Overeating may double risk of memory loss

February 13, 2012

NEW ORLEANS - New research suggests that consuming between 2,100 and 6,000 calories per day may double the risk of memory loss, or mild cognitive impairment (MCI), among people age 70 and older. The study was released today and will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 64th Annual Meeting in New Orleans April 21 to April 28, 2012. MCI is the stage between normal memory loss that comes with aging and early Alzheimer's disease.

"We observed a dose-response pattern which simply means; the higher the amount of calories consumed each day, the higher the risk of MCI," said study author Yonas E. Geda, MD, MSc, with the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Arizona and a member of the American Academy of Neurology.

The study involved 1,233 people between the ages of 70 and 89 and free of dementia residing in Olmsted County, Minn. Of those, 163 had MCI. Participants reported the amount of calories they ate or drank in a food questionnaire and were divided into three equal groups based on their daily caloric consumption. One-third of the participants consumed between 600 and 1,526 calories per day, one-third between 1,526 and 2,143 and one-third consumed between 2,143 and 6,000 calories per day.

The odds of having MCI more than doubled for those in the highest calorie-consuming group compared to those in the lowest calorie-consuming group. The results were the same after adjusting for history of stroke, diabetes, amount of education, and other factors that can affect risk of memory loss. There was no significant difference in risk for the middle group.

"Cutting calories and eating foods that make up a healthy diet may be a simpler way to prevent memory loss as we age," said Geda.

American Academy of Neurology

---

---

	Memory Loss: A Practical Guide for Clinicians - Expert Consult, 1e (Expert Consult Title: Online + Print) by Andrew E. Budson MD (Author), Paul R. Solomon PhD (Author) Memory Loss combines expert guidance, case studies, and diagnostic tests to help you effectively diagnose Alzheimer's disease and other common dementias. Drs. Andrew E. Budson and Paul R. Solomon cover the essentials of physical and cognitive examinations, laboratory and imaging studies, and the latest treatment approaches. The practical text, diagnostic tests, and online access to a downloadable image bank at www.expertconsult.com are the tools you need to consistently make accurate diagnoses.Access the fully searchable text online at expertconsult.com, along with a downloadable image bank. Confidently diagnose and treat Alzheimer's disease and other common dementias through in-depth coverage of clinically useful diagnostic tests and the latest treatment approaches. Tap into the...
	The Memory Cure : How to Protect Your Brain Against Memory Loss and Alzheimer's Disease by Majid Fotuhi (Author), Peter V. Rabins (Foreword) "Credentials don't come much loftier than Fotuhi's." --Washington Post "The book is a message of hope and reassurance for laymen, especially aging members of the baby-boom generation alarmed by all the attention being paid to Alzheimer's and imagining worst-case scenarios for themselves." --Washington Times Dr. Majid Fotuhi, one of the world's foremost experts in the field of Alzheimer's Disease and brain function, outlines a highly effective plan to guard against memory loss.
	Reversing Memory Loss: Proven Methods for Regaining, Stengthening, and Preserving Your Memory, Featuring the Latest Research and Treaments by Vernon H. Mark M.D. (Author), Jeffrey P. Mark M.D. (Author), Vernon Mark (Author), Jeffrey Mark (Author) Written with warmth and clarity, this book belongs in the hands of anyone who has agonized over an aging friend or relative or worries about his own capacity to remember. No physical problem is as destructive or frightening as the loss of memory. Stress, pain, depression, overmedication, stroke, or Alzheimer's disease -- these are just some of the causes. In this fully revised and updated book, an internationally known neurosurgeon and researcher at Massachusetts General Hospital outlines the latest treatments that help reverse memory loss: New forms of memory recently discovered by researchers, new tests to evaluate memory capacity, new research on the effects of prescription medications, including widely used antidepressants, and brain "poisons", new research on the important role of...
	100 Simple Things You Can Do to Prevent Alzheimer's and Age-Related Memory Loss by Jean Carper (Author) Most people think there is little or nothing you can do to avoid Alzheimer's. But scientists know this is no longer true. In fact, prominent researchers now say that our best and perhaps only hope of defeating Alzheimer's is to prevent it. After best-selling author Jean Carper discovered that she had the major susceptibility gene for Alzheimer's, she was determined to find all the latest scientific evidence on how to escape it. She discovered 100 surprisingly simple scientifically tested ways to radically cut the odds of Alzheimer's, memory decline, and other forms of dementia. Did you know that vitamin B 12 helps keep your brain from shrinking? Apple juice mimics a common Alzheimer's drug? Surfing the internet strengthens aging brain cells? Ordinary infections and a...
	Where Did I Leave My Glasses?: The What, When, and Why of Normal Memory Loss by Martha Weinman Lear (Author) For any Baby Boomer who has ever said, "Has anyone seen my keys?"..."What did I come in here for?"...or "His name is on the tip of my tongue," WHERE DID I LEAVE MY GLASSES? is the tailor-made book. According to Martha Weinman Lear and the top memory experts she taps in the book, the memory lapses that begin in middle age are typically no cause for alarm. In other words: You're normal! In fact, remembering less in later years is rarely a sign of Alzheimer's or any other scary memory-loss condition. It's just a part of normal aging. On her hunt for answers, Lear explores why names are the first things to go and what can be done about it, why we forget certain things on purpose, why we forget more than our parents did and in which cases our brains are actually doing us a favor by letting...
	Keep Your Brain Alive: 83 Neurobic Exercises to Help Prevent Memory Loss and Increase Mental Fitness by Lawrence Katz (Author), Manning Rubin (Author) No more punch lines that just slipped away. No more names on the tip of your tongue. No more senior moments! Drawing on cutting-edge neurological research, how to keep your brain alive: 83 neurobic exercises brings help to everyone whose memory is starting to slip. Devised by Dr. Lawrence Katz, a professor of neurobiology at Duke University Medical Center, and Manning Rubin, author of 60 Ways to Relieve Stress in 60 Seconds, here is a regimen of mental cross-training that can be done anywhere, by anyone, at any time of day. The premise is simple: When you exercise the brain, you release natural growth factors called neurotrophins, which in turn enhance the brain's level of fitness. And nothing so easily stimulates the brain as breaking routines and using the five senses in new and...
	Thirty-Nine Years of Short-Term Memory Loss: The Early Days of SNL from Someone Who Was There by Tom Davis (Author), Al Franken (Introduction)
	The Bible Cure for Memory Loss (New Bible Cure (Siloam)) by Donald Colbert (Author) Growing older does not mean that you have to experience memory loss. In this concise, easy-to-read booklet, you'll discover valuable and practical information that will help you improve and strengthen your brainpower. Learn biblical secrets on health and the latest medical research that will help you to enhance your memory as you age. Explore new findings that your doctor may never have told you! What causes memory loss? Foods for thought Which vitamins and supplements will halt memory loss The Bible Cure faith-building, memory-improving plan You want to be healthy. God wants you to be healthy. Now at last, here's a source of information that will help you become healthier-body, mind and spirit.
	Strengthen Your Mind: Activities for People With Early Memory Loss by Kristin Einberger (Author), Janelle Sellick (Author) These 70 engaging activities will stimulate the minds, memories, and senses of older adults. Designed especially for individuals with early memory loss, the short, one-page worksheets strengthen brain functioning, promote social interaction, and provide hours of meaningful enjoyment. Developed by two adult day service professionals and field-tested with individuals with early-stage Alzheimer’s disease, the activities feature trivia, reminiscence, and sensory stimulation. Matching, fill-in-the-blank, and brainstorming worksheets allow older adults to test their memory and gain new knowledge on a wide variety of topics, including • advertising slogans • popular culture of former decades • heroes and heroines • famous movies • national landmarks • and much more...
	Remind Me Why I'm Here: Sifting through Sudden Loss of Memory and Judgment (People with Disabilities Press) by Diana Lund (Author) “It is one matter to forget things when you have a million thoughts flooding your mind and quite another to forget when your head is as empty as a looted store.” —from Remind Me Why I’m Here In the spring of 1996, Diana Lund was a top-ranked project manager in her mid-thirties when a car accident instantly changed her personality and her life’s direction. Thrust into short-term memory loss and cognitive deficit, self-perception kept colliding into reality. Neurologists underestimated her difficulties; they sent her back to work, to manage multi-million dollar contracts, in a mentally compromised state. Beyond an account of devastating internal transformation, Remind Me delves into neurological research and trends. Lund pushes her intellect to its limit to unravel...