This IIT Hyd device can alert doctors about heart diseases by monitoring ECG data in real-time

Researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad (IIT Hyderabad) have developed a low-power device that can monitor electrocardiogram (ECG) and alert patients and doctors in real-time about the risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVD). CVD tops the list of public health concern compared to other diseases and has almost become the primary cause of human deaths, as per a survey of the World Health Organisation (WHO). The main causes include changing trend in lifestyle, unhealthy eating habits, tobacco usage, low fruit and vegetable intake and lack of physical activity and lot of stress. These factors necessitate developing a personalised CVD monitoring device powered by battery backup and with a very low form factor to achieve unobtrusiveness that works under the emerging cyber-physical system setup.
The research was conducted by a team comprising Vemishetty Naresh (PhD, Research Scholar, Advanced Embedded Systems and IC Design Laboratory, Department of Electrical Engineering), IIT Hyderabad and Dr Amit Acharyya, Associate Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering. As a proof of concept demonstration, the researchers have taken healthy and various unhealthy cases from the Physionet database to validate the proposed method. Their research has been published recently in the peer-reviewed international journal Scientific Reports, an online open access, scientific journal published by prestigious Nature Research.
Speaking about the importance of this research, Dr Amit Acharyya said, "CVD is one of the deadliest disease and irrespective of the economy of the country people are getting affected by it. It is manifested in different forms necessitating the early diagnosis, therapy and prognosis. Hence the proposed work on the classification is going to be of immense help for the society."
In addition, they also worked on developing different classification techniques and integrating them to make a generic algorithm. A novel System-On-Chip (SoC) architecture is developed in a low complex way by resource sharing concept for the CVD automation. Thus the whole system can cover various ECG abnormalities and finally come up with the prototype board which looks similar to as a smartphone at the patient end.
Speaking about their plans to take this research to benefit the society at large, Vemishetty Naresh said, "There is an exponential increment in human mortality rate, due to the delayed diagnosis, lack of proper distribution of health care facilities and prognosis centers in the vicinity. There is a need of a robust automated device for the early detection of the vital abnormal ECG signals in chronic CVD patients."
This medical science and technological needs impose many challenges on such device development such as low power consuming system design trade-off between the on-board processing and RF (Radio Frequency) communication, low complexity analog front-end circuit design and energy harvesting or self-power mechanism to prolong battery life. Further, there is great necessity to develop a robust algorithm to find any desynchronisation in the ECG waves. With the present advancement in technology, there is a great scope for developing robust medical ECG devices in analysing the ECG signals and classify the patient condition. This method will predict the departure from the healthy condition to unhealthy condition corresponding to the CVDs.

How does the system work?
The researchers overcame the above mentioned challenges by proposing a novel System-on-Chip (SoC) architecture for CVD monitoring. Scrutinising the technical challenges like low-power and low-area for delivering reliable healthcare under resource constraints, they have proposed low-complex Boundary Detection (BD) and Feature Extraction (FE), low-complex f-QRS Detection and Morphology Identification (FDMI) architecture, Rule Engine (RE), and Token based compression technique. The aim of the researchers is to take this idea further to the system level from the concept and propose a low-complexity but medically reliable SoC architecture.
The above proposed methodologies are used to extract the essential clinical features from each ECG beat and compared with the standard values to give the binary classification as normal or abnormal. Many research articles had put thrust on studying the clinical features of ECG beats and the heart rate variability for the diagnosis. Despite these findings, it is difficult to derive an equivocal temporal relationship of these methodologies to predict arrhythmias. The prediction of ECG abnormalities associated with the change of morphology in the localised features (PR interval, QRS complex, QT interval) will allow the clinicians sufficient time to intervene to stop its escalation causing sudden cardiac death. 

"To mitigate the above limitations our attempt in this thesis is to propose a generalised Phase Space Reconstruction (PSR) based detection and classification of the CVD by exploiting the localised features of the ECG unlike the state-of-art PSR techniques," said one of the researchers. Since the aim was to do the real-time ECG classification on an edge-device that is running under resource constrained environment with scarcity of power and area, therefore the idea of the researchers was to propose a low-complexity yet accurate solution and therefore they adopted classical technique of localised features detection.
This research was partly supported by Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India under the ‘Internet of Things (IoT) Research of Interdisciplinary Cyber Physical Systems (ICPS) Programme,' with the Project entitled ‘IOT Based Holistic Prevention and Prediction of CVD. 

this is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.     
https://gscrochetdesigns.blogspot.com. one can see my crochet creations  
https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com. feel free to view for easy, simple and healthy recipes    
https://kneereplacement-stickclub.blogspot.com. for info on knee replacement     

More than half of healthy looking people may have suffered heart attack

Researchers have found that more than half of the outwardly healthy individuals showed evidence of having suffered some injury to the muscle tissue in their hearts. New evidence of heart injury found in apparently healthy people could help pave the way for better long-term monitoring of cardiac health and personalised approaches to treatment, researchers say.

The researchers examined samples of blood taken from 19,500 outwardly healthy people in Scotland. They found that more than half of them showed evidence of having suffered some injury to the muscle tissue in their hearts.

The study  began in 2006 and collected samples from adult volunteers in good health across Scotland.

The researchers tested the samples for evidence of troponin in the volunteers' bloodstream and correlated their findings against follow-up research, conducted on average around 8 years later, to determine how their future heart health had been affected.

Troponins are proteins which help regulate the contractions of the heart muscles. When parts of the heart muscles are injured, the proteins are released into the bloodstream. Troponin rests are often used un a clinical setting to diagnose that a patient has suffered a heart attack, as this injury releases large amounts of troponin into the blood.

In examining each sample, the researchers harnessed the benefits of improved testing techniques, which are now capable of detecting smaller levels of troponin than they have been in the past.

They looked for evidence of 2 slightly different types of troponin in the samples, known as troponin I and troponin T. Combined with the results of follow-up research, they're able to show that people with elevated levels of troponin I were more likely to suffer from cardiovascular disease, coronary heart disease and heart attacks in the future, even after considering their other risk factors for these conditions. Both types of troponin were associated with risk of death and heart failure.

The Dr. said that we found more than half of people in the generally healthy group were walking around with detectable troponin levels in their bloodstream, suggesting they had already had some level of heart injury.

While it's an obvious concern that people can have suffered some heart damage without realising it, the good news is that troponin  levels  are affordable and already commonplace in clinical settings.

People over 40 already have health MOTs' which examine their blood pressure, cholesterol levels and the like. Adding a troponin test could prove to be a valuable early-warning system to identify the specific types of heart problem they might face in the future and take steps to address them early on.

We're keen to expand our research further to look at samples from UK, which also include MRI pictures of pateint's hearts and could provide more detailed evidence of the links between troponin levels and heart damage.

THIS IS ONLY FOR INFORMATION, ALWAYS CONSULT YOU PHYSICIAN BEFORE HAVING ANY PARTICULAR FOOD/ MEDICATION/EXERCISE/OTHER REMEDIES.                                    PS- THOSE INTERESTED IN RECIPES ARE FREE TO  VIEW MY BLOG-                                                                                           https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com/    

                                                                                                                                                     FOR INFO ABOUT KNEE REPLACEMENT, YOU CAN VIEW MY BLOG-                                                  https:// kneereplacement-stickclub.blogspot.com/  

         

                   FOR CROCHET DESIGNS                                                                                                                                                                                                  https://gscrochetdesigns.blogspot.com  

Grass pollen can help predict asthma, hay fever

The presence of different strains of grass pollen in the atmosphere can help predict when hay fever and asthma could strike, researchers have found.

A team of researchers, tracked grass pollen for seasonal variations and found it was released into the atmosphere later in areas further from the equator.

“Using this method, we may be able to better predict when allergenic pollen is present and allow people affected by asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and rhinitis to more effectively manage their condition,” said an Associate Professor.

“(And) with the advent of personalized medicine, more and more people are becoming aware of which allergen is responsible for their allergy,” the Associate Prof. said.

He said the research would help allergy sufferers prepare for the hay fever season and doctors to prescribe more personalised treatments.

“People who fail to manage their asthma are at greater risk of asthma attack and being forced to visit hospital emergency departments,” he said.

“Having a more accurate forecast of when a patient is at risk will allow people to better manage their disease.”

Scientists hope to expand on the research to create a unique profile of each grass pollen species to determine the most harmful strains.

For this, they are examining hospital and GP records and seeing if demand for these services involving asthma and rhinitis correlates with the presence of one grass species over another.

“Eventually – possibly within three to four years – we hope this will allow us to produce a better forecast of when and where exposure to pollen occurs,” he added.

THIS IS ONLY FOR INFORMATION, ALWAYS CONSULT YOU PHYSICIAN BEFORE HAVING ANY PARTICULAR FOOD/ MEDICATION/EXERCISE/OTHER REMEDIES.                                    PS- THOSE INTERESTED IN RECIPES ARE FREE TO  VIEW MY BLOG-                                                                                           https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com/                                                                                                                                                         FOR INFO ABOUT KNEE REPLACEMENT, YOU CAN VIEW MY BLOG-                                                  https:// kneereplacement-stickclub.blogspot.com/           

                   FOR CROCHET DESIGNS                                                                                                                                                                                                  https://gscrochetdesigns.blogspot.com

Cancer breakthrough: Scientists say immune system transplants mean 'future is incredibly bright'

Scientists have discovered a breakthrough treatment to fight cancer, as they claim the disease will no longer be deadly for future generations.

Researchers  believe it is possible to strengthen the body's defences by transplanting immune cells   from strangers.

Patients will begin to receive the new treatment next year, and the team now wants to establish ‘immune banks’ to store disease-fighting cells.

Immunology expert and group leader said scientists and doctors could become more like engineers, upgrading the body rather than bombarding it with toxic chemotherapy.

“Using the immune system to fight cancer is the ultimate do-it-yourself approach,” he said.

“Even a few years ago the notion that any clinician would look at a patient and deliver a therapy which wasn’t going to directly affect the cancer in any way, shape or form, would have been pretty radical. But that’s what happening.

“We’re seeing impressive results with cells called natural killer cells. It’s very early days but there are patients receiving them in this next year and the year after, and the nice feature is, unlike other immunotherapy, these cells aren’t rejected.

“So you have the possibility of developing cell banks that could be used for anyone. It could be someone else’s immune system. You would have cell banks and you would call them up and deliver them to the clinic just hours before they were needed to be infused.

“We’re not quite there yet. But that’s what we’re trying now. There is every capability of getting cell banks like this established.”

Until this year, scientists thought it would be impossible to import a stranger’s immune cells as the immuno-suppresent drugs needed to ensure the body did not reject them, would cancel out the benefits. But in 2018, scientists realised that immune cells are unlike other cells, and can survive well in another person, opening the door to transplants.

But radical advances over the past decade have seen the number of people lasting for at least a decade rise to 50 per cent and the team want to make that 75 per cent in the next 15 years.

A researcher said the ability now to sequence tumours was heralding a new era of medicine tailor-made for a patient.

“It’s a very exciting time. The technology available to us now is just incredible. We’re able to sequence the genome of a tumour, understand its micro-environment, how it metabolizes, what cells are controlling the tumour, and how those can be manipulated.

“Using the body’s own immune cells to target the tumour is elegant because tumours evolve so quickly there is no way a pharmaceutical company can keep up with it, but the immune system has been evolving for over four billion years to do just that.”

Tumours evolve in a branched way, like trees, but scientist have recently found immune cells in their ‘trunks’ which could be crucial to battling the disease from the base up.

Next year, this team are beginning trials to see if ramping up those specific cells could be effective in fighting lung cancer.

“We will be expanding those immune cells from the patient's tumour in the lab and giving them back to the patient in hopefully overwhelming numbers to tackle the tumour at its trunk,” he added.

“It’s personalised medicine taken to the absolute extreme. Each patient has a unique therapy, it’s pretty much impossible to have the same treatment because no two tumours are the same.”

The team is also studying a group of people known as  ‘elite controllers’, who have genetic mutations which prevent them developing cancer. In mice who have been genetically engineered to have the same mutations, it is almost impossible to induce skin cancer.

“One of the pivotal breakthrough in HIV was the recognition of people with elite controllers who had mutations in receptors which rendered them resistant to infection and that changed the landscape utterly,” added the Prof.

“We have a group in Sardinia who have a conspicuously low rate of cancers. Technology which allows you to sequence the genome opens the possibility to start looking at elite controllers and learn the pathways.

“There is every reason, despite the suffering that continues to plague the oncology wards, the family, the friends, the basis for optimism is extraordinary.

“I would go so far as to say that we might reach a point, maybe 20 years from now, where the vast majorities of cancers are rapidly treated diseases or long term chronic issues that you can manage. And I think the immune system will be essential in doing that.

“Between 1980 and 2010, 519,000 cancer deaths were avoided because of cancer research. If that’s not a note for optimism I don’t know what is.”

Prof. added: “Bear in mind 30 years ago that was one in four so survival has doubled in my lifetime and I think it will double again over the next 30 years. The future is incredibly bright.”  

THIS IS ONLY FOR INFORMATION, ALWAYS CONSULT YOU PHYSICIAN BEFORE HAVING ANY PARTICULAR FOOD/ MEDICATION/EXERCISE/OTHER REMEDIES.                                                                                
 PS- THOSE INTERESTED IN RECIPES ARE FREE TO  VIEW MY BLOG-                                                                                           https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com/                                                                                                                                                                             FOR INFO ABOUT KNEE REPLACEMENT, YOU CAN VIEW MY BLOG-                                               
     https:// kneereplacement-stickclub.blogspot.com/                                                                                     
  FOR CROCHET DESIGNS                                                                                                                                                                                                              https://gscrochetdesigns.blogspot.com

Combination of statins and Mediterranean diet more effective in reducing cardiovascular mortality risk

For those who have already had a heart attack or a stroke, the combination of statins and Mediterranean Diet appears to be the most effective choice to reduce the risk of mortality, especially from cardiovascular causes. It is the result of an Italian study  on over 1,000 adults recruited in the study.

The traditional Mediterranean diet is rich in fruit, vegetables, legumes, cereals, olive oil, wine in moderation, fish and low in meat and dairy products.

"We found  that statins and Mediterranean Diet together were more effective, as compared to one or the other considered separately, in reducing the risk of cardiovascular mortality. Likely, a Mediterranean diet facilitated the beneficial effect of statins, that in our real-life study were generally used at low doses".

Researchers also analyzed the potential underlying mechanisms of this positive interaction, so far poorly explored, between drugs and eating habits.

"The favorable combination of statins and Mediterranean Diet appeared to act, rather than on cholesterol levels, by reducing subclinical inflammation, a condition that predisposes to a higher risk of illness and mortality. This finding is of particular interest especially in the light of our observation that a high level of subclinical inflammation doubled the risk of mortality in patients who already had a heart attack or stroke ".

"Our data suggest that we should focus more on the possible interactions between food and drugs, an aspect largely neglected in epidemiological research. Of course, controlled clinical trials will be needed to clarify these findings. If our data will be confirmed, new therapeutic possibilities could be designed for those who have already had a cardiovascular event, allowing a better modulation of the pharmacological intervention in relation to life habits. This is a new aspect of personalized medicine".

THIS IS ONLY FOR INFORMATION, ALWAYS CONSULT YOU PHYSICIAN BEFORE HAVING ANY PARTICULAR FOOD/ MEDICATION/EXERCISE/OTHER REMEDIES.                                                                                
 PS- THOSE INTERESTED IN RECIPES ARE FREE TO  VIEW MY BLOG-                                                                                           https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com/                                                                                                                                                                             FOR INFO ABOUT KNEE REPLACEMENT, YOU CAN VIEW MY BLOG-                                               
     https:// kneereplacement-stickclub.blogspot.com/                                                                                     
  FOR CROCHET DESIGNS                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 https://gscrochetdesigns.blogspot.com  

8-Step Alzheimer’s Prevention Plan to Stop Memory Loss Before It Starts

Dementia is an umbrella term for a group of symptoms caused by disorders that affect the brain, including devastating diseases like the most common form of dementia, Alzheimer’s disease and lesser-known forms of dementia like Lewy Body Dementia. Even stroke can cause dementia.

More than 5 million people in the U.S. alone are living with Alzheimer’s, so there’s a good chance you know someone affected by dementia. It can be very difficult to watch someone you love deal with symptoms of dementia, which often include memory loss and trouble with language, along with personality changes, delusions, agitation and less ability to solve problems or control their emotions. It’s important to note that although dementia risk increases with age, it is not part of the normal ageing process.

As the unfortunate death of legendary University of Tennessee women’s college basketball coach Pat Summitt reminds us, dementia can strike even younger people — she was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s at the age of 59 and died at age 64.

It’s certainly clear that there’s a lot of pain and suffering involved with Alzheimer's, and Alzheimer’s drugs have consistently come up short when it comes to curing the disease. There is light at the end of the tunnel, though. A recent small, breakthrough study published  found using a comprehensive, personalized approach, including diet and exercise, actually reversed symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. The results were so robust and sustained that many of the study participants were able to return to work. 

Researchers Remove Alzheimer’s From Mice in Recent Study

A February 2018 study had some particularly ground-breaking progress, too. After observing a specific enzyme (beta-secretase, or BACE1), researchers found that when they depleted that enzyme in mice:

• Alzheimer’s-promoting (i.e., amyloid) plaques melted away
• Cognition improved
• Synaptic function was partially restored

“To our knowledge,” says a senior researcher, “this is the first observation of such a dramatic reversal of amyloid deposition in any study of Alzheimer’s disease mouse models.”

However, the study is seeking a potential Alzheimer’s drug, one which may or may not pose health risks for people down the line. So, overall, it’s important to focus on realistic and practical preventative measures, which is arguably far more important.

With comprehensive treatments on the horizon, we can feel hopeful that integrative, personalized approaches could be the key to fighting this disease. In the meantime, though, it’s also important you take relatively simple steps to lower your risk of dementia now — before the disease has a chance to set in.

According to a 2017 report, approximately 35 percent of dementia cases could actually be delayed or even prevented if attention is given to nine modifiable risk factors: less early education, midlife hypertension, obesity, hearing loss, depression in later life, diabetes, physical inactivity, smoking and social isolation.  In addition to addressing these nine risk factors, let’s take a look at some of the other emerging ways to lower your risk based on research.

8 Ways to Lower Your Risk of Dementia

You may already know that avoiding processed foods, favoring a Mediterranean diet  and exercising lower your risk of dementia. There are other relatively simple, meaningful steps you could take to lower your risk, too.

1. Beware of High Copper Levels in Your Water
You need traces amounts of the heavy metal copper to survive because it’s vital for bone, hormonal and nerve health. Too much of a good thing, though, could be bad for your brain. A 2013 study published found that copper can trigger the onset of Alzheimer’s and fuel the disease. In fact, the study found that copper in drinking water at levels one-tenth of the water quality standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency caused a toxic accumulation of the pro-Alzheimer’s protein amyloid beta.

The researchers can’t yet say what the exact level of “too much” copper is, but if you have copper water pipes, getting your water tested for excess copper is a good place to start. Water filters that are NSF-certified under NSF/ANSI 53 for copper reduction will reduce copper to below the EPA’s maximum contaminant level or lower. 

2. If Possible, Avoid Allergy Drugs and Other Pills Linked to Dementia
Drugs linked to Dementia include common allergy and sleep medications, including popular medications like Benadryl, Dramamine, Advil PM and Unison, among others. These pills are known to have anticholinergic effects, something researchers are increasingly linking to dementia.

A 2016 study published is a unique one that used brain imaging to detect how anticholinergic drugs impact the brain. By utilizing MRI and PET scan imaging technology, the researchers were able to show how people taking anticholinergic drugs experienced lower brain metabolism and higher brain atrophy. Participants taking the anticholinergic drugs also tested worst on memory tests. 

Scientists also found the chronic use of certain anticholinergic sleep aids and hay fever meds increased a person’s risk of dementia. The study only found the link for people taking these drugs for three or more years. 

Find out if your drugs possess anticholinergic properties. Aside from older allergy drugs and some sleep medications, certain antidepressants, COPD  and asthma medications, along with drugs for overactive bladder issues, could . If they do, find if safer options are available, or work with your health care provider to possibly work more natural treatments into your healing plan.

For instance, learning to use essential oils for allergies could ease your symptoms. A 2010 study published suggests peppermint oil acts as a relaxant and exhibits antispasmodic activity, inhibiting contractions that causes you to cough. (Peppermint oil isn’t a good choice for children under 30 months because it can impact the heart, lungs and circulation in dangerous ways.) 
 
3. Sleep in This Brain-Friendly Position 
Sleep positions matter. Most people — and wild animals — sleep on their sides. Now, we may better understand the brain-friendly reason this is the case. In 2015, researchers found that sleeping on your side could improve one of the brain’s waste-clearing processes, lowering the risk for neurological diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson's.
The link between certain types of dementia and sleep are well-established, but a recent study took a closer look at how the way you sleep impacts drainage of harmful substances in the brain. The Journal of Neurosciencestudy found that the brain’s glymphatic pathway, a complex system that clears wastes and other harmful chemicals from the brain, worked most optimally when people slept on their sides, as opposed to belly or back sleepers. Similar to the how the body’s lymphatic system clears waste from organs, the glymphatic pathway is responsible for filtering cerebrospinal fluid through the brain and exchanging it with interstitial fluid to clear waste like amyloid β (amyloid) and tau proteins, chemicals that negatively affect brain processes if they build up. 

4. Avoid Brain-Damaging Pesticides
It’s increasingly clear that dementia isn’t solely a genetic issue and that environmental triggers are often present. Such is the case with DDT, the insecticide once thought “safe” but later banned in the 1970s. Research  shows that people with higher levels of DDT in their blood are much more likely to be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. People with Alzheimer’s had, on average, 3.8 times higher levels of a DDE, a DDT breakdown product, in their blood compared to people who did not have Alzheimer’s disease. 

DDT is considered a legacy polluter because, although banned, it persists in the environment for decades. Luckily, levels of DDT and its breakdown products in humans are slowly dropping, although today you’re mostly likely to be exposed through food sources higher in the food chain. Animal and fatty foods contain the highest levels of DDT and breakdown products because they’re stored in fat and increase in concentration as they move up the food chain. Also avoid eating nonorganic produce imported from countries that still use DDT and abide by fish advisories if you fish for food. 

As for chemicals currently in use? We don’t necessarily know the long-term impact they’re having on our brains. Emerging research suggests many approved pesticides are having brain-damaging effects. For instance, a 2015 study found people who ingested food treated with acetamiprid, a neonicotinoid insecticide, complained of symptoms like memory loss, finger tremors and headache, among other things. Certain neonicotinoid insecticides are also blamed for the unprecedented die-off of bees and bats.  To avoid the 12 most pesticide-laced foods, always buy organic versions of the produce items on the dirty dozen list.

5. Live a Life of Purpose
Researchers uncovered an interesting connection between a person’s sense of purpose and dementia risk. Study participants who reported the highest scores on the life purpose test were 2.4 times less likely to develop Alzheimer’s compared to people with the lowest scores. Living a life full of purpose, as defined by this study, involved things like having a sense of direction and purpose in life and feeling good when thinking about past accomplishments and hope for things to accomplish in the future. 

This means finding something that makes you happy  (volunteering about something you’re passionate about or learning how to play an instrument are great examples) and sticking with it can do wonders for your brain. As an interesting side note, correcting forward head posture  is scientifically proven to make you happier, so consider fixing faulty posture while you’re at it, too.

6. Beware of Low Vitamin D Levels 
In 2015, researchers published a study suggesting that people severely vitamin D deficient (less than 10 ng/mL) face a 122 percent increased risk of dementia. Those who were just “deficient” (less than 20 ng/mL) experienced a 51 percent higher risk of all-cause dementia. (Note, some vitamin D test results come in nmol/L form, so a conversion to ng/mL may be necessary.) 

To figure out your baseline vitamin D levels, ask your doctor for a 5-hydroxyvitamin D or 25(OH)D blood test. Be sure to get the actual test result number, too. Your test may come back as “normal” if it’s above 30 ng/mL, but the truth is many functional medicine doctors and researchers believe minimum levels of 60 or even 80 ng/mL are needed to prevent many health problems. Once you know your levels, you can increase vitamin D, if needed, by getting sensible sun exposure and working vitamin D rich foods into your diet. If you need to supplement, make sure it’s with the vitamin D3 form, which is more readily available to your body than D2.

7. Be a Stickler for Good Oral Health 
Taking care of your teeth and gums also helps protect your brain. A large study investigating the dental habits of about 5,500 older people over an 18-year period found a strong link between people with poor oral hygiene and the development of Alzheimer’s disease. Those who reported brushing their teeth less than once a day were up to 65 percent more likely to develop dementia compared to people who brushed twice a day. Gum disease bacteria may find its way to the brain, setting off an inflammatory process that causes brain damage, the study author noted.
In addition to brushing your teeth, Ayurvedic practice of oil pulling with coconut oil can also improve oral health. And believe it or not, you can actually reverse cavities naturally using diet.

8. Walk 5 Times a Week

A 2017 study analyzed vascular cognitive impairment, the second most common form of dementia worldwide, and how exercise affects patients. Generally, in brain-scan studies, people with vascular cognitive impairment show increased neural activity in the parts of their brains that are involved with memory, decision-making and attention. This means their brains had to work harder than healthier brains.

To see if exercising could help the brain work less, researchers recruited 38 older people who had been diagnosed with a mild, early form of vascular cognitive impairment. None exercised at the time. Researchers measure participants’ brain activity and then began the exercise regimen: three supervised one-hour sessions a week. Supervisors instructed participants to move briskly enough to raise their heart rates to about 65 percent of their maximum capacity.

By the end of the study, walkers generally had lower blood pressures than the control group. Plus, their brains were working differently. The walkers’ brains showed less activity in portions of the brain required for attention and rapid decision-making. 

From this study, we can conclude that walking improved brain function and thinking skills, and while there are many more questions to be answered about the connection between exercise and dementia, taking a walk around the block seems like a viable first step to a healthy brain.

Dementia Risk Factors and Root Causes

As scientists continue to study this family of diseases, it’s clear that certain factors impact a person’s risk of dementia. Some of these things cannot be avoided, like getting older. However, the great news is that many potential causes of dementia can be avoided.
Here are the most well-known risk factors of dementia:

• Age. The older you are, the greater the risk of developing a form of dementia.
• Alcohol. Drinking moderate mounts of alcohol could protect your from dementia, but excessive drinking over a long period of time actually increases your risk. (It’s best to avoid too much alcohol for a number of reasons. Alcohol and breast cancer risk are also closely linked, for instance.)
• Atherosclerosis. When fats and cholesterol accumulate in your arteries and inflammation thickens your blood vessel walls, your brain isn’t able to receive the blood it needs.
• High “bad” LDL cholesterol levels
• Type 2 diabetes
• Down syndrome
• Genetics
• Hypertension
• Depression
• Smoking
• Less early education
• Obesity
• Hearing loss
• Physical inactivity
• Social isolation

Dementia doesn’t happen overnight and is characterized by gradual changes and damage in the brain. Here are different types of dementia and root causes:
Vascular Dementia
Whether it comes on suddenly with a stroke or more slowly over time with atherosclerosis, vascular dementia occurs when the brain is not getting enough blood. This causes brain cell death that leads to brain damage.
Alzheimer’s
The most common type of dementia, Alzheimer’s affects the cerebral cortex and is characterized by “plagues” and “tangles” that result in the loss of brain cells and ensuing brain shrinkage.
Neurotransmitter chemicals lose their ability to healthily relay messages between brain cells in this form of dementia.
Dementia with Lewy Bodies
An autopsy found that the brain of late actor Robin Williams was afflicted with this type of dementia. This condition is characterized by small, circular lumps of protein that develop inside of brain cells. There’s still much we don’t know about this disease, but it’s possible it impacts the chemical messengers dopamine and acetylcholine.

Frontotemporal Dementia

This type of dementia is characterized by damage and shrinking in the temporal and frontal lobes. It’s a more common type of dementia in people younger than 65 years old; about 20 percent of cases have an inherited genetic mutation from their parents.

Much Rarer Causes of Dementia
The following triggers of dementia or dementia-like symptoms are considered treatable, or at the very least, they don’t progress like traditional forms of dementia:

• depression
• brain tumors
• head injury
• vitamin B deficiency
• infections like encephalitis or HIV
• thyroid hormone deficiency

Dementia Symptoms

Dementia is an umbrella term for a group of cognitive disorders typically characterized by:

• Memory impairment
• Difficulty with language
• Problems with object recognition
• Motor activity difficulties
• Problems planning and organizing

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common type of dementia, accounting for 60 percent to 80 percent of dementia cases.
Dementia is a general term for loss of memory and other mental abilities severe enough to interfere with daily life. It’s caused by physical changes in the brain. Around the world, more than 44 million have Alzheimer’s or related dementia.

Final Thoughts on Dementia

It’s emotionally taxing to watch a loved one decline as dementia sets in and progresses, but there is increasing hope and evidence that a comprehensive, personalized approach can work to slow or even reverse the disease.
We also know that while some causes of dementia are genetic, lifestyle factors play a large role, too. That’s great news because it gives you more control to take action and prevent symptoms by:

• following a more Mediterranean diet
• exercising regularly, at least 150 minutes a week
• filtering excess copper from your water
• finding a purpose in life
• practicing good oral hygiene
• avoiding unnecessary drugs linked to dementia
• sleeping on your side
• eating lots or organic produce
• maintaining healthy vitamin D levels
• addressing education, midlife hypertension, obesity, hearing loss, depression, diabetes, physical inactivity, smoking and social isolation

THIS IS ONLY FOR INFORMATION, ALWAYS CONSULT YOU PHYSICIAN BEFORE HAVING ANY PARTICULAR FOOD/ MEDICATION/EXERCISE/OTHER REMEDIES.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        PS- THOSE INTERESTED IN RECIPES ARE FREE TO  VIEW MY BLOG-                                                                                           https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com/                                                                                                                                                                             FOR INFO ABOUT KNEE REPLACEMENT, YOU CAN VIEW MY BLOG-                                                                                                                             https:// kneereplacement-stickclub.blogspot.com/                                                                                       FOR CROCHET DESIGNS                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 https://gscrochetdesigns.blogspot.com