Wednesday, August 31, 2005

Brain Workouts May Tone Memory

Wired News: Brain Workouts May Tone Memory: "Among people who work with older adults, the concept of 'cognitive fitness' has become a buzzword to describe activities that stimulate underutilized areas of the brain and improve memory. Proponents of brain-fitness exercises say such mental conditioning can help prevent or delay memory loss and the onset of other age-related cognitive disorders...

One purpose of mental exercises is to reinforce the idea that "in aging, not everything is downhill," said Elkhonon Goldberg, a Manhattan neuropsychologist and author of The Wisdom Paradox, which examines how some people grow wiser with age.

"There are gains that are subsequent and consequent to a lifelong history of mental activity and mental striving," Goldberg said. He also believes brain exercises can benefit adults suffering from mild cognitive impairment, and he has developed computer puzzles designed to help them stimulate different areas of their brain.

It's not clear how much targeted brain exercises can prevent the onset of cognitive disorders in older adults. But some findings indicate that high cognitive ability is tied to a lower risk of Alzheimer's...

One of the most extensive and widely cited investigations on the subject, the landmark Nun Study, tracked 100 Milwaukee nuns who had written autobiographies in the 1930s. More than 50 years later, scientists gave them cognitive tests and examined the brain tissue of nuns who died. Those who demonstrated lower linguistic ability in the autobiographies were at greater risk for Alzheimer's disease.

A similar study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association surveyed 801 older Catholic nuns, priests and brothers. The results linked reading newspapers and participating in other brain-stimulating activities with a reduced risk of Alzheimer's."

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Skull Scanner Reveals Alzheimer's

Wired News: Skull Scanner Reveals Alzheimer's: "Technology that's now used to monitor patients in the operating room could become the first accurate way to diagnose Alzheimer's disease before death.
The only definitive way to diagnose Alzheimer's today is by performing an autopsy. But early test results indicate that a brain-wave analysis device can accurately detect the beginning stages of the deadly illness and even help to diagnose depression. The technology, developed by Aspect Medical Systems, converts the data from an electroencephalogram, or EEG, into a numerical value between 0 and 100 indicating the amount of electrical brain activity. "

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Thursday, August 25, 2005

Daydreaming activity linked to Alzheimer's

Health News Article | Reuters.com: " The parts of the brain that young, healthy people use when daydreaming are the same areas that fail in people who have Alzheimer's disease, researchers reported on Wednesday in a study that may someday help in preventing or diagnosing the disease.
The study, published in the Journal of Neuroscience, suggests that the way people use their brains could actually lead to Alzheimer's disease.

"It may be the normal cognitive function of the brain that leads to Alzheimer's later in life. This was not a relationship we had even considered," said Randy Buckner, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator at Washington University in St. Louis who led the study.

The relationships are not clear and do not yet suggest that daydreaming is dangerous, but further study may shed light on the relationship, the study said.

The study found that Alzheimer's mostly affects the brain's "default state" regions -- used when musing or daydreaming.

"We appear to use memory systems often in our default states," Buckner said in a statement. "This may help us to plan and solve problems. Maybe it helps us be creative. But it may also have metabolic consequences."

For their study, Buckner and colleagues used five different imaging techniques including positron emission tomography (PET) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to study the brain activity of 764 volunteers, including those with Alzheimer's, those close to developing dementia, and healthy people.

Such imaging scans have recently been found to indicate Alzheimer's disease and may even be able to diagnose it -- something that so far doctors can only do with 100 percent accuracy after death, although certain cognitive tests give a very good indication.

When people are concentrating on a task such as reading, talking or solving problems, the brain uses one set of regions, but during down time it switches to a default mode.

"The regions of the brain we tend to use in our default state when we are young are very similar to the regions where plaques form in older people with Alzheimer's disease," Buckner said.

Alzheimer's has no cure and there are no long-lasting treatments for the brain-destroying illness, which affects an estimated 4.5 million Americans.

It is marked by a messy buildup in the brain of two proteins called beta-amyloid and tau, and the death of healthy brain cells, but the precise mechanisms are not understood.

Exercise, and mental and social activity appear to help protect some people against the disease.

The researchers said their imaging studies also helped show that people with pre-dementia had damage in areas known to be damaged in Alzheimer's, which further confirms the potential use of brain imaging to diagnose and track the illness.

© Reuters 2005. All Rights Reserved."

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Stages of Alzheimer's disease

Stages of Alzheimer's disease - MayoClinic.com: "While there is no clear separation of 'stages' in dementia, there are global descriptions that capture the progression of the illness. The five basic descriptions of most types of dementia are based on an individual's abilities in the areas of memory, communication and self-care. These descriptions are:

Mild cognitive impairment. The person has some isolated thinking problems, often with memory, but can continue to live independently.

Mild dementia. The person experiences impaired thinking skills in two or more areas such as memory and problem solving. He or she may no longer be able to live completely independently and requires assistance with finances, grooming and dressing, and meal planning and cooking. The individual may also become confused when in public.

Moderate dementia. The person has severe thinking impairment and difficulty communicating. He or she can't live alone and needs help with almost every basic activity. The person can go out in public only with assistance.

Severe dementia. The person experiences severe problems with communication, frequent incontinence and requires constant care. He or she needs hands-on assistance with dressing and eating and is too impaired to go out in public alone.

Profound dementia. At this end stage, the person usually is bedridden."

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Saturday, August 20, 2005

Docs re EPA and Receiver Public Guardianship Office

Enduring power of attorney
a guide to making an enduring power of attorney or taking on the role of attorney


Public Guardianship Office

Med Cert

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