From DNAindia.com:

Eating certain fruit and vegetables could boost the memory, particularly broccoli, according to British research.

The study conducted by King’s College London,provides scientific backing to the theory and has major implications for the prevention and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society said.

Extracts found in five fruits and vegetables —broccoli, potatoes, oranges, apples and radishes — were found to contain substances that act in the same way as drugs used to treat the disease. Broccoli had the most.

Alzheimer’s, for which there is no cure, is the most common form of dementia among older people.

It seriously affects their ability to carry out daily activities, impairing parts of the brain that control thought, memory and language. Most of the drugs used to treat the disease act as inhibitors of acetylcholinesterase, the enzyme responsible for the breakdown of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine.

It has been previously suggested that some common vegetables might have anti-acetylcholinesterase activity, but no detailed investigation has ever been carried out. The King’s College London research confirms this activity in all five of the fruit and vegetables.

Broccoli was found to have the most potent activity and was taken forward for further tests to identify the agent responsible.

These were found to be glucosinolates, a group of compounds found throughout the cabbage family. “As yet, it is unproven that eating broccoli, for instance, would have a beneficial effect on Alzheimer’s disease.

“As yet, it is unproven that eating broccoli, for instance, would have a beneficial effect on Alzheimer’s disease,” said professor Peter Houghton, from King’s College London.

“But the long-term effects of regularly consuming these compounds in vegetables belonging to the brassicaceae might certainly be beneficial in reducing a decline in acetylcholine levels in the central nervous system.”

From MSNBC.com

New study also turns up two new genetic suspects worth exploring

A study of brain scans has confirmed the role of several genes linked with Alzheimer’s disease, and turned up two others that are worth exploring, U.S. researchers said Monday.

A team at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston used magnetic resonance imaging or MRI scans to study changes in brain structures — such as the size of the hippocampus and amygdala — in 700 healthy volunteers and Alzheimer’s patients.

They used computer programs to sort through the genetic sequences of the 700 volunteers to see which gene mutations are most linked with these changes.

The study turned up a known offender — the APOE4 gene — as the most strongly linked with the disease, but it also confirmed three other genes — CLU, CRI, PICALM — that have been more recently linked with Alzheimer’s.

And they fingered two others — BIN1 and CNTN5 — which have been suspected, but not strongly linked with Alzheimer’s.

While the findings are preliminary, “they may help prioritize targets for future genetic studies,” Drs. Alessandro Biffi and Christopher Anderson of Massachusetts General and the Broad Institute wrote in the Archives of Neurology.

Researchers suspect genes can explain 60 to 80 percent of the risk of late onset Alzheimer’s disease, the kind that occurs with age.

Scientists have long understood the genetic cause of early onset Alzheimer’s, a rare type that affects people under 60, but finding genes that explain the more common late onset form has been far more challenging.

Paul Thompson of the University of California Los Angeles Laboratory of Neuro Imaging, who was not involved with the study, said the findings offer new way of confirming the role of genes in Alzheimer’s disease.

He said it now appears unlikely that there are many more single genes like APOE4 that contribute significantly to Alzheimer’s disease, but there are likely many genes that, when combined, raise a person’s risk.

“The way most of us will get Alzheimer’s is through these big sets of risk genes. They are beginning to discover a few of them. None of them is sufficient to get Alzheimer’s on its own,” Thompson said in a telephone interview.

“It’s the slow erosion of the brain from an army of culprits.”

Thompson said understanding the role of even a few of these genes will help drug companies devise better weapons to fight Alzheimer’s.

Current drugs help manage symptoms but, so far, no treatment can stop the progression of Alzheimer’s, which can start with vague memory loss and confusion before progressing to complete disability and death.

The U.S. government, private insurance and individuals spend $172 billion a year to care for people with Alzheimer’s disease, the most common cause of dementia that affects 26 million people globally.

I am greatly honored to be invited to address the First International Congress on Alzheimer’s in Monaco under the Patronage of HRH Prince Albert II of Monaco.

Here is a letter from the president of the organization:

Despite the Billions of dollars spent annually to cure this disease,
Alzheimer’s claims over 1 in 10 people over the age of 65 and represents
a growing threat in the backdrop of an aging population. In fact, it is
expected to claim over half of the people over 85 in coming years.
Coincidentally, the past twenty years have seen substantial advances
in the Neurosciences and allied fields. These major contributions, from
the discovery of human stem cells in areas affected by Alzheimer’s to
the sequencing of the Human Genome, have given rise to new tools,
which are ripe for applications to the fi eld Alzheimer’s. It is high time
to introduce researchers responsible for these fi ndings to the Alzheimer’s community. In this
spirit, we have convened some of the world’s most daring and innovative researchers to share
their insights in the form of an international summit with Alzheimer’s as a leitmotiv, held in the
Principality of Monaco in February 2010.
I am grateful to Prince Albert II of Monaco, Madame Catherine Pastor of AMPA and First Lady
Bernadette Chirac for the invitation to create this event and for recognizing the need to develop
completely novel strategies against Alzheimer’s growing menace. Our “Meeting of the Minds”
will be an interactive, interdisciplinary and international event at the forefront of academic,
governmental and industrial research with speakers representing a confluence of fi elds including
Stem Cell Research, Neurobiology, Artificial Intelligence, and Telemedicine.
I look forward to welcoming you next February, for a truly world-class – and unforgettable –
event.
Sincerely,
Dr. Philip Low
Founder, Chairman & CEO, NeuroVigil, Inc.
Adjunct Professor, Stanford School of Medicine
Visiting Professor, Massachusetts Institute of
Technology

By David Perlmutter, MD,FACN, ABIHM

What can we do to protect our brains? With the release of the 2009 report from the Alzheimer’s Association showing that 5.3 million Americans have Alzheimer’s disease with a new case diagnosed every 70 seconds, more and more people want to know if there really are any meaningful preventive strategies for this devastating condition now costing $148 billion annually.

Perhaps not so remarkable is the fact that many of the same lifestyle recommendations made to reduce the risk of coronary heart disease also apply to reducing risk for Alzheimer’s. Why this is not so surprising is because these two diseases are remarkably similar in that they both involve inflammation. This may explain why being overweight represents a significant risk for both diseases as excess body fat actually turns on the genes that increase inflammation.

Research now clearly defines an increased risk of up to 300% for Alzheimer’s in comparing obese individuals to those of normal weight. What’s more, obesity is now also recognized as a powerful yet modifiable risk factor for Parkinson’s disease, now affecting well over one million Americans.

Both Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases are devastating brain disorders for which there is no cure. The research showing a strong relationship with obesity gives us at least one tool to build a preventive medicine program for brain health. In this case, rather than “an ounce of prevention,” we need to focus on pounds.

From NaturalNews.com:

Anyone who has had to care for an elderly friend or relative that suffers from Alzheimer`s will know how debilitating and upsetting the disease can be. Alzheimer`s attacks the brain cells and disrupts the messages that travel between them. This results in impaired memory as well as strange and unsettling behavior. The early signs of Alzheimer`s may not be very noticeable. A poor short term memory may be the only sign, but as the disease progresses long term memories may also disappear. There are thought to be nearly 5 million people that suffer from the disease in the USA alone. Most of who take lots of medication to try and stabilize the disease and to combat the knock on effects such as depression and insomnia. But recent research in to the treatment and prevention of the disease is pointing in a far more natural direction.

India has one the lowest numbers of people suffering with Alzheimer`s in the world. In fact just 1% of Indians over 65 suffers from the disease while that number is more like 10% in America. For years scientists and Doctors had struggled to understand exactly why this is, but research in to the medical properties of a well known spice may just have provided the answer. Early research in to Turmeric was based totally around the spice’s amazing ability to stop the growth of cancerous cells. But as the spice was investigated further researchers found that it may also prevent the progression of Alzheimer`s.

The active ingredient in turmeric that makes it such a great medical tool is called curcumin. Curcumin has been found to be a powerful anti-inflammatory and has long been used in China and India to help cure a range of problems from flatulence and menstrual difficulties to bloody urine and toothache. In a study published in the Italian Journal of Biochemistry it was reported that curcumin may also trigger the brain tissue to produce the potent antioxidant bilirubin, which protects the brain against oxidative (free radical) injury. It is this oxidative degenerative injury that is thought to be the main culprit behind Alzheimer`s disease. This goes towards explaining why Alzheimer`s levels are so low in India as turmeric is one of the main spices used in Indian cooking.