Cognitive Decline

Scientists Find Link Between Excess Sugar and Alzheimer’s Disease

We know (or think we know) that high blood glucose, or hyperglycemia, is linked to diabetes and obesity. But now scientists have also recently discovered a link between excess blood sugar and Alzheimer’s disease.
Researchers have established a “tipping point” link between excess blood glucose and the disease, meaning that people who eat a lot of sugar could be more likely to go on to develop Alzheimer’s. [1]
Omar Kassaar, a biologist at the University of Bath in the U.K., said in a press release:

New Smartphone Game Could Help Doctors Diagnose Dementia

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.

Scientists are Developing Disease-Fighting Beer…in the Lab

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.

FTC Says Lumosity “Brain Training” Games Not Backed by Science

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]