Stanford sponsored a 3-part series on geriatric health in May. The second evening, May 18, 2006, included two lectures:
“Cognitive Changes With Aging: How Much Is Too Much?”
Speaker: Michael Greicius, MD, MPH, Dept of Neurology, Memory Disorders, Stanford Univ
“The Big Picture of Maintaining Health — Medications, Tests and Safety At Home”
Speaker: Yusra Hussain, MD, Dept of Internal Med, Geriatrician, Stanford Hospital & Clinics
This email attempts to summarize some of the key points in those lectures and provide a web link to the handout.
Dr. Greicius said that one-tenth of people over 65 have Alzheimer’s Disease. One-third of people over 85 have AD. 70% of the dementia cases are AD. The most common non-AD dementias are Vascular Dementia, FTD, and LBD. According to the “nun study,” the more education you have, the less impaired you are than someone with less education for the same degree of AD.
There is a disorder known as Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI). Half of those with MCI convert to AD every four years. Scientists are looking into who will convert and how this can be prevented. Neither Vitamin E nor Aricept helped treat MCI.
There are many reversible causes of memory loss including B12 deficiency, low thyroid, medication (anticholinergics including some medications for urinary incontinence, beta-blockers, enzodiazepines, opiates, anti-epileptics, some medications for neuropathy), depression, alcohol, and retirement.
In general, people in their 50s and 60s can handle less than half the alcohol they could handle in their 30s.
There are some cognitive IMPROVEMENTS with normal aging: emotionality, semantic knowledge (knowledge of the world), and vocabulary.
Dr. Greicius spoke about cognitive decline with normal aging. Related to that topic, he distributed an article from the journal Nature Review Neuroscience, Feb ’04, titled “Insights into the Ageing Mind: A View from Cognitive Neuroscience.” He said this was an excellent review of the topic. An abstract of the article can be found at: (The full article costs $30.)
http://www.nature.com/nrn/journal/v5/n2/abs/nrn1323_fs.html
What can be done to minimize cognitive decline? His guesses include living healthy, moderate alcohol consumption, and no cigarettes. He explored the possible role of NSAIDs and cognitive training in minimizing decline.
His recommendations include: all things in moderation; minimize cardiovascular risk factors; sell your TV; read, dance, exercise; spend more time with friends and family; participate in medical research. Two journals did a review of ginkgo biloba studies. They showed no benefit. He doesn’t recommend taking extra Vitamin E.
Dr. Greicius said that there is a GRAIN of truth only to the layperson’s notion that for the clock test (part of the 4-hours of neuropsychological testing) those with AD can draw the clock and those with LBD cannot. He said that generally speaking those with LBD have visuospatial impairment early on, which is why they can’t draw the clock. But not all those with LBD have visuospatial impairment at the time of diagnosis. Another point: those with late stages AD can’t draw the clock either.
Dr. Hussain said that most people get a serious chronic condition at the age of 55. These can include geriatric syndromes, which are urinary incontinence, MCI, and depression.
If you think your health is excellent, you will live longer. If you think your health is merely good, your lifespan is normal/average.
About half of all deaths are attributable to preventable factors.
A healthy lifestyle includes: maintaining social life; being active each day; eating well; avoiding tobacco and excessive alcohol intake; following up on periodic health examinations and screening tests.
The best diet is rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and nuts. One should have moderate consumption of polyunsatured fatty acids, omega 3 fatty acids, protein and dairy. One should have low consumption of carbs and animal fats. She does not recommend taking a multi-vitamin with antioxidants as a supplement. She says that antioxidants should be part of the diet.
In order to maintain cognitive function, she said that the “nun study” shows that it’s important to have a purpose in life and to stay busy with family and friends.
Frailty cannot be reversed.
That’s it! I didn’t attend the third lecture nor was I very interested in it so I won’t be emailing out notes from that one.
Regards,
Robin