New research, spearheaded by New York Medical College (NYMC) in Valhalla, may offer hope in understanding and preventing Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia, which afflict 5.8 million Americans, with women and minorities such as African Americans and Hispanics increasingly at greater risk.
The study, led by researchers at NYMC and Eastern Virginia Medical School and published in Nature Communications Biology has revealed a crucial link among diet, inflammation and Alzheimer’s disease, shedding light on potential pathways for intervention.
“Inflammation in the brain is a critical force in the generation and progression of Alzheimer’s disease,” said study co-author Patric Stanton, Ph.D., a professor of cell biology and anatomy and neurology at NYMC. “The Western diet, which is high in fat and cholesterol, can further increase this inflammation. We found that preventing a certain protein from activating genes that cause inflammation can protect the brain from the effects of the Western diet. This discovery offers the incredibly exciting prospect of new treatments that may slow or even stop Alzheimer’s disease in its tracks.”
According to the study, which was supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), there is a well-known association among diabetes, metabolic syndrome and an increased risk of cognitive dysfunction and Alzheimer’s disease. Diabetes in particular can lead to atherosclerosis and vascular inflammation, which are thought to trigger Alzheimer’s disease in susceptible individuals. The Western diet is a major cause of metabolic issues.
“A better understanding of the causes of early brain dysfunction could lead to earlier identification and treatments to improve care and outcomes for patients,” said Jerry Nadler, M.D., former dean of the School of Medicine and adjunct professor of pharmacology at NYMC and associate chief of staff for research and development at the Northern California Veterans Health System.
The research focused on the transcription factor, STAT4, which plays a significant role in inflammation activation in the body. When STAT4 was intact, prolonged feeding with a Western diet led to a diabetes-like metabolic syndrome characterized by impaired sensitivity to glucose and insulin, indicating early diabetes. However, genetically modified mice lacking STAT4 in their brains were fully protected when fed the same diet and showed less brain activation of a range of inflammatory genes.
One of the most exciting findings from the study involved its impact on memory,” Stanton said. “While long-term, synaptic activity-dependent plasticity, a process underlying memory formation, was found to be impaired by the Western diet, this damage was prevented when STAT4 was not present. This suggests that early changes linked to Alzheimer’s disease can be prevented, even on the high-fat diet, through targeted deletion of STAT4.”
Living your way to a healthier brain
As we age, our brains can become glitchy – much like a computer. Medical experts increasingly believe keeping a healthy brain is the key to mental and physical well-being. While there is no cure for dementia – the umbrella term for a number of cognitive-impairment conditions like Alzheimer’s – optimizing brain health through diet, exercise, sleep and reading can help.
Recently, wellness site Life Extension released a study on the Best & Worst States for Brain Health after analyzing the most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and others.
The study shows Vermont residents have the healthiest brains in the United States, followed by Oregon, Colorado, Washington, D.C., and Massachusetts. Louisiana was last.
Vermont ranked in the top three in six of the seven categories analyzed, including leading the nation in eating fruits and vegetables and reading to children. Louisiana ranked in the bottom 10 states in six of the seven categories analyzed, including reading literature and sleeping.
As for Connecticut and New York, they finished 18th and 19th respectively. Both states scored high in eating their fruits and veggies, meditation interest and daily reading to children age 5 and younger. They could do a better job at longer breastfeeding, getting enough sleep and reading literature. Where both states scored lowest (bottom 10) was in adult exercise, even though almost three-quarters of adults in the Nutmeg and Empire states exercise. Even so, this is not a brain health deal-breaker. According to Life Extension:
“In general, the top-ranked states tend to eat fruits and vegetables every day, get enough sleep, read literature for fun and to their children, breastfeed for longer and have an interest in meditation. Interestingly, regular exercise had a weaker association with a state’s overall score than the other six metrics.”
The reason reading literature is important, neurologists have said, is because it forces you to remember a plotline that you can’t look up the way you can a date in history or a scientific fact.
With that said, Life Extension executive Michael Smith, M.D. offered these three tips for improving your mind:
1. Feed your brain – The Mediterranean diet has been lauded by the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute on Aging. Staples of this brain-healthy approach to eating include fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes (such as lentils, beans, peas, chickpeas and peanuts) and healthy fats from fish, olive oil, avocado and nuts.
2. Bolster your nutrition – Fill any gaps in your diet with vitamins and minerals. Don’t like fatty fish? Take omega-3 supplements instead to improve brain function. Take a brain health quiz for personalized recommendations if you are not sure where to start.
3. Learn new things – Harvard Medical School recommends practicing a new, challenging activity to maintain cognitive skills. Examples may include learning a new language, or taking on a creative discipline like painting, writing fiction or studying a musical instrument. – Georgette Gouveia
