p>Although not definitive, current evidence suggests exercise may delay the onset of Alzheimer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s disease, he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153The kinds of things that are good for your body are also good for your brain,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said.<\/p>\n<p>You should also take steps to prevent serious head injuries, which have been linked to the disease. That means that you should wear a seat belt in the car, put on a bike helmet and remove fall hazards from your home.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By stripping patients of their memories, Alzheimer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s disease gradually robs people of their very identities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13946","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-community"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13946","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13946"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13946\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14045,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13946\/revisions\/14045"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13946"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13946"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13946"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}