Mediating Role Of Inflammation, Insulin Resistance And Hypertriglyceridemia On The Association Between Obesity And Cognitive Function

Just like all muscles in your body, the brain also declines or deteriorates as one ages. In recent years researchers have been studying the effects of cognitive decline in elderly individuals. They have concluded that senescence, which is the process of deterioration with age severely affects the brain of elderly individuals buy reducing the production of neurotransmitters, glutamate, acetylcholine, serotonin, and dopamine that allow nerve impulses to jump across the synaptic gap between neurons (Berger,2014). In addition to these significant findings there is also evidence, which suggests that neural fluid production decreases, myelination or the insulative process that allows neurotransmission to occur more rapidly, begins to thin as cerebral blood starts to circulate slower (Berger,2014). The combination of the processes of senescence on the aging brain causes the individuals cognitive performance to decrease, in other words, the processing speed is drastically reduced affecting reaction times, movement, speech, and thought and the brain volume itself becomes smaller (Berger,2014). Although there are changes in cognitive function with normal aging, not all cognitive functions are affected equally with aging and there are differences in the degree and pattern of decline (D'cruz,2013).

Cavanaugh and Blanchard-Fields (2015) state that there is research showing how brain plasticity can be enhanced through aerobic exercise (p.51). It is important that adults be active in their lives. A 30-minute walk or some type of physical activity will benefit them as the age. The text mentions a study done by Erickson and his colleagues in 2009 where they studied the effect of aerobic exercise on the hippocampus. They found that due to aerobic exercise it produced greater volume in the hippocampus. This is significant because the hippocampus is the part of the brain that is responsible for memory, emotions, and spatial functioning. The body does not only need physical activities to produce healthier cognitive functioning but also nutrients. The text identifies three nutrient biomarker patterns that are significant on the aging brain. These nutrients are vitamin B, C,D, and E, omega-3, and trans fat. the foods that belong to these nutrients are beneficial to the brain. Older adults should make an effort to include these nutrients into their diets. positive impacts these nutrients make are better cognitive functioning and greater brain

Diets high in sugar and carbs and similarly low in fat are devastating to the brain. I was amazed when Dr Perlmutter indicated that diets high in carbs are associated with 90% increase in dementia.If we look at American Heart Association website they recommend a diet high in whole grains. After listening to this video I have a better understanding about the ideal diet that will help us reduce the risk of diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, ADHD, Autism and Multiple Sclerosis. Diets high in fat are associated with 44% reduced risk of Alzheimer’s disease. 54% of cases of Alzheimer’s disease could be prevented. By incorporating healthy fats like Coconut oil, Avocadoes, nuts we can regenerate brain cells in memory centers. I was amazed we I knew we can grow back brain cells. This will definitely help me to counsel and education my younger patients, parents to change their diet from early life stages. I can definitely help my patients plan healthy menu. I would encourage all my patients to favor above ground colorful vegetables (because they don’t have a lot of starch in them). Motivate my patients to eat green leafy vegetables like Kale, Swiss chard, Green Collards, Broccoli,

The hippocampus, in the limbic system of the brain, controls long-term memory and emotions. With the high sugar diets, inflammation markers within the hippocampus increased, but the immunomodulatory gene expression decreased. The inflammation markers directly correlate with the decrease in memory on these high sugar diets. Memory deficiency happened within short term exposures of sugar to the diet. Rats tested showed lower exploration ratios than control rats. These animals fed "sugar for less than 2 weeks (showed) impaired hippocampal-dependent place recognition memory compared to control and PUFA fed rats." (Beilharz, Kaakoush, Maniam, and Morris, 2016, p. 309). Place recognition tests confirmed the effects on memory with the sugar fed group being considerably lower in their scores. Sugar was the factor that proved to be "crucial for the memory deficits." (Beilharz et al., 2016, p. 309). The gut microbiome also has significant effects on emotions. Depression and anxiety, including anhedonic-like behaviors were found in direct relation to the sugar intake.

Alzheimer’s patients’ overall health is at risk. Because this disease affects the brain, several cognitive functions are

Over the centuries, the term dementia has evolved from one that described any change in intellect or judgement in the elderly, to a collection of cognitive and behavioral symptoms correlated with specific neuropathology. The aging process is thought to have three possible cognitive outcomes: (1) normal age related decline, which is often described as normal and healthy aging; (2) age associated memory impairment, which is not as severe and does not have all of the features of dementia; (3) dementia, for which there are many types (Christensen & O’Brien, 2000).

Smith et al. (2013) took a less studied approach to improving cognitive decline by testing the effects of aerobic exercise on adults (60-88 years old) already suffering from cognitive impairment. After 12 weeks of moderate exercise there was an improvement of memory and neural efficiency across all subjects.

diabetes, chronic infections, inflammations, and hereditary. Aging People with diabetes are at a higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease (Marsa 54). Excessive brain specific insulin resistance impairments and signaling, account for many Alzheimer’s abnormalities. Brain insulin signaling regulates food intake, body weight, reproduction, also learning and memory. Defective insulin signaling results in cognitive ability decrease. Studies have also shown a link between chronic infections and inflammation in patients that develop Alzheimer’s disease. Viral and bacterial chronic infections, which cause cumulative damage, are an inflammatory vessel for Alzheimer’s disease. Infections have the potential to initiate a surge of events leading to inflammatory conditions of the central nervous system by generating free radicals and nitric oxide (Monastero et al. 107). There is an association between cognitive decline and systemic inflammation and infections. Successful treatment of chronic infections and inflammation is difficult but important in the effort of improving the quality of life in an Alzheimer’s patient. Alzheimer’s disease is not a normal part of aging; however, researchers know that genes play a part in the disease. There is a

Studies have indicated that exercise improves memory and cognition in older adults and we know nutrition at all stages of life has an important role. All of these ways to keep the brain healthy and even improve its health are, in a sense, external. What can the brain do to help itself? At what point in development should it start? This is not a question a parent thinks about for their child when contemplating their welfare. It is not something one thinks about as a child, adolescent, young adult or even mature or senior adult. There are more “important” things to consider than to try speculating on a future so far ahead as to whether a person is going to develop Alzheimer’s disease (AD) or dementia.

Aging and genetics play a role in developing a cognitive disease known as Alzheimer’s, but why do some people get it and some don’t? According to the Centers for Disease Control, more than five million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s disease today. Research shows that by 2050 there could be as many as 14 million people with the disease. About 350,000 new cases of Alzheimer’s are diagnosed every year in the US. It is the 4th leading cause of death in adults after heart disease, stroke, and cancer, and approximately 65,800 people die from the disease each year. “Alzheimer’s Facts & Statistics." Brightfocus.org. What is Alzheimer’s disease (AD) anyway? Alzheimer’s is a condition where the brain cells start to die, and the brain even shrinks. Mainly people age 60 and over develop the disease. AD affects areas of the brain that are used for memory, motor skills, and carrying out everyday tasks. AD and Vascular dementia are the most common forms of dementia. Dementia is the decline in cognitive function or mental stability. Dementia can be caused by a hardening of the blood cells in the brain that causes blockage in blood flow. The disease can also be caused by infections, brain injuries or tumors, depression, nutritional deficiencies, drug interactions, or metabolic disorders of the thyroid, liver, pancreas, or kidneys. It can also be caused by other progressive diseases like Parkinson’s, Pick’s, Huntington’s, or Lewy-body. In other words, it affects the brain making it

Measurements taken from a worldwide patients during clinical studies. The authors reports that more than 45 million older adults are predisposed to developing dementia. These numbers are expected to triple within the next twenty-five years. Alzheimer’s disease is responsible for sixty to eighty percent of dementia cases. The authors assert that observational studies suggests risk factors associated with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) levels are showed in mid-life and older adults. The United States National Institutes of Health admits that tobacco, oppression and diabetes mellitus, poor nutrition all increases the risk of deteriorating cognitive reasoning. Taken from a wide-range systemic evaluation the authors suggests that around half of the Alzheimer’s

Does childhood obesity effect cognitive achievement in children? Findings from the study of Australian children indicated that poor cognitive achievement is actually an association of childhood obesity. The data found from a number of studies suggest that both obesity and overweight may negatively affect a child’s cognitive skills for several reasons: greater risk of health problems, psychosocial problems, and at a biological level it may lower cognitive achievement. A number of previous studies have investigated the relationship between obesity and cognitive achievement in children and adolescents. The child fixed-effects (FE) show that children aged 6 through 13 with higher BMI levels reduces cognitive achievement. Other data show in

A growing body of evidence has indicated that sAD is multifactorial, with age being an important risk factor. Main neuropathological hallmarks identified in Alzheimer’s brains are beta-amyloid deposits, hyperphosphorylated tau proteins, and astrogliosis [1]. Recently, dysregulated brain insulin signaling has been reported to play a pivotal role in AD pathology. Additionally, several studies have indicated that insulin malfunction induces beta amyloid accumulation and tau pathology in AD brain [2]. Thus, Alzheimer’s disease has been argued to be a type III diabetes [3, 4]. Given the specific nature of sAD, there is no clinical evidence on its early stage, and this makes making an appropriate model more difficult. Thus, a convenient model for the initiation phase of sAD could be the

Psychologist are reasoning why individuals, despite understanding the consequences that accompany obesity, continue to overindulge while engaging in less physical exercises. In this regard, recent research has shown that there is psychological aspect of obesity which means that it is related to brain disorders. This implies that consideration of the mental component of

Having a “Brain Healthy Lifestyle” (Bend, 2014) is made up of several different categories that include “physical health, brain fitness, and vitality” (Bend, 2014) as well as “balanced nutrition, stress management, and mental stimulation” (Sharpbrains, 2014). Our physical health plays a major part in brain function. Exercising our bodies, eating well, and getting the proper amount of sleep has a huge impact on our physical health. “Our brain requires 25% of the blood that is pumped by your heart. The healthier your heart is, the healthier your brain will be” (Bend, 2014). Cognitive fitness is demonstrated by uses of vocabulary, thinking, perception, and attention. It is crucial to make it a normal everyday practice to challenge our brains through new activities. Taking part in a cooking class or learning to