Depression linked to brain inflammation

Years of depression can cause brain inflammation that has been linked to degenerative diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, an analysis of brain-changes among people whose depression lasted more than 10 years, done by the Canadian Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, suggested doctors may need to treat both depression and inflammation in these patients.

The average, untreated bout of depression typically lasts a few months, according to Harvard University. Everyone's symptoms vary in type, severity, and duration. Depression may look like irritability or simply a 'low mood.' But the staying power of depression may make it even more difficult to diagnose, as years of the disorder come to be seen as 'normal' for the person suffering the symptoms.

This may be why the average age of diagnosis for persistent depressive disorder (PDD) is relatively late, at 31 years old. The condition is also known to affect eating habits and experiences. Some tend to overeat when they are depressed, others lose their appetites, and still others will experience upset stomachs.

A high number of physical complaints may also be, in some cases, a warning sign that someone is depressed or in the throes of another mental health issue. Depression typically involves a shortage of serotonin, a neurochemical that nerve cells use to communicate a command for blood vessels to constrict. This is particularly important to the way that the digestive tract functions, as well as to the experience of pain.

Depression is a physical illness that could be treated with anti-inflammatory drugs, an overactive immune system may trigger the mental health condition by causing widespread inflammation that leads to feelings of hopelessness and unhappiness. The immune system may fail to 'switch off' after an illness or traumatic event. Previous research has shown people who suffer severe emotional trauma have signs of inflammation, which suggests their immune system is constantly 'fired-up'.

Researchers from the Center for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) found evidence that longer bouts of depression increased brain inflammation. To determine whether or not the duration of depression made a difference for its inflammatory effects, the research team, led by senior study author Dr Jeff Meyer of CAMH's Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute recruited three groups of 25 people.

The first group had experienced more than a decade of depression, the second had experienced less than a decade, and the third had never experienced any depression, by their own reports. The difference between the PDD sufferers and the other two groups was dramatic. Those who had been depressed for more than 10 years had 30 percent more of a protein marker of brain-inflammation than those who had experienced depression, but for shorter amounts of time.

Their inflammation levels were also higher than the control group that had never been depressed. Greater inflammation in the brain is a common response with degenerative brain diseases as they progress, such as with Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson´s diseases.
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Memory loss before Alzheimer's disease

A UCL-led team has developed a cognitive test to detect subtle memory deficits years before Alzheimer's disease symptoms develop. The study involved 21 people who carry the mutation for early onset Alzheimer's disease who have not shown any symptoms based on standard cognitive tests, alongside 14 controls. On average the study participants were seven years away from predicted onset of symptomatic disease.

The participants underwent a memory test with 30-minute recall, and were then checked seven days later to see if they still remembered. The authors found that people who were closest to the expected onset of symptoms could remember things after 30 minutes but then had forgotten things after seven days. The researchers say their findings demonstrate that memory formation wasn't the issue, so typical tests wouldn't identify any problems.

The researchers found a correlation between long-term forgetting and subjective memory complaints. This could be the earliest test to detect changes in someone's cognition that lead to Alzheimer's disease. The study's first author, Dr. Philip Weston (UCL Dementia Research Centre), said: "The study would appear to significantly advance the knowledge of the earliest cognitive changes in Alzheimer's, and offers a new useful approach to testing people both in drug trials and in the clinic."
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Exercise improves memory and thinking

Mild cognitive impairment is an intermediate stage between the expected cognitive decline of normal aging and the more serious decline of dementia. Symptoms can involve problems with memory, language, thinking and judgment that are greater than normal age-related changes. Generally, these changes aren't severe enough to significantly interfere with day-to-day life and usual activities.

 A new guideline for medical practitioners says they should recommend twice-weekly exercise to people with mild cognitive impairment to improve memory and thinking. However, mild cognitive impairment may increase the risk of later progressing to dementia caused by Alzheimer's disease or other neurological conditions.

But some people with mild cognitive impairment never get worse, and a few eventually get better. Engaging in aerobic exercise like walking briskly, jogging, whatever you like for more than 100 minutes a week can improve memory. The level of exertion should be enough to work up a bit of a sweat but doesn't need to be so rigorous that you can't hold a conversation. Exercising might slow down the rate at which you would progress from mild cognitive impairment to dementia.
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Education reduces the risk of Alzheimer's disease

The theory that education protects against Alzheimer's disease has been given further weight by new research. Alzheimer's disease is the leading cause of dementia. Building of 'plaques' and 'tangles' of misshapen proteins lead to the gradual death of brain cells. People affected by Alzheimer's experience memory and communication problems, disorientation, changes in behavior and progressive loss of independence.

The causes of Alzheimer's are largely unknown, and attempts to develop drug treatments to stop or reverse its effects have been disappointing. This has led to increasing interest in whether it is possible to reduce the number of cases of Alzheimer's disease by tackling common risk factors that can be modified.

Many studies have shown that the more years spent in full time education, the lower the risk of Alzheimer's. But it is difficult to unravel whether this is an effect of education improving brain function, or whether it's the case that people who are more educated tend to come from more wealthy backgrounds and therefore have a reduction in other risk factors that cause Alzheimer's disease.

Researchers examined looking DNA and compared genes associated with environmental risk factors – for example, genes linked to educational attainment or to smoking – and seeing which of these genes are also associated with Alzheimer's disease. If a gene is associated with both, then it provides strong evidence that this risk factor really does cause the disease. Researchers studied genetic variants that increase the risk of a variety of different environmental risk factors to see if these were more common in patients with Alzheimer's disease. They found the strongest association with genetic variants that predict higher educational attainment.

This provides further strong evidence that education is associated with a reduced risk of Alzheimer's disease, improving education could have a significant effect on reducing the number of people who suffer from this devastating disease. Exactly how education might reduce the risk of Alzheimer's is uncertain.

Previous studies have shown that the same amount of damage in the brain is associated with less severe and less frequent Alzheimer's in people who have received more education. One possible explanation is the idea of 'cognitive reserve' – the ability to recruit alternative brain networks or to use brain structures or networks not normally used to compensate for brain ageing. Evidence suggests that education helps improve brain wiring and networks and hence could increase this reserve.
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Extra-virgin olive oil prevents cognitive decline and Alzheimer's disease

Extra-virgin olive oil protects memory and learning ability and reduces the formation of amyloid-beta plaques and neurofibrillary tangles in the brain.

The oil reduces brain inflammation and activates autophagy. Autophagy is the process of cells breakdown and removing of intracellular toxins like amyloid plaques and tau tangles.

Brain cells from mice fed with diets enriched in extra-virgin olive oil had higher levels of autophagy and reduced levels of amyloid plaques and phosphorylated tau. Phosphorylated tau causes neurofibrillary tangles that leads to nerve cell dysfunction in the brain that causes Alzheimer disease.

 Transgenic mouse model was used by researchers to investigate the links between extra-virgin olive oil and dementia, Alzheimer's disease.

The researchers divided the animals into two groups, one that received a diet enriched with extra-virgin olive oil and one that received the regular diet without the oil.

The olive oil was introduced into the diet when the mice were six months old, before symptoms of Alzheimer's disease begin to emerge in the animal model.

 There was no difference between the two groups of animals. However, at age 9 months and 12 months, mice on the extra virgin olive oil diet performed significantly better on tests designed to evaluate working memory, spatial memory, and learning abilities.

Studies of brain tissue from both groups of mice showed dramatic differences in nerve cell appearance and function.
The integrity of the connections between neurons, known as synapses, were preserved in animals on the extra-virgin olive oil diet.

Brain cells from animals in the olive oil group showed a dramatic increase in nerve cell autophagy activation, which was solely responsible for the reduction in levels of amyloid plaques and phosphorylated tau.

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Lutein in broccoli can boosts children's IQ

Lutein is a carotenoid vitamin. It is related to beta-carotene and vitamin A.
Foods rich in this substance are broccoli, spinach, kale, egg yolk, corn, orange, pepper, kiwi fruit and grape.

The compound reverse fading memory.
High levels of lutein boosts children performance and improve their IQ.
Researchers asked children to do a cognitive task, those with higher levels of the substance did better on the task and didn't have a brain spike during the activity.

Researchers discovered that children with higher lutein levels are better in academic tests than those with lower levels. Lutein is a key factor in measuring a child's cognitive development.

It concentrates in the brain, prevents brain spike and protects the memory. It can prevents the inception of Alzheimer’s diseases.

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Dangers of sleeping pills

Sleeping pills pose the same threat as smoking a packet of cigarettes a day, it's linked to cancer and heart attack.

They cause infections, falling and dementia in the elderly, and they lose their effectiveness after a few weeks.

 The drugs block acetylcholine - which patients with Alzheimer's disease are believed to lack, causing them drowsiness.

 Researchers found the common pills may also increase the risk of contracting pneumonia.

Adults are advised to complete 150 minutes of such physical activity each week, with most choosing a brisk walk or gentle cycle.

Doing natural exercise, without the need to visit the gym, may provide the biggest benefits.

He added: 'I think trying to do it outside is also helpful, because bright light can help promote sleep.

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Exercise aids healing process

Exercise has a positive effect on more than 85 per cent of physical and functional capacity indicators in patients suffering from more than 20 diseases.

It boosts patients' strength, balance, and ability to walk and complete everyday tasks. Being active prevents many diseases and aids healing process.

Researchers from the University of Jyväskylä, Finland, conducted a review of the effects of exercise therapy on 22 of the most common chronic diseases, including arthritis, heart failure, Alzheimer's disease and certain cancers.

This was then compared against patients doing no exercise or receiving standard care. Exercise has a positive effect on 86 per cent of physical performance and functional capacity indicators.

Exercise is a safe way to improve functional capacity and reduce disability in patients with chronic diseases.

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Polyunsaturated fats preserve memory

Fats found in fish, nuts and olive oil can preserve memory and problem-solving abilities as you age.

Omega-3 and 6 fatty acids found in these food groups protect the areas of the brain that are most affected by ageing.

The fatty acids preserve the frontoparietal cortex - a brain network responsible for problem solving, aid maintenance of the fornix, which is a small brain region that has previously been linked to memory and Alzheimer's disease.

Polyunsaturated fats are found in salmon, nuts, seeds and olive oil. These fats enhance fluid intelligence that make you to solve problems you have not encountered before.

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