Alzheimer's is a progressive disorder that is characterized by the decline in intellectual abilities, eventually leading to dementia in elderly patients.  The cause it not known, although it has been estimated 40% of people over 85 years old suffer from this condition.

Closer examination of the brains of people who have died from Alzheimer's has shown a loss of cells that release a chemical called acetylcholine ~ those cells that are used for thinking.

The first signs of Alzheimer's are loss of short-term memory for names and recent events. This then progresses to a difficulty learning new information, possibly eccentric behavior, depression and loss of spontaneity.

As Alzheimer's continues to affect the sufferer, they will lose the ability to carry out everyday activities, questions will be asked repeatedly, and they may lose the ability to recognize friends and family.

Eventually nearly all mental functions will fail, a similar symptom to those suffering from multiple small strokes and severe alcoholism.


• Phosphatidyl Serine::
Phosphatidyl Serine is one of the many substances involved in the structure and maintenance of cell membranes.  It was asserted by the US Food and Drug Administration in May 2003 that "consumption of Phosphatidyl Serine may reduce the risk of dementia in the elderly" and further, "consumption of Phosphatidyl Serine may reduce the risk of cognitive dysfunction in the elderly". Numerous studies back this up with evidence showing patients who took Phosphatidyl Serine orally showed significant improvement in their symptoms.
Ginkgo Biloba is an extract from the Maidenhair Tree that only grows in a small part of China.  It contains a special extract called EGb 761 that has been shown at the Psychiatry Department at the National Medical University, Kyiv in the Ukraine to have demonstrated significant improvements in cognitive functioning and behavioral symptoms in patients suffering from Alzheimer's.   Further studies have also concluded that the Ginkgo Biloba special extract EGb 761 seems to produce neuro-protective effects in neuro-degenerative diseases like Alzheimer's.

• Choline:
A naturally occurring compound, Choline is part of the B Vitamin group and has been shown to consistently help slow the progress of Alzheimer's and improve
neurol functioning of suffers.

** Always check with your Doctor or Practitioner before taking supplements.  Ginkgo is contraindicated in some antidepressants including SSRI's.
Source: Elements4Healthci
Cenacchi T, Bertoldin T, Farina C, Fiori MG, Crepaldi G. Cognitive decline in the elderly: a double-blind, placebo-controlled multicenter study on efficacy of phosphatidylserine administration. Aging (Milano). 1993 Apr;5(2):123-33. PMID: 8323999.

The following is taken from The Dr. Oz show:  "The only portals of entry are the nostrils and mouth/throat.  In a Global epidemic of this nature, it's almost impossible to avoid coming into contact with H1N1 in spite of all precautions.  Contact with H1N1 is not so much of a problem as proliferation is.

While you are still healthy and not showing any symptoms of H1N1 infection;  in order to prevent proliferation, aggravation of symptoms and development of secondary infections, some very simple steps can be practiced...

1. Frequent hand-washing.

2. Resist all temptations to touch any part of the face (unless you want to eat or bathe.)

3. Gargle twice a day with warm salt water (you may also use Listerine or Hydrogen Peroxide).  H1N1 takes 2-3 days after initial infection in the throat / nasal cavity to proliferate and show characteristic symptoms. Simple gargling prevents proliferation.  In a way, gargling with salt water has the same effect on a healthy individual that Tamiflu has on an infected one.  Don't underestimate this simple, inexpensive and powerful preventative method.

4. Clean your nostrils at least once every day with warm salt water, or hydrogen peroxide... Not everybody may be good at cleaning nasal cavities, but blowing the nose softly once a day and swabbing both nostrils with cotton buds dipped in warm salt water is very effective in bringing down the viral population.

5. Boost your natural immunity with foods that are rich in Vitamin C ~ Amla and other citrus fruits.  If you have to supplement with Vitamin C and Vitamin D tablets make sure that it also has Zinc to boost absorption.

6. Drink as much of warm liquids (tea, coffee, etc) as you can.  Drinking warm liquids has the same effect as gargling, but in the reverse direction.  They wash off proliferating viruses from the throat into the stomach where they cannot survive, proliferate or do any harm."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Please check out these earlier posts for additional information

Nasal Irrigation ~ ancient Ayurvedic technigue to promote Health

Update ~ Nasal Irrigation ~ Allergies

Pay the doctor only if he keeps you well

Do you need a morning cup of Joe to wake up and need sodas or energy drinks to power through the afternoon?  Have you ever wondered what all that caffeine is doing to your brain?
In his book Change Your Brain, Change Your Body, Dr. Amen covers the subject of caffeine in great detail. Caffeine works in the brain by messing with a natural process involving a chemical called adenosine, which is involved in sleep, and adenosine receptors. When adenosine is produced in the brain; it attaches to adenosine receptors, and this causes the brain's blood vessels to dilate, causes neurons to slow down, and induces drowsiness.

When you drink caffeine, however, the adenosine receptors mistake the caffeine for adenosine and bind to it.  When caffeine is attached to the adenosine receptors, it does just the opposite of adenosine.   It constricts the brain's blood vessels, speeds up neuronal activity, and signals your body to go on high alert by producing adrenaline.

This gives you that Java Jolt, which makes your heart beat faster, your breathing become more shallow, and your muscles tense up. It also boosts dopamine levels, which activates the pleasure centers in your brain.

The bad news is that when the effects of the caffeine wear off, you feel sluggish. So you consume more caffeine to re-energize. Soon enough, you are hooked on the stuff. And it may take more and more caffeine to achieve that same feeling.

What happens to the adenosine receptor system when you consume large amounts of caffeine on a regular basis?  For years, scientists have assumed that the adenosine receptor system could learn to compensate for the vasoconstrictive effects of the caffeine.  Not so, according to a new study from a team of researchers at Wake Forest University in North Carolina.

The Wake Forest researchers used brain imaging to test the effect of low, moderate, and high caffeine intake on cerebral blood flow.  What they found is that habitually high caffeine intake (about 950mg a day) results in diminished blood flow to the brain, showing that the adenosine receptor system, in fact, does NOT learn to compensate for the effects of caffeine.

After years of studying brain scans, Dr. Amen assures us that reduced cerebral blood flow leads to brain drain. It lowers cognitive function and can exacerbate emotional and mental health problems. It can also wreak havoc with your sleep system and reduce the amount of deep sleep you get at night, leaving you feeling even more fatigued.

If you're addicted to caffeine, try to wean yourself off it. If you want to avoid the fatigue and headaches that come from caffeine withdrawal, do it slowly by reducing your intake each week.

Try boosting dopamine with natural treatments ~ such as intense aerobic exercise.  Green tea or supplements like Rhodiola can also help. Other supplements, such as NeuroRest, that promote relaxation and sleep, can help reset your sleep cycle.

Courtesy of Brain in The News
 Amen Clinics, Inc.

I recently came across an article by author Clyde Crumpacker citing studies stating that a common viral infection, affecting between 60 and 99 percent of adults worldwide, could be a cause of high blood pressure.

One in three U.S. adults has high blood pressure, and because there are no known symptoms, nearly one-third of these individuals are unaware of their condition. Often dubbed "the silent killer," uncontrolled high blood pressure can lead to stroke, heart attack, heart failure or kidney failure.

The researchers found that the viral infection alone led to an increase in high blood pressure, and when combined with a high cholesterol diet, the infection actually induced atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) in a mouse aorta.

A member of the Herpes virus family, Cytomegalovirus (CMV) affects all age groups and is the source of Congenital Infection, Mononucleosis, and severe infection in transplant patients.  By the age of 40, most adults will have contracted this virus, though many will never exhibit symptoms. Once it has entered the body, CMV is usually there to stay, remaining latent until the immune system is compromised, when it then reemerges.

In the first portion of the study, the scientists examined four groups of laboratory mice.  Two groups of animals were fed a standard diet and two groups were fed a high cholesterol diet. After a period of four weeks, one standard diet mouse group and one high cholesterol diet mouse group were infected with the CMV virus.

Six weeks later, blood pressure was measured and among the mice fed a standard diet, the CMV-infected mice had increased blood pressure compared with the uninfected group. But even more dramatically, 30 percent of the CMV-infected mice that were fed a  high cholesterol diet ~ not only exhibited increased blood pressure, but also showed signs of having developed atherosclerosis.

"This strongly suggests that the CMV infection and the high cholesterol diet might be working together to cause atherosclerosis," says study author Clyde Crumpacker. In order to find out how and why this was occurring, the investigators went on to conduct a series of cell culture experiments.

Their first analysis demonstrated that CMV stimulated production of three different inflammatory cytokines: IL6, TNF, and MCP1 in the infected mice, indication that the virus was causing inflammation to vascular cells and other tissues.  CMV led to an increase in expression of the renin enzyme, which has been known to activate the renin-angiotensin system and lead to high blood pressure.

"Viruses have the ability to turn on human genes and, in this case, the CMV virus is enhancing expression of renin, an enzyme directly involved in causing high blood pressure," says Crumpacker. When the scientists inactivated the virus through the use of ultraviolet light, renin expression did not increase, suggesting that actively replicating virus was causing the increase in renin.

"What our study seems to indicate is that a persistent viral infection in the vessels' endothelial cells is leading to increased expression of inflammatory cytokines, , which are leading to increased blood pressure."

We are back to the subject of inflammation ~ we need to decrease inflammation in our bodies and to work on preventing viruses when we can and taking supplements that help to keep certain viruses dormant ~ more on that  ~

*Clyde Crumpacker, et al. Cytomegalovirus Infection Causes an Increase of Arterial Blood Pressure. PLoS Pathogens. doi:10.1371/journal.ppat.1000427.

As Yogi Berra so famously said, "It's déjà vu all over again."  While yet again researching Vitamin D ~ I stumbled upon a report singing the praises of the spice Turmeric. It reported that Turmeric ~ in combination with vitamin D ~ helps fight Alzheimer's disease and obesity (by suppressing growth of fatty tissue). Researchers have been examining the anti-inflammatory properties of Turmeric for many years.
Turmeric is made from the roots of a plant in the Ginger family (Curcuma longa) and is known as Jiang Huang in Chinese Herbal Medicine.   For the details on this versatile healing botanical, I would like to quote Registered Herbalist David Winston, RH (AHG), a founding member of the American Herbalists Guild and author of "Adaptogens: Herbs for Strength, Stamina and Stress Relief".

MULTIPLE HEALING BENEFITS  ~
Winston writes that Turmeric has a wide variety of healing abilities...
* Powerful anti-inflammatory components safely reduce the pain and swelling of arthritis, carpal tunnel syndrome, bursitis and tendonitis.
*Anti-inflammatory benefits also extend to gastrointestinal (GI) problems, such as gastric ulcers, irritable bowel syndrome and ulcerative colitis.
* Potent antioxidants help squelch unstable oxygen molecules that can otherwise run amok, damaging cells and opening the door to dangerous diseases, such as cancer. 
* Curcumin, an active compound of Turmeric, has been shown to modify more than 250 oncogenes and processes that trigger cancer tumorigenesis, proliferation and metastasis.
*Turmeric helps curb excessive immune responses that characterize conditions such as allergies, asthma and possibly even multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer's disease, where (in animal studies) Curcumin appears to inhibit development of amyloid plaques.
* Studies suggest a still wider range of healing benefits, such as lowering cholesterol, preventing atherosclerosis and protecting the liver against chemicals and viral damage.

TURMERIC OR CURCUMIN?

Don't confuse Turmeric with its most well-known active compound, Curcumin. Turmeric contains a variety of inflammation-fighting compounds known as curcuminoids ~ the most widely known and extensively studied of which is Curcumin.
Importantly, large doses of Curcumin can cause gastric upset, while the herb Turmeric contains a number of active ingredients that combine to have a gastro-protective effect.

Winston says that he prefers the herb Turmeric (commonly in capsule or tincture form) for some uses (gastritis, gastric ulcers, arthralgias)
Standardized Curcumin for others (cancer prevention and treatment, Alzheimer's prevention and treatment, and protecting the liver against hepatitis B and C). Check wth your Doctor or Practitioner regarding dosage and vendor

I fell in love with Chinese Medicine because it is so balanced. Chinese Nutrition is really about the Middle Way.  When I was in my twenties and I was searching for a cure for my migraine headaches I lived in Health Food Stores - and I researched and visited Healing Gurus around the world as I pursued my career in television.  I remember that Macrobiotics was very popular and people were constantly trying to convert me. I remember looking at many of them and thinking you have 3 hairs on your head - your skin looks gray and you're only twenty-five - so why should I listen to you ~ and yes sometimes I voiced my thoughts.  I still feel that way today ~ my hair color is still the one I was born with and my skin is holding up.  As friends and later colleagues embraced the Church of Soy ~ I just never bought into it.

Soy has become synonymous with healthy eating. Who hasn't heard of the benefits of Soy? Even Dr.Weil has jumped onto the Soy band wagon. The USDA recently approved the use of Soy in children's school lunches. But could something that sounds so healthy actually be dangerous?  Before you reach for that next bite of tofu and wash it down with some great tasting soy milk, I want to share with you ~ the Dark side of Soy.
When I was studying Oriental Medicine I discovered Sally Fallon the author of Nourishing Traditions: "The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats."  I credit her and  The Weston A. Price Foundation, Washington, DC. with much of this research and with not being afraid to voice it.

There has been a decade-long marketing campaign to gain consumer acceptance of tofu, soy milk, soy ice cream, soy cheese, soy sausage and soy derivatives, particularly soy isoflavones like genistein and diadzen, the estrogen-like compounds found in soybeans.

The propaganda that has created the Soy Sales Miracle is all the more remarkable because, the soybean was considered unfit to eat - even in Asia.  During the Chou Dynasty (1134-246 BC) apparently the soy plant was initially used in crop rotations as a method of fixing nitrogen.

The soybean did not serve as a food until the discovery of fermentation techniques, sometime during the Chou Dynasty. The first Soy foods were fermented products like tempeh, natto, miso and soy sauce.

The Chinese did not eat unfermented soybeans as they did other legumes such as lentils because the soybean contains large quantities of natural toxins or "antinutrients". First among them are potent enzyme inhibitors that block the action of trypsin and other enzymes needed for protein digestion. In test animals, diets high in trypsin inhibitors cause enlargement and pathological conditions of the pancreas, including cancer.

Soybeans also contain hemagglutinin, a clot-promoting substance that causes red blood cells to clump together.  Trypsin inhibitors and hemagglutinin are growth inhibitors. Rats fed soy containing these antinutrients fail to grow normally.

Soy also contains goitrogens - substances that depress thyroid function.

In 1992, the Swiss health service estimated that 100 grams of soy protein provided the estrogenic equivalent of the Pill.

The claim that Soy prevents osteoporosis is considered false by many researchers given that Soy foods block calcium and cause vitamin D deficiencies.  Once again - I've been able to fit in Vitamin D.  If you learn anything,  from this blog it's to test for and then take your Vitamin D.  If Asians indeed have lower rates of osteoporosis than Westerners, it is because their diet provides plenty of vitamin D from shrimp, lard and seafood, and plenty of calcium from bone broths.

There is a very important discussion and there is much more to write about ~ so stay tuned.

D3  I thought that I wouldn't be writing about Vitamin D again for at least a few weeks and then this morning I opened my daily newsletter from a Dr. Mercola and there it was again ~Vitamin D and I thought that it was important enough to share.
According to Dr. Mercola's post, Swine flu, H1N1, has killed thirty-six children in the U.S. and an outside analysis of CDC data indicates Vitamin D deficient children are at higher risk of death....almost two-thirds of the dead children had epilepsy, cerebral palsy, or other neurodevelopmental conditions like mental retardation.

Dr. Mercola states that all of these neurological conditions are associated with childhood Vitamin D deficiency. Exacerbating the problem further, many of these kids take Anticonvulsant Drugs, which lower Vitamin D levels. ***This is a note to adults on Anticonvulsant Drugs  to get their Vitamin D levels checked.

The Connection Between Your Vitamin D Levels and the Flu ~
Previously, a Dr. Cannell found that people with the lowest blood Vitamin D levels reported having significantly more colds or cases of the flu.  The positive correlation between lower vitamin D levels and increased risk of upper respiratory tract infections was even more pronounced in individuals with Asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

Part of the explanation is that Vitamin D creates over 200 antimicrobial peptides in your body that serve as natural broad-spectrum antibiotics,

So when your vitamin D levels fall, you also reduce your natural capacity to ward off colds, influenza and other respiratory infections.  During flu seasons, Vitamin D levels in your blood are typically at their lowest point due to lack of exposure to sunshine.

At least four other recent studies show this inverse association between lower respiratory tract infections and 25(OH)D levels. That is, the higher your Vitamin D level, the lower your risk of contracting colds, flu, and other respiratory tract infections:

Please view the entire post for more studies:http://articles.mercola.com/sites/current.aspx

Is there any more one can say about Green Tea?  Like the supplement Vitamin D which never seems to amaze me, it seems that there is always new research coming out to promote the health benefits of Green Tea.
Now researchers are reporting new evidence that Green Tea could help improve bone health. They found that the tea contains a group of chemicals that can stimulate bone formation and help slow its breakdown.  The beverage has the potential to help in the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis and other bone diseases that affect millions worldwide, the researchers suggest.

In this study, the researchers note that many scientific studies have linked tea to beneficial effects in preventing cancer, heart disease, and other conditions.  Recent studies in humans and cell cultures suggest that tea may also benefit bone health.  But few scientific studies have explored the exact chemicals in tea that might be responsible for this effect.

These scientists exposed a group of cultured bone-forming cells (osteoblasts) to three major green tea components: epigallocatechin (EGC), gallocatechin (GC), and gallocatechin gallate (GCG) for several days. They found that one in particular, EGC, boosted the activity of a key enzyme that promotes bone growth by up to 79 percent. EGC also significantly boosted levels of bone mineralization in the cells, which strengthens bones.
The scientists also showed that high concentrations of ECG blocked the activity of a type of cell (osteoclast) that breaks down or weakens bones.
The green tea components did not cause any toxic effects to the bone cells.

My personal preference is  Japanese Green Tea.
References:
1. Ping Chung Leung, et al. Effects of Tea Catechins, Epigallocatechin, Gallocatechin, and Gallocatechin Gallate, on Bone Metabolism. American Chemical Society. ACS News Service Weekly ressPac:

Is there anything more to say about Vitamin D ~ It seems so.  I thought that I'd exhausted the discussion of Vitamin D until a patient called with his recent laboratory results and his vitamin D level was very low. His doctor told him to get out in the sun.  This was very upsetting because eight years ago he had melanoma ~ the deadliest form of skin cancer.  This prompted me to do even more research on this miracle supplement.

Pick up any popular book on vitamins and you will read that ten minutes of daily exposure of the arms and legs to sunlight will supply us with all the vitamin D that we need. Humans do indeed manufacture vitamin D from cholesterol by the action of sunlight on the skin but many researchers feel that it is actually very difficult to obtain even a minimal amount of vitamin D with a brief walk in the sunlight.

Ultraviolet (UV) light is divided into 3 bands or wavelength ranges, which are referred to as UV-C, UV-B and UV-A.   UV-C is the most energetic and shortest of the UV bands. It will burn human skin rapidly in extremely small doses. Fortunately, it is completely absorbed by the ozone layer.

UV-A, known as the "tanning ray," is primarily responsible for darkening the pigment in our skin. Most tanning bulbs have a high UV-A output, with a small percentage of UV-B. UV-A is less energetic than UV-B, so exposure to UV-A will not result in a burn, unless the skin is photosensitive or excessive doses are used. UV-A penetrates more deeply into the skin than UV-B, due to its longer wavelength. Until recently, UV-A was not blocked by sunscreens. It is now considered to be a major contributor to the high incidence of non-melanoma skin cancers. Seventy-eight percent of UV-A penetrates glass ~ so windows do not offer protection.

The ultraviolet wavelength that stimulates our bodies to produce vitamin D is UV-B.  It is sometimes called the "burning ray" because it is the primary cause of sunburn. However, UV-B initiates beneficial responses, stimulating the production of vitamin D that the body uses in many important processes.  Although UV-B causes sunburn, it also causes special skin cells called melanocytes to produce melanin, which is protective.

The reason it is difficult to get adequate vitamin D from sunlight is that while UV-A is present throughout the day, the amount of UV-B present has to do with the angle of the sun's rays. Thus, UV-B is present only during midday hours at higher latitudes, and only with significant intensity in temperate or tropical latitudes. Only 5 percent of the UV-B light range goes through glass and it does not penetrate clouds, smog or fog.

Sun exposure at higher latitudes before 10 am or after 2 pm will cause burning from UV-A before it will supply adequate vitamin D from UV-B. This finding may surprise you, as it did the researchers. It means that sunning must occur between the hours we have been told to avoid. Only sunning between 10 am and 2 pm during summer months for 20-120 minutes, depending on skin type and color, will form adequate vitamin D before burning occurs.

It takes about 24 hours for UV-B-stimulated vitamin D to show up as maximum levels of vitamin D in the blood. Cholesterol-containing body oils are critical to this absorption process.  Because the body needs 30-60 minutes to absorb these vitamin-D-containing oils, it is best to delay showering or bathing for one hour after exposure. The skin oils in which vitamin D is produced can also be removed by chlorine in swimming pools.

The current suggested exposure of hands, face and arms for 10-20 minutes, three times a week, provides only 200-400 IU of vitamin D each time or an average of 100-200 IU per day during the summer months. 

In order to achieve optimal levels of vitamin D, 85 percent of body surface needs exposure to prime midday sun. (About 100-200 IU of vitamin D is produced for each 5 percent of body surface exposed, most researchers want 4,000 iu.) Light skinned people need 10-20 minutes of exposure while dark skinned people need 90-120 minutes.

Latitude and altitude determine the intensity of UV light. UV-B is stronger at higher altitudes.  Latitudes higher than 30° (both north and south) have insufficient UV-B sunlight two to six months of the year, even at midday.

Latitudes higher than 40° have insufficient sunlight to achieve optimum levels of D during six to eight months of the year. In much of the US, which is between 30° and 45° latitude, six months or more during each year have insufficient UV-B sunlight to produce optimal D levels.

**In far northern or southern locations, latitudes 45° and higher, even summer sun is too weak to provide optimum levels of vitamin D. A simple meter is available to determine UV-B levels where you live.
** Article based on research from Weston A. Price Foundation.