Sprinting at 95

By David Muir & Joel Siegel: Ida Keeling is a 4-foot-6, 83-pound bundle of wonder, a woman defying the conventions of age. She takes only one prescription drug, and recalls names and dates with the speed of someone half her age.

Active and healthy and living alone in her Bronx, N.Y., apartment, she could pass for 75. She says she feels even younger. “Like a puppy,” she declares. “I feel younger now than when I was in my 30s and 40s and had all those problems. Then I was aged!”

Over her long life, Keeling has endured the kind of heartbreak and hardship that could grind anyone down. Her mother passed away when she was a child, and her husband died suddenly of a heart attack when he was just 42. She lost two sons, Charles and Donald, to drug-related killings in 1979 and 1981.

In running, Keeling found a refuge. Continue reading »

Warnings About Statins Grow Louder

There are many alternatives to statins.  Please call and make an appointment if you’d like to discuss your options! — Cathie

Researchers from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine reviewed previous studies on the risks and benefits of statins for people at low risk of heart disease and found many of the studies were deeply flawed.

The researchers conclude, in a note to physicians: “Caution should be taken in prescribing statins for primary prevention among people at low cardiovascular risk.”

Independent researchers in the U.S. and Canada have found links between statin use and a variety of cognitive disorders ranging from depression to dementia.

Article

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Your Brain on Blueberries

From Scientific American: Chemical compounds common to berries, tofu, tea and other foods can shore up memory and boost brainpower.

What is blue, sweet and juicy and may help ward off those nagging memory lapses? If you guessed blueberries, you would be right… they may protect our brain.

Emerging research suggests that compounds in blueberries known as flavonoids may improve memory, learning and general cognitive function, including reasoning skills, decision making, verbal comprehension and numerical ability. In addition, studies comparing dietary habits with cognitive function in adults hint that consuming flavonoids may help slow the decline in mental facility that is often seen with aging and might even provide protection against disorders such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

To date, scientists have identified more than 6,000 flavonoid-containing foods.  They are widely distributed in fruits and vegetables, cereal grains, cocoa, soy foods, tea and wine.

How much do we need?  A Cincinnati study found a 30% improvement in a group of adults older than 75 with mild memory loss who drank two cups of blueberry juice a day (the equivalent of five cups of blueberries). One study in England asked peope to add flavonoid containing foods to their meals: either soy products, supplements (Gingko biloba or pine bark extract) or a cocoa-containing beverage. Flavonoid consumption improved cognition and fine motor skills. Amounts needed to produce the improvements?  One and a half cups of tofu or two cups of soy milk, 120 mg. of gingko, 150 mg. of pine bark extract, or 172 mg of cocoa flavonoids (the equivalent of 10.5 ounces of dark chocolate).

But wait–these studies give single-source quantities!  If you have flavonoids from a variety of sources you’ll need moderate amounts of each one.  The bottom line: eat your fruits and vegetables!

Article (behind a paywall)

Lower Alzheimer’s Risk

By Roni Caryn Rabin: Could HDL cholesterol — the good kind linked to lower heart disease risk — also protect people from dementia?

A new study reports that older New York City residents who had very high blood levels of high-density lipoprotein, or HDL, the so-called “good” cholesterol, were at less than half the risk of developing dementia over time than those with the lowest levels.

The people who reaped the benefit had very high HDL blood levels that exceeded 56 milligrams per deciliter of blood, the study reported. They developed 60 percent fewer cases of Alzheimer’s disease than people with the lowest HDL levels, of 38 milligrams or below. The differences between the two groups held even after the researchers adjusted the figures to account for other causal factors that influence the development of dementia, like vascular disease, as well as age, sex, education level and genes that predispose to Alzheimer’s.

“We think it’s a causal relationship,” said Dr. Christiane Reitz, the study’s lead author and an assistant professor of neurology at Columbia University’s Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer’s Disease and the Aging Brain.  “At the baseline, when we recruited these people, they didn’t have cognitive problems. We followed them, and they developed dementia during the follow-up period.”

Article

My comment: Raise HDL cholesterol with vigorous exercise, onion family vegetables, and omega-3 oils!  These oils are found in cold water fish, walnuts and kiwi.–Cathie Dunal

Handy Travel Tips

By Cathie Dunal, MD, MPH:

CLEAN YOUR CREDIT CARDS (and everything else you can think of!) You’re waiting at the airport and decide to eat.  You’ve just washed your hands because you used the self check-in machine.  You order, hand your credit card to the cashier, take it back, then sit down and take a big bite.  Think about it!  After touching everyone else’s credit card, the cashier has taken yours, given it back to you with a sampling of the bugs du jour — you get the bugs on your fingers, then you eat.  (Alcohol wipes work just fine.)

EASIER AIRPORT “It was an excellent flight,” my elderly mother beamed as I walked up to her inside the baggage claim area, “and this is a beautiful airport.”  I thought so too as I pulled her suitcase off the carousel and walked to the car waiting 20 feet outside.

Flying into Milwaukee rather than O’Hare turned out to be an excellent idea because it’s a smaller airport, easier for her to manage, and easier for me to pick her up.  The extra 20 minutes of traffic-free expressway travel was well worth it.  I imagine it would be easier for families with children too.

But I initially booked the flight into Milwaukee for health reasons:  Mom caught a bug and needed antibiotics the last few times she’s flown.  My guess was that a smaller regional airport, with fewer people coming from overseas, and shorter wait times, would expose her to fewer infectious challenges.  So far, so good!  She’s been back home for a week now, with no signs of sickness.  It’s Milwaukee next time, for sure.

POTENTIALLY PROTECTIVE PILLS Preparations said to help ward off sickness when exposed to crowds include: Vitamin C (I prefer buffered C), Zinc, Silver Spray, Air Borne, and Source Naturals’ Wellness Formula.  Hand washing/sanitizing can’t be emphasized enough!  Don’t hesitate to stay home or use a mask if you are sick.

GREAT LINK FOR INTERNATIONAL MEDICAL INSURANCE International Medical Group provides very reasonable overseas health insurance: click or call 800-655-4500.