Drinking, Smoking Up Early Alzheimer's

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Q. Glen, Does Drinking and Smoking have any effect on Memory?


A. Study Shows Cigarettes and Alcohol Lead to Earlier Development of Alzheimer's Disease

People who smoke a pack of cigarettes or more a day develop Alzheimer's disease years earlier than those who do not, and heavy drinking of alcohol increases the risk even more.

In what is being lauded as a significant finding, research presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 60th Anniversary Annual Meeting this week in Chicago shows that smoking and drinking are among the most important preventable risk factors for Alzheimer's disease.

Researcher Ranjan Duara, MD, of the Wien Center for Alzheimer's Disease at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach, Fla., found that a combination of heavy drinking and heavy smoking leads to an earlier onset of Alzheimer's disease.
"It has been projected that a delay in the onset of the disease by 5 years would lead to a nearly 50% reduction in the total number of Alzheimer's cases," Duara says in a news release. "If we can reduce or eliminate heavy smoking and drinking, we could substantially delay the onset of Alzheimer's disease for people and reduce the number of people who have Alzheimer's at any point in time."
Duara's study involved 938 people aged 60 and older with possible or probable Alzheimer's. Family members provided information regarding the patients' alcohol consumption and cigarette usage.
Heavy smoking was defined as one or more packs of cigarettes a day; heavy drinking was defined as more than two drinks per day. The researchers also grouped participants according to whether they carried the apolipoprotein E-4 [ApoE-4] gene variant, which increases risk for Alzheimer's disease.
The study showed:

• Heavy drinkers developed the disease 4.8 years before those who did not drink as much.
• Alzheimer's developed 2.3 years earlier in heavy smokers than in those who were not heavy smokers.
• The gene variant reduced the age of onset by three years.
• People with all three risk factors developed Alzheimer's 8.5 years earlier than those who had no risk factors.

Alzheimer's disease is a progressive, incurable brain disease that leads to the loss of mental abilities that affect memory and learning. According to the Alzheimer's Association, about 5 million people in the U.S. live with the condition. However, there are concerns that the number will skyrocket in the near future as America's baby boomers reach their golden years.


Reference: Ranjan Duara, MD, Web MD


Any personal health questions or problems mental or physical or before starting any diet or exercise program. Please consult your physician !



My mission is to provide you with "Trusted Advice for a Healthier Life."


Yours in good health

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Why Belly Fat Hurts the Heart

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Q. Glen, Can Belly fat be harmful to your Heart?


A. Belly Fat, Also Called Visceral Fat, Boosts Inflammation and Atherosclerosis, Say Scientists Studying Mice Belly fat tucked deep inside your waistline may be worse for your arteries than fat padding the rest of your body.
That's according to University of Michigan scientists studying the health risks of abdominal fat, also called visceral fat.
Here's what Miina Ohman, MD, PhD, and colleagues learned from their lab tests in mice:

• Belly fat appears to boost inflammation.
• Belly fat is linked to worse atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), which makes heart attacks more likely.

In those tests, some mice got a transplant of visceral fat. Other mice got a transplant of subcutaneous fat (which sits directly under the skin, not deep in the belly) or no fat transplant.
The bottom line: Visceral fat brought the most inflammation and the worst atherosclerosis.
After visceral fat transplantation, mice developed less severe atherosclerosis if their chow was laced with the diabetes drug Actos for 10 weeks. But Actos didn't affect atherosclerosis in other mice, and the researchers aren't ready to recommend any drugs for visceral fat.
Don't disregard the study, published online in Circulation, just because the tests were done in mice. Other studies have linked belly fat to health risks in people.
Belly fat does budge, but it takes work. Researchers have found that exercise is a must to get rid of belly fat.
Reference: WebMD
Any personal health questions or problems mental or physical or before starting any diet or exercise program. Please consult your physician !

My mission is to provide you with "Trusted Advice for a Healthier Life."


Yours in good health
Any questions?
Ask Glen!