Alzheimer's disease

Past studies have shown that reading books can benefit people in a multitude of ways, physically, mentally, and intellectually. Now in a new study, people who read a book for about 30 minutes a day were found to live approximately 2 years longer than those who didn’t read at all. [1]
In previous research, curling up with a good book has been shown to improve people’s social skills by improving their ability to read the thoughts and feelings of others.

Doctors may one day be able to test people for Alzheimer’s disease by testing their ability to identify familiar scents, like smoke, coffee, and raspberry.
In 2 studies released at an international Alzheimer’s meeting July 26, people who were in their 60s and older took a standard odor test. In both cases, individuals who did poorly on the tests were more likely to already have or go on to develop memory and thinking problems.

There are games and apps for smartphones that claim to be able to help users sleep, eat properly, and train their brains, many of which have been disproven. But it appears that a new game on the iOS and Android market could help doctors diagnose patients with dementia.
Sea Hero Quest is the game, and it requires players to navigate courses to find pieces of a missing map. You must locate precious artifacts – in this case, memories – by collecting them from different locations all around the world.

People who stress out about getting old are more likely to be diagnosed Alzheimer’s disease, scientists are warning. Researchers have found middle-aged people who dread their senior years are more likely to have dementia-like changes to their brain years later. On the other hand, those who think positively about their inevitable aging are less likely to be diagnosed.

Beer is loaded with carbohydrates that can make you fat – everyone knows this. We even have a name for the distended stomachs of heavy beer drinkers: “beer bellies.” It’s the sort of beverage that the weight-conscious person or diabetic individual either avoids entirely or enjoys only once in a great while.
But what if a brewsky could fight disease?
Actually, beer has numerous health benefits, but scientists are working to emphasize the healthful properties in the alcoholic beverage that offer those benefits.

A group of villagers on the Pacific isle of Guam have given researchers substantial insight into an environmental toxin found in algae blooms that may play a role in the development of Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases.

No one wants to spend an hour looking for their keys, or worse, develop Alzheimer’s later in life. The prospect of exercising the brain to ensure its health was the concept behind Lumosity, a “brain training” app that uses various games that supposedly puts your gray matter on a treadmill.
But the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said Lumosity’s claims that its games were designed by neuroscientists and were scientifically proven to ward off Alzheimer’s were nothing but rubbish, and Lumos Labs, Lumosity’s maker, can no longer make those claims. [1]

Here’s one more reason to rock out: music isn’t just good for the soul, it’s good for the body. Patients who listen to music before, during, and after surgery may have less pain, anxiety, and blood pressure than patients who don’t, a new analysis suggests.
Surgery patients who got to pick their own playlists faired even better, researchers found.

Someday soon, a simple blood test may be able to predict a person’s risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.
A new blood test has been developed that allows scientists to estimate how quickly someone is aging; they hope that it will eventually serve as a predictor of dementia. The test may also be able to determine the “youthfulness” of donated organs for transplant operations. [1]

Music therapy has proven to be an extraordinary healing modality for many years now. Those fortunate individuals who have music in their life on a regular basis typically have a more positive frame of mind and emotional comportment. Truly uplifting music triggers a whole set of favorable responses from the human body and psyche.