For Elderly, Giving Up Driving Can Be Tough

It’s a wrenching decision that doesn’t necessarily depend on age, experts say

For many Americans, driving equals independence — the ability to run errands, go to church or visit family and friends as you please. So the decision to hand over the car keys for good can be a difficult one.

To help doctors, seniors and their family members spot the signs of someone who is too old and too frail to drive, the American Medical Association this week released the Physician’s Guide to Assessing and Counseling Older Drivers.

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Visit us at www.andelcare.com for more information and assistance for an aging loved one in the Seattle, Bellevue WA area.

Life is like a box of chocolates… you never know what you’re gonna get.
Forrest Gump (Tom Hanks)
I have this theory that chocolate slows down the aging process…. It may not be true, but do I dare take the chance?
Unknown

Dark Chocolate Has Health Benefits Not Seen in Other Varieties
By Daniel J. DeNoon
WebMD Health News

Got high blood pressure? Try a truffle. Worried about heart disease? Buy a bon-bon.
It’s the best medical news in ages. Studies in two prestigious scientific journals say dark chocolate — but not white chocolate or milk chocolate — is good for you.

Dark Chocolate Lowers Blood Pressure
Dark chocolate — not white chocolate — lowers high blood pressure, say Dirk Taubert, MD, PhD, and colleagues at the University of Cologne, Germany. Their report appears in the Aug. 27 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association.  But that’s no license to go on a chocolate binge. Eating more dark chocolate can help lower blood pressure — if you’ve reached a certain age and have mild high blood pressure, say the researchers. But you have to balance the extra calories by eating less of other things.

Antioxidants in Dark Chocolate
Dark chocolate — but not milk chocolate or dark chocolate eaten with milk — is a potent antioxidant, report Mauro Serafini, PhD, of Italy’s National Institute for Food and Nutrition Research in Rome, and colleagues. Their report appears in the Aug. 28 issue of Nature. Antioxidants gobble up free radicals, destructive molecules that are implicated in heart disease and other ailments.  “Our findings indicate that milk may interfere with the absorption of antioxidants from chocolate … and may therefore negate the potential health benefits that can be derived from eating moderate amounts of dark chocolate.”
 

Translation: Say “Dark, please,” when ordering at the chocolate counter. Don’t even think of washing it down with milk. And if health is your excuse for eating chocolate, remember the word “moderate” as you nibble.

The Studies
Taubert’s team signed up six men and seven women aged 55-64. All had just been diagnosed with mild high blood pressure — on average, systolic blood pressure (the top number) of 153 and diastolic blood pressure (the bottom number) of 84.  Every day for two weeks, they ate a 100-gram candy bar and were asked to balance its 480 calories by not eating other foods similar in nutrients and calories. Half the patients got dark chocolate and half got white chocolate.  Those who ate dark chocolate had a significant drop in blood pressure (by an average of 5 points for systolic and an average of 2 points for diastolic blood pressure). Those who ate white chocolate did not.
 

In the second study, Serafini’s team signed up seven healthy women and five healthy men aged 25-35. On different days they each ate 100 grams of dark chocolate by itself, 100 grams of dark chocolate with a small glass of whole milk, or 200 grams of milk chocolate.  An hour later, those who ate dark chocolate alone had the most total antioxidants in their blood. And they had higher levels of epicatechin, a particularly healthy compound found in chocolate. The milk chocolate eaters had the lowest epicatechin levels of all.
 

Chocolate for Blood Pressure: Darker Is Better
What is it about dark chocolate? The answer is plant phenols — cocoa phenols, to be exact. These compounds are known to lower blood pressure.  Chocolates made in Europe are generally richer in cocoa phenols than those made in the U.S. So if you’re going to try this at home, remember: Darker is better.  Just remember to balance the calories. A 100-gram serving of Hershey’s Special Dark Chocolate Bar has 531 calories, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. If you ate that much raw apple you’d only take in 52 calories. But then, you’d miss out on the delicious blood pressure benefit.
 

A hint: Don’t replace healthy foods with chocolate. Most people’s diets have plenty of sweets. Switch those for some chocolate if you’re going to try the truffle treatment.

I was going to put out our newsletter last week but it was National Procrastination Week. It worked out any way because now this week is American Chocolate week. As you can tell from the picture, I like chocolate. That’s an Egyptian Black Forest Chocolate cake I’m getting ready to devour as I’m sitting by the Nile a year ago. The Germans do a much better job at this cake in case you were wondering.
March is National Nutrition Month and there are hundreds of articles on what we should be eating to stay healthy. What you probably don’t know is that it’s also National Frozen Food Month but I thought chocolate was much more interesting.   The article below is one of the best I have seen on the benefits and downsides of eating chocolate. So if you are in the mood, go ahead have some dark chocolate but hold that glass of milk so you don’t spoil the health benefit of all those calories. Read on to find out why!

Research Leader Says Discovery Offers Hope Early Alzheimer’s Disease Can Be Cured

Team uncovers new explanation for the spread of key protein, Tau, within the brain

March 1, 2010 – A researcher who has spent over 20 years studying Alzheimer’s on the cellular level thinks his team has made a discovery that he thinks offers hope that patients in early stages of the disease might someday be cured. The work by his team is published in the February issue of the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease.

The researchers from the UMass Lowell Center for Cellular Neuroscience and Neurodegeneration Research have found a new mechanism by which a key protein associated with Alzheimer’s disease can spread within the human brain.

The team, led by UMass Lowell biological sciences professor Garth Hall, provides a new explanation of how the protein tau, a normal human protein that becomes toxic in Alzheimer’s patients, can appear in their cerebrospinal fluid (CSF).

“My team has discovered two different ways in which tau is secreted by neurons, or brain cells,” said Hall, who has spent more than 20 years studying Alzheimer’s on the cellular level using larval sea lampreys as a model system.

“This might explain how tau-containing lesions seem to propagate between adjacent, interconnected parts of the brain during the development of the disease.”

Until very recently, it was universally assumed by scientists that tau is never secreted from or transferred between neurons, and that CSF-tau only appears after many neurons have died and irreversible harm has been done to the brain.

“That tau secretion can occur via two distinct mechanisms strongly indicates that it is biologically ‘real’ and is not just tau protein leaking out of dead neurons,” said Hall.

“The fact that it occurs in a pattern that reproduces what is seen in the CSF of Alzheimer’s patients holds out hope that patients in early stages of the disease might someday be cured. If we can distinguish secreted tau from tau that is released from dying neurons in CSF samples, then maybe we can diagnose Alzheimer’s in time to stop the disease before the neurons die.”

Hall, together with graduate student WonHee Kim and UMass Lowell, has filed a provisional patent application in connection with a novel approach to the early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s that is based on their studies of tau secretion.

As many as 5.3 million people in the United States are living with the disease, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. The seventh-leading cause of death among senior citizens, Alzheimer’s is the most common form of dementia and will soon become America’s most expensive health care burden.

Original content HERE.

Visit www.andelcare.com for information and assistance with home care for an aging loved one in the Seattle and Bellevue WA areas.

Colorectal cancer is cancer of the colon or rectum. It is equally common in men and women.  An estimated 146,970 people were diagnosed in 2009, and an estimated 49,920 people will die from the disease. With recommended screening, this cancer  can be prevented (by removing polyps before they become cancerous) or detected early, when it can be more easily and successfully treated.

At Risk

* Men and women age 50 and older

* People who use tobacco, are obese or are sedentary

* People with a personal or family history of colorectal cancer or benign (not cancerous) colorectal polyps

*  People with a personal or family history of inflammatory bowel disease, such as long-standing ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s disease

*  People with a family history of inherited colorectal cancer

Risk Reduction

* Be physically active and exercise regularly.

* Maintain a healthy weight.

* Eat a high-fiber diet rich in fruits, vegetables, nuts, beans and whole grains.

* Consume calcium-rich foods like low-fat or skim milk.

* Limit red meat consumption and avoid processed meats.

* Don’t smoke.

* Don’t drink alcohol excessively.

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Visit www.andelcare.com for assistance for an aging loved one in the Seattle and Bellevue WA areas.