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Wednesday 29 February 2012

Worried about dementia? Oily fish really is the best protection


DIETS lacking an essential nutrient found in oily fish may hasten brain shrinkage and mental decline, a study has found.
Brain scans carried out on 1,575 people with an average age of 67 showed a greater rate of brain shrinkage in those who lacked docosahexaenoic acid (DHA).
DHA is an omega-3 fatty acid that is thought to help nerve cells communicate with each other. The richest source of the nutrient is oily fish, such as herring, mackerel and sardines.
Dr Zaldy Tan, from the University of California atLos Angeles, who led the US research reported in the journal Neurology, said: "People with lower blood levels of omega-3 fatty acids had lower brain volumes that were equivalent to about two years of structural brain ageing."
The study involved magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) brain scans and tests for mental function and omega-3 fatty acids in red blood cells.
Participants whose DHA levels were among the bottom 25pc had smaller brains than those with higher DHA levels.
Low levels of all omega-3 fatty acids were also associated with poor test scores for visual memory, problem solving, multi-tasking and abstract thinking.
Dr Marie Janson, from the British charity Alzheimer's Research UK, said: "There has been a lot of research into the effects of omega-3, and this study will add to that debate.
"One strength of this study is that it used blood samples to measure people's dietary intake of omega-3, rather than relying on answers to questionnaires to assess the link between omega-3 and cognition. However, this research does not tell us whether the people studied got worse or better over time.
"We would need to see large-scale, long-term studies before we can know whether a diet high in omega-3 can protect against dementia, and people shouldn't fill their freezers with oily fish just yet. The best evidence for reducing your risk of dementia is to eat a healthy, balanced diet, take regular exercise and keep your blood pressure and cholesterol in check."
More than 800,000 people in the UK suffer from dementia, with the majority affected by Alzheimer's disease.
- John von Radowitz

Sunday 26 February 2012

Brain Performance In Patients With Multiple Sclerosis Improved By Cognitive Rehabilitation

In a new study published in the March issue of Radiology, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) shows that cognitive rehabilitation changes brain function and improves cognitive performance in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis(MS). 

"These results prompt the use of specific computer-based rehabilitation programs to treat deficits in selected neuropsychological domains in patients with relapsing-remitting MS," said the study's lead author, Massimo Filippi, M.D., professor of neurology at the San Raffaele Vita-Salute University and director of the "BrainMap" interdepartmental research program and the Neuroimaging Research Unit, Department of Neuroscience, Scientific Institute San Raffaele, Milan, Italy. "They also suggest that fMRI might provide useful metrics to monitor the effects of rehab in MS." 

MS is a nervous system disease affecting the brain and spinal cord. MS damages a material called the myelin sheath that surrounds and protects nerve cells. This damage disrupts messages between the brain and other parts of the body, leading to symptoms such as muscle weakness, coordination and balance difficulties, numbness, problems with vision, memory loss and other cognitive issues. MS affects women more than men and often becomes symptomatic between the ages of 20 and 40. 

In relapsing-remitting MS, the most common type, patients experience a series of attacks followed by partial or complete disappearance of symptoms. The interval between relapses can range from weeks to years. 

Cognitive impairment affects a large proportion of patients with MS in the areas of attention, information processing, executive functions, memory and visual-spatial abilities. Cognitive dysfunction impacts a range of activities, including work, driving and social integration. 

For the study, Dr. Filippi and colleagues recruited 20 patients with relapsing-remitting MS. Patients were randomized into two groups of 10. The first group received a 12-week program of computer-assisted cognitive rehabilitation of attention and information processing and executive functions, and the second (control) group received no cognitive rehabilitation. 

Aspects of the rehabilitation program included a day-planning task, which employed realistic simulations of a set of scheduled dates and duties to address the patient's ability to organize, plan and develop solution strategies; and an attention task requiring the patient to simulate driving a train, carefully observing the control panel of the train and the countryside while encountering several distractions at increasing levels of difficulty. 

All of the patients underwent neuropsychological assessment and MRI exams at baseline and after 12 weeks. As compared to their performance at baseline, the patients in the treatment group improved in tests of attention and information processing and executive functions. The fMRI results showed modifications in activity in several brain regions in the rehabilitation group, compared to the non-rehabilitation group. These fMRI modifications were correlated with cognitive improvement. 

Analysis after cognitive rehabilitation found no structural changes in the gray matter or normal-appearing white matter of the brain in the treatment group. 

"The findings demonstrated that computer-assisted cognitive rehabilitation in patients with MS results in an improvement of the trained cognitive functions," Dr. Filippi said. "However, the structural integrity of the brain's gray matter and white matter showed no modifications in these patients, suggesting an impairment of structural plasticity." 


Source:http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/242002.php