Save the brain!

Myrna: But there is a difference between senile dementia and Alzheimers. In my family, it has been senile dementia that has bothered people. My great-grandmother (Pritchett) and my grandmother (Pitts) both had senile dementia. It was caused, in both cases, by strokes. I think that is what caused Uncle Max's problem, as well, though I am not certain. The effects are so much the same--forgetfulness, lack of patience, etc. So what do your doctors say is the cause of Alzheimer's? Isn't it, though the effects are the same, caused more by genetics? What do they do for Alzheimer's? I thought there were new medications they could give to reduce the problems. Love, M

Melanie: At the place where I work, the senile dementia patients have been years without exercise and without good health. The doctors there tell us all the time to stay active and reduce the fat in our diets, it will help to have healthy brains in future years.

 http://www.alzinfo.org/alzheimers-research-prevention.asp
Fisher Center For Alzheimer's Research Foundation
Can taking cholesterol-lowering drugs prevent Alzheimer's disease? Scientific evidence is growing for a link between the use of a class of cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins and reduced risk of Alzheimer's disease. Statins, which are prescribed to millions of Americans for lowering blood levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol - the "bad" cholesterol - have been the subject of intense focus in Alzheimer's research ever since a series of epidemiologic studies found that people who took them have a lower incidence of Alzheimer's.Here's what some of the latest studies have found: Researchers at Boston University School of Medicine found that people taking statins reduced their risk of developing Alzheimer's by 29 percent. The study, the largest to date on this subject, tracked more than 2,300 participants and included African-Americans. Alzheimer's incidence was reduced equally in both whites and African-Americans. A team at St. George's Hospital Medical School in London found that using statins to reduce cholesterol levels dramatically lowered the production of beta amyloid in laboratory experiments. Beta amyloid is a protein that abnormally accumulates in the brain in Alzheimer's disease. The group has also shown that raising cholesterol levels increases beta amyloid production. A Tokyo-based research group found similar results, and identified a specific pathway through which statins may exert their effect on beta amyloid. Scientists at Georgetown University found that high cholesterol levels increase the rate at which beta amyloid breaks off from its "parent" protein and accumulates into the plaques found in Alzheimer's disease. They also showed that high cholesterol increases the production of another protein, called APOE, which contributes to nerve cell toxicity when overproduced. Other scientists are looking at the biochemical effects statins have within the brain. A team at the University of South Florida Health Sciences Center discovered that statins were able to block the toxic effects beta amyloid has on nerve cells, and seemed to act through an anti-inflammatory action. Inflammatory processes are thought to contribute to Alzheimer's in ways that are not completely understood.A large, prospective clinical trial is currently underway to try to determine conclusively if statins can prevent or delay the onset of Alzheimer's disease.