Walnuts Every Day (might) Keep Alzheimer’s Away

Go grab a walnut from your kitchen shelf and take a quick look at it. Looks surprisingly similar to a brain, doesn’t it?

Well it turns out that looks might not be deceiving as researchers at the New York State Institute for Basic Research in Developmental Disabilities (phew, that’s a long name) said that experiments with Alzheimer’s-susceptible mice found that subjects consuming walnuts showed significant improvements in learning skills and memory compared to mice without walnuts in their diets.

I learned this from an article by Fredrick Kunkle in The Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/walnuts-appear-to-delay-onset-of-alzheimers-disease-new-study-finds/2014/10/20/d357bc7e-58a6-11e4-b812-38518ae74c67_story.html

 

Kunkle reports that “the study also found improvements in motor skills and reduction in anxiety.” He also noted that the equivalent walnut consumption for humans would be about “1 to 1.5 ounces of walnuts a day.” To my ears, “1 to 1.4 ounces” doesn’t sound like some huge challenge. It sounds like a small handful on my oatmeal every morning.

Interested? 

Suspicious? 

Want to believe but need more proof? 

Or are you just a curious engineer/scientist-type who needs more info? 

In any of those cases, here’s a link to the abstract in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease: http://iospress.metapress.com/content/n644184610325684/  

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ABTA Webinar: Nutritional Supplements for Brain Tumors

I constantly see brain tumor victim and caregiver blog conversations about diet and supplements. Chia seeds, berries and the Ketogenic diet are just a few of the raging topics folks are grabbing onto with gasping hope.

So the American Brain Tumor Association’s December 11^th webinar entitled “Nutritional Supplements for brain tumors” - https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/924039574 - seems both important and timely.

If you haven’t watched a webinar, no worries. If you have access to the internet, you can watch. You can watch with friends, from a hospital room or from you living room wearing pajamas. I’ve watched several webinars (no, I didn’t wear pajamas) and have found them to be helpful.

Part of the reason that I like them is that I like to see and listen to folks (like  Dr. Chaudhary) than I like to read stuff, even important stuff. 

 

Here’s the ABTA’s promotional copy about the seminar:

“Many brain tumor patients have questions about which supplements they can take, should take, or can safely take with other medications and treatment regimes.  What happens if your doctor does not have the answer or is not open to this type of discussion?  There are other brain tumor patients who will choose to take a regiment of supplements on their own without trying to discuss it with their doctor at all. Your doctor and healthcare providers are your team members in your brain tumor journey, you need to partner with them in your care. 

Join Rekha Chaudhary, MD, assistant professor of medicine at the University of Cincinnati Neuroscience Institute as she presents Supplements for Brain Tumors.  Dr. Chaudhary will present the research behind nutritional supplements, which ones to avoid, which ones will help with various side effects related to brain tumors, and if there are any new studies on the horizon involving brain tumors and supplements. This webinar includes an online Q & A session with  Dr. Chaudhary. The webinar will also be recorded and the link will be sent to all registrants after the live session. Please make sure to enter a valid email address when registering to ensure you receive the link to view the webinar. “

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College Basketball Brain Tumor Victim Gets Shots of a Lifetime, Makes Both

Brain Tumor victim news generally comes in two forms: bad and worse. Occasionally, though, this worst of diseases brings out the best in people. When I mean the “best,” I mean “compassion”, “empathy” and “caring” that sometimes can only be seen or read or experienced with a smile on your face.

Since this brain tumor business doesn’t bring many smiles, especially lately, here’s a story about brain tumor victim Lauren Hill receiving the Pat Summit Award this past weekend which should do just that:http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory/player-brain-tumor-fulfills-basketball-dream-26642152

AP Writer Gary Graves writes about a game where inoperable brain tumor victim Lauren Hill, got a chance to make a couple of baskets. In fact, according to Graves, “…the freshman forward for Division III Mount St. Joseph's stirred a capacity crowd just by taking the court.”

He went on to write that “Much depends on Hill's health and energy as she deals with an inoperable brain tumor that has left her with just months to live. In between making two layups that started and finished Sunday's 66-55 victory over Hiram College and brought a crowd of 10,250 to its feet she spent much of her inspiring game sitting on the bench wearing sunglasses and headphones.”

That’s because “Hill's condition has made her extremely sensitive to sensations her teammates and opposing players take for granted, but she still enjoyed the bright gym and the cheering crowd. And she certainly savored her two baskets on a day she will never forget.”

I hope you read the story and it brings a smile to your face, too.

John

PS – And here's a link to the NBC News segment by John Yang on Lauren that appeared last night:  http://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/terminally-ill-college-player-lauren-hill-lives-college-hoops-dream-n240301

Managing Stress

All the brain tumor and stroke victims I know are grappling with stressful issues. These are not “I can’t balance my checkbook” issues, they’re issues like, “I’m prone to seizures” or “I just found out that my Mom/wife/college friend has a brain tumor.”

From personal experience, I believe that the amount of stress you or your loved ones have is geometrically proportional to the “Grade level” of the tumor. So, to my way of thinking, that means if you have an Grade II tumor, it is four times as stressful as a Grade I. A Grade III tumor is nine times as stressful, and so on. Call it the Kerastas “Oh Shit” scale, or “KOS” scale for short.

So what can we do besides running around screaming and kicking things and curling up into a little ball while sucking our thumb and waiting for our chemo, radiation, surgery, or some intriguing herbal solution to solve everything?

Unfortunately the “waiting” bit can be almost as mentally traumatic as the treatments, which is why I’m sharing this link from a recent Chicago Tribune article entitled “Nip illness in the bud by de-stressing.” http://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/health/la-he-immune-20141004-story.html

Yes, there’s nothing in this article about seizures, strokes or brain tumors I to IV. On the other hand, anything we can do to “de-stress” has, in my opinion, got to be helpful.

If you have other ideas or have done something that works, let me know.

John

PS – Yes, I’ve already heard from the folks in Colorado.

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Berries = Better Brains

Usually the stuff I love to eat isn’t healthy to eat, like ice cream. But I love berries, all kinds of berries, and this article by Beth Fontenot in the Atlantic, which I originally read on the Lumosity.com Facebook site, says that “Berries may provide protection against Alzheimer's as well as age-related memory loss and other types of cognitive decline.”

The article goes on to say that “Marshall G. Miller and Barbara Shukitt-Hale, researchers with the Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, reviewed cellular, animal, and human studies on berry fruits and the aging brain and found strong evidence that blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, and other berry fruits have beneficial effects.

They found that berry fruits protect the brain in several ways. They contain high amounts of antioxidants that protect cells from damage. Berry fruits also change the way that neurons in the brain communicate, and this may prevent inflammation in the brain that can damage neurons. Components in berries also improve cognition and motor control.”

For me that means on thing, “BERRY BINGEING!”

Here’s a link to the Atlantic article: http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/04/the-benefits-of-berries-to-the-brain/255262/

And here’s a link to the abstract in the “Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry” - http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/jf2036033

PS - Yes this is a bad pun that probably only works in English. 

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