It smells like..Alzheimers

It appears that researchers at the University of Florida have picked up the scent of early Alzheimers Disease.
Alzheimer’s  is very hard to diagnose in its early stages.  Researchers at our very own University of Florida studied 94 patients, 18 of whom were diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.  

They took a teaspoon full of peanut butter and measured how far from each nostril – one at a time – it was before the subject in the test could smell it.  

Alzheimer’s patients had a much more difficult time smelling the peanut butter, and more so with their LEFT nostril versus their right.  

A decreased sensation of smell is one hallmark of patients with Alzheimer’s and usually the LEFT side of the brain is affected first.  Interesting to say the least.  More studies are now being done.

Even though our focus at Beauty-by-Brueck is on cosmetic surgery in Southwest Florida, we also have a compelling interest in all things related to health.

CAN'T REMEMBER THE LIST? Dr. Brueck on memory retention.

Dr. Robert J. Brueck MD FACS likes to write about all matters of health and medicine, which he does regularly at this blog. As a Fort Myers Board Certified plastic surgeon his practice is largely limited to Southwest Florida, but his interests know no limits.

As my friends enter the twilight of their lives, I have become more cognizant of "senior" moments. I can remember, I think, even when I was much younger those moments of "what's-his-name-again" ineptitude. To forestall what I hope is not the inevitable, I now take three tablets a day of Neuro-PS Gold to help maintain my upstairs functioning.

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal referred to a "new" substance to help restore memory.

The original article appeared in the Journal Nature. This secret ingredient is known as IGF-II and it is a protein. When this substance was blocked from the brain in mice they couldn't remember what they learned. So when this substance is present declarative memory is improved.

Declarative memory centers around remembering facts, faces, places and things like that.

This memory is affected in Alzheimer disease.

One advantage of this protein molecule is that it can cross the blood brain barrier so it could be administered by vapor, maybe by pill or intravenously. So now more research will follow.

The next question is, if IGF-II is administered throughout the body and not just the brain how will it affect other organ systems. It's exciting and it's cutting edge and it's hope for many.

VITAMIN D - HOW IMPORTANT IS IT

Dr. Robert J. Brueck, Fort Myers Board Certified Plastic Surgeon with a comprehensive web site at http://www.Beauty-by-Brueck.com, frequently writes about matters of health and beauty. This time he reflects on the importance of Vitamin D

We live in a dynamic, new, nutrition-oriented world.

For many of us our daily routine starts with a morning cup of coffee and maybe a multivitamin. How things have changed for me! My early morning cup of java is a constant. But I gaze across my desk and see a ton of diet supplements that I now take on a regular basis.

(I do, however, have to admit that I am lazy on weekends and sometimes forget them.)

One of those supplements is Vitamin D. There was a recent article discussing the importance of Vitamin D for “cognitive function”. This appeared in the July 12^th magazine Healthy Aging.

Researchers found that an astonishing 40% to 100% of older adults in the US and Europe are deficient in vitamin D. ( I just reached over and took another 5000 IU of vitamin D; now I can remember what day it is. )

Vitamin D may also help prevent degeneration of our brain tissue by being important in preventing the buildup of Amyloid/(Alzheimer’s) and also in the formation of nervous tissue. The lead researcher, Dr. David Llewellyn of the University of Exeter England and colleagues studied vitamin D levels in 858 adults who were greater than the age of 65.

Study subjects who were severely deficient in vitamin D were 60% more likely to have substantial cognitive decline in general over the 6 year period of this study.

So the study’s findings may open new avenues for research in brain function disorders i.e. senile dementia and Alzheimer’s.

Thought: It may not be a bad idea to pop a vitamin D capsule in the morning.

How bad are cell phones for your health? Dr. Brueck, Plastic Surgeon, reflects:

[This message is provided by Dr. Brueck, Fort Myers Plastic surgeon, in the interest of general information about subjects of medical research. It is not intended as medical advice and should not be considered as such.]

Over the last several years the public has been inundated with data studies and surveys suggesting excessive cell phone use may lead to brain cancer.

What is excessive? 1 hour, 5 hours? Who knows?

It is a controversy that will be with us a long time.

But, as the controversy grows and deepens, a recent study in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease shows long term use of cell phones in mice can reverse symptoms of Alzheimer’s.

One group of mice was subjected to two hours of electro-magnetic fields (cell phones) and the second group none. After seven months the cell phone groups did better in cognitive thinking.

Older mice that had symptoms of Alzheimer’s also got better after eight months.

Mice are mice and men are men so we have to be careful of drawing any conclusions. But like so many things in our lives, it makes us sit back and wonder. We’ll wait for chapter two.

Stay tuned to Dr. Brueck's periodic blog messages by signing up for the RSS feed on one of the icon buttons on the right side of this page. You may unsubscribe at anytime. You also are invited to visit Dr. Brueck's web site for more thorough discussion of plastic surgery procedures and outcomes.

Short Arms – Long Legs - Who Cares?

We truly do live in an information age. Researchers are gathering thousands and thousands of pages of data on just about anything.

Now, this interesting study shows how limb length may be correlated with Alzheimer’s.

It has been believed that the portion of the brain most impacted by Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) develops simultaneously when the limbs are growing most rapidly.

This study, done at Tufts University, explored the relationship between the length of arms and legs with the risk of dementia.

The researchers studied 2798 men and women. Conclusion: the researchers found that the risk of AD and dementia decreased as knee height and arm span increased. This finding may show the importance of nutrition in early childhood to maximize limb length.

Get out the protein, Mom.