By Paddy Kamen, publisher BetterBrainBetterLife.com

Is it possible to turn Alzheimer’s around, to have someone walk back from a diagnosis, return to work, recall foreign languages that were lost to them, and re-grow hippocampal volume? The latest research says yes, but is that research sound? This article covers the details of this groundbreaking research, along with criticism of it. 

What constitutes crazy talk with respect to Alzheimer's treatment may be a matter of opinion. Click 'Read More' below to see where the battle lines are being drawn. 

By Paddy Kamen, Publisher, BetterBrainBetterLife.com

A brain that is in trouble can’t allow you to think and move at the same time. So says Lauren Sergio, Ph.D., professor in the School of Kinesiology & Health Science at Toronto’s York University. Sergio and her colleague, Ph.D. candidate Kara Hawkins, used this fact to develop a simple test that predicts with over 80 percent accuracy who is at risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. Her test should frighten everyone who has a parent with this diagnosis.

By Paddy Kamen, Publisher, BetterBrainBetterLife.com

When the ears don’t hear properly the whole brain is unhappy! In fact, it shrinks, both as a  whole and in particular areas.

Researchers from Johns Hopkins and the National Institute on Aging found that areas of the brain responsible for memory and sensory integration atrophied faster in those with hearing loss. These areas (middle and inferior temporal gyri, for example) have been implicated in mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease.

This certainly makes a case for treating hearing loss quickly! I wonder if remedial brain training could help those affected by hearing loss?

Read more at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811914000032

By Paddy Kamen, Publisher, BetterBrainBetterLife.com

My mother began experiencing mini-strokes about 15 years ago. She’s now 87 and has had full-blown dementia for at least five years. Before mom became incapable, she named me as her attorney for personal care (or substitute decision maker). This means I have a decision-making veto in the event that she is unable to make her own health care decisions. This is clearly the case now.

By Paddy Kamen, Publisher, BetterBrainBetterLife.com

If you think your brain might be shrinking (due to aging, poor memory, or signs of dementia) you’ll want to know about the relationship between homocysteine and B vitamins.

Researchers at the University of Oxford recently published study results that show significantly reduced brain atrophy in pre-dementia patients (those with Mild Cognitive Impairment) as a result of B vitamin supplementation.

By Guest Writer Samantha Zhang, Ph.D.

Parkinson’s is a terrible disease that eats away at the control of one’s body movements. As the dopamine-generating cells in the midbrain die, sufferers may continue to lose more of themselves with cognitive and behavioral issues such as dementia setting in. No one knows what causes the death of these cells.

Public figures such as Michael J. Fox and Muhammad Ali have increased awareness of the disease, which was first described in 1817. But while it’s been almost 200 years since English scientist Dr. James Parkinson published An Essay in the Shaking Palsy, there is still no cure.