Having high blood levels of omega-3 highly unsaturated fatty acids, which are found in fish oil, may help preserve thinking ability in the elderly, according to the findings of a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. The results were particularly striking among subjects with high blood pressure or high cholesterol levels.

Accumulating evidence suggests that diets that include omega-3 fatty acids, specifically, eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid,protect against the development of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, according to a Dutch research team. However, the effect of thec onsumption on thinking ability, or cognitive function has received less scrutiny.

Dr. Boukje Maria van Gelder, from the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment in Bilthoven, and associates evaluated data for 210 healthy men in the “Zutphen Study,” who were 79 to 89 years old in 1990 and had normal mental capacity. Their diets were assessed in 1990, and cognitive function was tested in 1990 and again in 1995.

Subjects who ate fish had a slower decline in cognitive function than subjects who did not eat fish.

The investigators concluded that the intake are not significantly related to cognitive impairment but are related to cognitive decline.

Van Gelder’s team recommends daily consumption of roughly 400 mg of EPA and DHA, found in fish, eggs,meats, leeks, and cereal products.

The treatment options for patients with early Parkinson’s expanded Wednesday with the approval of a new drug in patch form, a first for medicines to treat symptoms of the disease.

The once-daily Neupro patch contains a drug called rotigotine, which has not been sold before in the United States, the Food and Drug Administration said. The drug patch, made by Schwarz Pharma AG, is the first for the treatment of symptoms of Parkinson’s disease.

Parkinson’s disease results from the loss of dopamine-producing brain cells. Dopamine is crucial for the communication between cells that control muscle movement, which explains the trembling commonly seen in Parkinson’s patients.

An estimated 1 million people in the U.S. have Parkinson’s, with an additional 60,000 cases diagnosed each year

Many baby boomers are finding themselves caught in a squeeze. They’re taking care of their elderly parents while raising children or grandchildren. It’s what we call the “sandwich generation.”

A recent study found 13 percent of Americans age 41-59 are caught between the responsibilities of taking care of their children and aging parents at the same time.

By the year 2030, 20 percent of the population will be 65 or older,about 70 million Americans and the medical community is sounding the alarm. Because as more baby boomers become seniors, there are fewer doctors who specialize in senior health care.

Unfortunatly the number of people going into Geriatrics is declining.In 1998, there were about 9,000 geriatricians. Today there are just 6,700.

The article goes on to talk about how this will be a crisis and will turn into the Hurricane Katrina of 2020 and the cost of caring for these older people is going to be enormous.

Many medical schools are pushing the government to offer students financial incentives to pursue geriatrics. They say they’re hoping policy makers grow wiser as the U.S. population grows older.

 

A recent studied conducted by Dr. Yves Rolland of Hospital La Grave-Casselardit in Toulouse, France shows that nursing home residents with Alzheimer’s disease who participate in a moderate exercise program have a significantly slower deterioration than those who receive routine medical care.

Dr. Yves Rolland and colleagues studied the effects of a program of exercise for one hour twice weekly on activities of daily living, physical performance, nutritional status, behavioral disturbance and depression among 134 Alzheimer’s disease patients in nursing homes. The average age was 83yrs old.

At the end of the 12 months, the average activities-of-daily-living score was significantly more improved in the exercise group than in the routine medical care group, Rolland’s team reported.

Many nursing homes now have excersie programs for residents. Another added benefit for residents is the socialization. I find that residents of nursing homes, or specialized dementia/alzheimers communites benefit greatly from regulated excersise programs.

Recently www.alz.org released a new data publication that was truly shocking. The total worldwide cost of dementia care is estimated to be $315.4 billion annually, according to new data published in “An Estimate of the Total Worldwide Societal Costs of Dementia in 2005,” in the April 2007 issue of Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association.

The costs were based on an estimated world dementia population of 29.3 million persons. 77 percent of the total costs occurred in the world’s more developed regions, which have 46 percent of the dementia prevalence.

$315.4 billion is higher than the total budget of all but eight of the world’s countries. (According to the 2007 CIA World Factbook, only the U.S., Japan, Germany, France, U.K., Italy, China and Spain have 2007 budget expenditures greater that $315.4 billion.)

Being in this indusrty it is no surpirse how high the cost is. Everyday people are developing alzheimers and demntia snd the need for care services is on the rise.

Read more of this article at : http://www.alz.org/media_8491.asp