Healthy lifestyle and its impact on cognition later in life.

 

Healthy Lifestyle Linked to Better Cognition in Later Life

Eve Bender

February 08, 2024

Leading a healthy lifestyle, including regular exercise, eating fruits and vegetables, and minimal alcohol consumption, is associated with better cognitive function in older adults, according to new research published in JAMA Neurology.

The study, which combined longitudinal and cohort data with postmortem brain pathology reports, found that the association held even in those with Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology, suggesting that lifestyle factors may provide cognitive reserve and improve cognitive abilities in older age.

"While we must use caution in interpreting our findings, in part due to its cross-sectional design, these results support the role of lifestyle in providing cognitive reserve to maintain cognitive function in older adults despite the accumulation of common dementia-related brain pathologies," Klodian Dhana, MD, of the Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, Illinois, and colleagues wrote.

The study was published online on February 5, 2024 in JAMA Neurology. <https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaneurology/article-abstract/2814688>

Better Cognition

The study included 586 participants (71% female) who were followed from 1997 until 2022 as part of the Rush Memory and Aging Project longitudinal cohort study.

Investigators collected information on lifestyle and demographic factors at regular intervals, as well as information on diet, alcohol intake, and time spent participating in moderate or vigorous physical activity such as gardening, walking, calisthenics, biking, or swimming. Participants also received annual cognitive tests.

In later years, participants answered questions about whether they played card games or checkers, read, visited a museum, or did other cognitively stimulating activities.

Postmortem exams allowed the researchers to assess brain pathology (mean age at death, 91 years).

Participants were categorized as living a healthy lifestyle if they scored well in five categories: They exercised moderately or vigorously for 150 minutes per week, did not smoke, consumed one to two drinks per week, regularly played card games or did puzzles, and followed the Mediterranean-DASH Diet Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay diet.

For every one-point increase in the healthy lifestyle score, there were 0.120 fewer units of beta-amyloid load in the brain and a 0.22 standardized unit higher score in cognitive performance (P < .001).

After adjusting for the beta-amyloid load, phosphorated tau tangle, or other dementia-related brain pathologies, the healthy lifestyle score remained independently associated with cognition (P < .001).

More than 88% of a person's global cognition score was a "direct association of lifestyle," investigators noted, leaving slightly less than 12% affected by the presence of beta-amyloid.

"The mechanistic link between lifestyle and cognition could be attributed in part to the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory capacities of each lifestyle factor (eg, nutrition and physical activity) and cognitive reserve (eg, cognitive activities) that contribute to less inflammation and oxidative stress," the authors wrote.

Further studies are necessary, they added, especially research investigating the association of lifestyle factors with markers for inflammation to understand the mechanisms of how lifestyle is associated with better cognitive scores in old age.

Study limitations include the reliance on self-reported data because cognitive impairment could interfere with inaccurate reporting. In addition, the authors noted that cognitive abilities may affect adherence to lifestyle factors.

'Important Evidence'

In an accompanying editorial, Yue Leng, MD, and Kristine Yaffe, MD, of the University of San Francisco in San Francisco, California, noted that the new study adds "important evidence" to the debate over modifiable risk factors and reduction of AD risk.

"These interesting results add strength to the concept that health and lifestyle factors are important strategies for prevention and suggest that several mechanisms may be at work," they wrote, adding that the study is "one of the first to harness brain pathology to investigate these mechanisms and is a crucial step forward in addressing these important questions."

Still, critical questions remain regarding the mechanistic pathways linking modifiable risk factors and cognitive aging, Leng and Yaffe wrote.

"There is an urgent need for more well-designed randomized controlled trials to pave the way for dementia risk reduction in the era of precision medicine," they wrote. "These strategies should be offered in conjunction with AD medications, similar to the approach in cardiovascular disease prevention and treatment in which medications along with lifestyle strategies are the standard of care."

The study was funded by the National Institute on Aging. Dhana reported grants paid to his institution from the Alzheimer's Association. No other disclosures were reported.

 The Daily Om....

I love this article and thought I would share it for those who love napping and feel guilty about it.

My hubby loves naps and he never feels bad about it, I on the other hand keep thinking about all the other things I could have should be doing. I am also working on that should aspect.

So, may you all feel free to enjoy your naps from now on and may you feel rejuvenated after.

The Importance of Napping

The desire for a short nap during the day does not arise out of laziness, rather the need for the body to rejuvenate. In the modern world, we’re often compelled to be as productive as possible during as many hours of the day as we can be. While this can lead to great feats of accomplishment, we may become exhausted and find ourselves craving rest and rejuvenation. We may feel like taking a nap but feel guilty about indulging in even ten minutes of rest. This need for personal downtime, which many people experience in the early afternoon, isn’t a sign of laziness nor is it necessarily related to how much sleep you had the night before. There was even a time when taking a nap was considered a natural part of everyone’s day. Napping is a pleasurable yet brief period of sleep when our minds and bodies can take a break. Though judged by many to be a pastime for children or the elderly, napping can benefit people of all ages. The desire to nap is a trait shared by many mammals, and napping is still an important part of the day in some countries. Snoozing for a half-hour can be an enjoyable way to promote physical well-being, and naps have been known to improve your mood and memory. A 20-minute nap can sharpen your senses and revitalize you, while a ten minute nap can leave you feeling more cheerful. Falling into a light sleep during the daytime can feel meditative. The thoughts you have as you are taking a nap and the dreams you experience may offer you insights about your life that you may not have at night when you are in a deep sleep. In order to fully enjoy the benefits of napping, you may need to give yourself permission to nap. Feeling guilty about snoozing or worrying about your to-do list won’t do you much good when you are trying to take a nap because your thoughts or feelings will keep you awake. Try to nap at the same time each day, and use an alarm clock to ensure that you don’t sleep for too long. Learning to nap and enjoy its restorative benefits can help you wake up restored, rejuvenated, and ready for the rest of your day.

Lymphatic System Explained In Simple Words

Epigenetics

Allowing others to be

 This can be challenging for most of us...

DailyOm Allowing Others To Be

People that want to control others are, at the core, consumed with their own fears and projecting those fears onto others. We all know what it’s like to want to be in control. In some ways, exerting control is an important survival skill. For example, we have every right to be in control of our own bodies and our own lives. Taking control in these cases is empowering and necessary. Controlling behavior in the negative sense comes from a tendency to reach beyond our own boundaries and into the lives of others. Many people do this with the rationalization that they are helping. This can happen with parents who are still trying to force their grown children into behaving in ways that they find acceptable. It can also happen when people try to control their partners’ behavior. If you have control issues, you will see that in one or more areas of your life, you feel the need to interfere with what is happening rather than just allowing events to unfold. Almost everyone has at least one situation or relationship in which they try to exert control. This often happens because someone’s behavior makes us uncomfortable. We may feel it makes us look bad, or it embarrasses us. For example, if your best friend tends to drink too much, you might spend an entire party just trying to prevent her from doing so. This is different from directly confronting her about the problem and allowing her to decide what she should do. Controlling behavior generally goes hand in hand with an unwillingness to be direct about what you want, as well as an inability to let go and let people live their own lives. If you are the one that is controlling, it’s probably because you feel as if you are out of control and it scares you. Try to pick one thing you could just let unfold without any control on your part. Examine how it made you feel both before and after, and examine why you wanted to control the situation. It is hard sometimes to allow others to be who they are, especially if we feel we know what’s best for them and we see them making choices we wouldn’t make. However, if we are to be respectful and truly loving, we have to let people go, trusting that they will find their own way in their own time and understanding that it is their life to live. Just reminding yourself that the only life you have to live is your own is the first step to letting go.

What's with the energy?

 I'm not sure if I am alone in this but the energy feels crazy right now. There are days where I feel like I am losing my mind. Am I doing the right things? Why do I feel so Blah? Why am I struggling to stay motivated, focused and productive. 

Why do I feel so disconnected from my intuition and Source. This is such a rollercoaster. Finding a routine or practice that works and serves me seems to be so illusive. 

As you can see, I am all over the place and business seems to reflect this. It is always fascinating and amazing to me that I can truly see the reflection of my state of energy in how my business shifts and changes.

I am feeling somewhat lost, like walking through a thick mist without being able to see the way. Each step uncertain and clouded. It is easy for me to feel totally overwhelmed and frozen. This feeling is so foreign, especially after the certainty that I felt around Fall of last year.

I am undergoing a huge shift? OR am I??  The end off last year brought a whole lot of change and challenges and healing ceremonies. I was so sure that after all of that I would have a clearer direction and now, here I sit, wondering: What the F*$k? My schedule of working out and being outside was disrupted. I was allowed very little activity as my body healed and I had no idea how much this would affect everything. I watched as my diet changed and I started eating more sugar and missing meals, and I felt helpless in that too. I am not eating like I used to and I just feel off. 

Now many may say: "well, hell yeah, if your diet is off track then it is not surprising you feel off" and then throw in menopause...that's a whole minefield of it's own. Talk about your body and mind being hijacked!

I know that I should probably know better and have so many tools to help. I am not feeling up to a deep investigation of what to do and how to eat and what supplements to take. It all seems like too much. I am not feeling disciplined or motivated enough to go through a cleanse or a strict dietary schedule, and yet, is that exactly what I need? 

I am rambling and probably just going around in circles and confusing myself even more.

Like I said, what's with the energy? or is it just my energy? 

Taking my own advice, maybe I just need to put one foot in front of the other right now and focus on one thing at a time. Make sure I move my body in some way every day. Find time to meditate and hibernate a little? Find some joy in the moments, even if I feel like I'm a little crazy.

Boy, I appreciate those who read this whole lot of nothing.  Been a while since I just typed whatever was on my mind and I'm too afraid to even read through this as I am sure I Would not post it if I did.

Thank you!

 Medscape Medical News...

What's the Disease Burden From Plastic Exposure?

Liam Davenport | January 11, 2024

Exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) via daily use of plastics is a major contributor to the overall disease burden in the United States and the associated costs to society amount to more than 1% of the gross domestic product, revealed a large-scale analysis.

The research, published in the Journal of the Endocrine Society on January 11, 2024 indicated that taken together, the disease burden attributable to EDCs used in the manufacture of plastics added up to almost $250 billion in 2018 alone.

"The diseases due to plastics run the entire life course from preterm birth to obesity, heart disease, and cancers," commented lead author Leonardo Trasande, MD, MPP, Jim G. Hendrick, MD Professor of Pediatrics, Department of Pediatrics, NYU Langone Medical Center, New York, in a release.

"Our study drives home the need to address chemicals used in plastic materials" through global treaties and other policy initiatives, he said, so as to "reduce these costs" in line with reductions in exposure to the chemicals.

Co-author Michael Belliveau, Executive Director at Defend Our Health in Portland, ME, agreed, saying: "We can reduce these health costs and the prevalence of chronic endocrine diseases such as diabetes and obesity if governments and companies enact policies that minimize exposure to EDCs to protect public health and the environment."

Plastics may contain any one of a number of EDCs, such as polybrominated diphenylethers in flame retardant additives, phthalates in food packaging, bisphenols in can linings, and perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in nonstick cooking utensils.

These chemicals have been shown to leach and disturb the body's hormone systems, increasing the risk for cancer, diabetes, reproductive disorders, neurological impairments in developing fetuses and children, and even death.

In March 2022, the United Nations Environment Assembly committed to a global plastics treaty to "end plastic pollution and forge an international legally binding agreement by 2024" that "addresses the full lifecycle of plastic, including its production, design and disposal."

Minimizing EDC Exposure

But what can doctors tell their patients today to help them reduce their exposure to EDCs?

"There are safe and simple steps that people can take to limit their exposure to the chemicals of greatest concern," Trasande told Medscape Medical News.

This can be partly achieved by reducing plastic use down to its essentials. "To use an example, when you are flying, fill up a stainless steel container after clearing security. At home, use glass or stainless steel" rather than plastic bottles or containers.

In particular, "avoiding microwaving plastic is important," Trasande said, "even if a container says it's microwave-safe."

He warned that "many chemicals used in plastic are not covalently bound, and heat facilitates leaching into food. Microscopic contaminants can also get into food when you microwave plastic."

Trasande also suggests limiting canned food consumption and avoiding cleaning plastic food containers in machine dishwashers.

Calculating the Disease Burden

To accurately assess the "the tradeoffs involved in the ongoing reliance on plastic production as a source of economic productivity," the current researchers calculated the attributable disease burden and cost related to EDCs used in plastic materials in the United States in 2018.

Building on previously published analyses, they used industry reports, publications by national and international governing bodies, and peer-reviewed publications to determine the usage of each type of EDC and its attributable disease and disability burden.

This plastic-related fraction (PRF) of disease burden was then used to calculate an updated cost estimate for each EDC, based on the assumption that the disease burden is directly proportional to its exposure.

They found that for bisphenol A, 97.5% of its use, and therefore its estimated PRF of disease burden, was related to the manufacture of plastics, while this figure was 98%-100% for phthalates. For PDBE, 98% of its use was in plastics vs 93% for PFAS.

The researchers then estimated that the total plastic-attributable disease burden in the United States in 2018 cost the nation $249 billion, or 1.22% of the gross domestic product. Of this, $159 billion was linked to PDBE exposure, which is associated with diseases such as cancer.

Moreover, $1.02 billion plastic-attributable disease burden was associated with bisphenol A exposure, which can have potentially harmful health effects on the immune system; followed by $66.7 billion due to phthalates, which are linked to preterm birth, reduced sperm count, and childhood obesity; and $22.4 billion due to PFAS, which are associated with kidney failure and gestational diabetes.

The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health and the Passport Foundation.

Trasande declared relationships with Audible, Houghton Mifflin, Paidos, and Kobunsha, none of which relate to the present manuscript.

No other financial relationships were declared.