Editorial
Welcome to the March edition of i2P – Information to Pharmacists.
You may have noiticed if you receive i2P by email, that we have simplified our mail out presentation.
This was because the code in our earlier version appeared to be too unstable to maintain, hence the simpler presentation.
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Rollo Manning: Pharma-Goss
John Dunlop: Inside NZ
Loretta Marron BSc: Health Watch
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Volume 1 Number 1
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Volume 2 Number 1
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Pharma News
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Health Politics
Pat Gallagher: Health Informatics - The State of the Nation
Peter Sayers: The Three-Ring Circus
Dr David More: e-Health IdentifiersEPublications
Memory and Cognition Loss - a marker for stroke prediction
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Editing and Researching news and stories about global and local Pharmacy Issues | |
Just when you thought there was no concern about your patchy short-term memory, along comes a study that will send your stress levels up.
And with the higher levels of stress, you obviously experience more memory loss and reduced cognition ability.
If we are to accept this study we must also accept that we are on the verge of a stroke epidemic.
What to do?
It seems that this phenomenon is directly linked to higher levels of inflammation in the body that is also linked to all the chronic lifestyle diseases - asthma, arthritis, heart disease, cancer etc that is directly related to our lifestyles, including the food we eat, the air we breathe and the water we drink.
Preventive measure include:
* drinking only filtered water
* eating a high proportion of fresh organic foods
* additionally supplement with anti-inflammatory nutraceuticals such as fish oil and resveratrol
* take regular breaks and holidays
* reduce television viewing and retire around 9pm.
Adequate sleep levels are another factor involved in memory deficits because the brain hormones that cycle from around midnight to 3am are actually involved in kick starting other hormonal cycles, including the stress hormones. Imbalances here become risk factors over time.
No wonder we have become a sick society.
Source:Newswise
Memory Failing? You May Be at Higher Risk for Stroke
People who experience memory loss or a decline in their thinking abilities may be at higher risk of stroke, regardless of whether they have been diagnosed with dementia, according to a new study published in the February 2, 2010, print issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
“Stroke is a leading cause of disability and death among older people, making early identification of people at high risk of stroke extremely important, so preventative measures can be taken,” said study author Bernice Wiberg, MD, with Uppsala University in Sweden.
For the study, 930 men in Sweden around the age of 70 without a history of stroke participated in three mental tests. The first test, called the Trail Making Test A, measures attention and visual-motor abilities. The second, the Trail Making Test B, measures the ability to execute and modify a plan. The third, the Mini Mental State Examination, is commonly used by doctors to measure cognitive decline.
During a 13-year period, 166 men developed a stroke or transient ischemic attack, or TIA. Brain infarction is the most common cause of stroke and happened to 105 patients. It causes tissue damage when the proper amount of blood does not reach the brain. Hemorrhage is another kind of stroke.
The study found that people who were among the bottom 25 percent of performers on the Triall Making Test B were three times more likely to have a stroke or a brain infarction compared to those who scored among the top 25 percent of performers on the test. The other two mental tests did not predict brain infarction or stroke.
“Our results support the idea that cognitive decline regardless of whether a person has dementia may predict risk of stroke,” said Wiberg. “The Trial Making Test B is a simple and cost-effective test that, with more research, could be used to identify those persons for whom stroke prevention measures should be considered.”
The study was supported by the Medical Faculty at Uppsala University, the Swedish Stroke Association, Swedish Research Council, the Swedish Heart Lung Foundation, the Geriatric Fund and the Uppsala County Association Against Heart and Lung Diseases.
The American Academy of Neurology, an association of more than 22,000 neurologists and neuroscience professionals, is dedicated to promoting the highest quality patient-centered neurologic care. A neurologist is a doctor with specialized training in diagnosing, treating and managing disorders of the brain and nervous system such as multiple sclerosis, restless legs syndrome, Alzheimer’s disease, narcolepsy and stroke.
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