Mid Rivers Newsmagazine 3-7-18

24 I MATURE FOCUS I
March 7, 2018
MID RIVERS NEWSMAGAZINE
@MIDRIVERSNEWS
MIDRIVERSNEWSMAGAZINE.COM
MATURE FOCUS, from page 23
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Academy of Neurology. “Because MCI
may progress to dementia, it is particularly
important that MCI is diagnosed early.”
The guideline also states that, while
exercising may provide some benefit,
there are no FDA-approved medications
or proven dietary strategies for the treatment
of MCI. There is weak evidence that
cognitive training may be beneficial in
improving measures of cognitive function,
so the guideline states that doctors may
recommend cognitive training for people
with MCI.
The American Academy of Neurology
developed the current recommendations
after reviewing all available studies on
MCI. The guideline recently was published
in the journal Neurology.
• • •
Older adults seeking natural ways to boost
their memory skills also may want to eat
more Indian food. Curcumin, a substance
found in turmeric root that gives Indian
curry its bright yellow color, has been found
to improve memory and mood in people
with mild, age-related memory loss.
A recent study conducted at UCLA
looked at the effects of taking a curcumin
supplement on memory performance in
older people without dementia. It included
40 adults between the ages of 50 and 90
who had mild memory complaints. Participants
received either 90 milligrams of
curcumin or a placebo two times per day
for 18 months.
All 40 subjects received standardized
cognitive assessments at the start of the
study and at six-month intervals, along with
monitoring of curcumin levels in their blood
at the start of the study and after 18 months.
Those who took the curcumin experienced
significant improvements [an average of 28
percent] in their memory and attention abilities
as measured by the assessments, while
those who took a placebo did not improve.
Those taking curcumin also experienced
mild improvements in mood.
Curcumin previously has been shown
in lab studies to have anti-inflammatory
and antioxidant properties. It has long
been well-regarded in India as a natural
treatment for many health concerns – in
fact, it has been suggested as a possible
reason why senior citizens in India, where
curcumin is a dietary staple, have a lower
incidence of Alzheimer’s disease.
“Exactly how curcumin exerts its effects
is not certain, but it may be due to its ability
to reduce brain inflammation, which
has been linked to both Alzheimer’s disease
and major depression,” said Dr. Gary
Small, the study’s first author and director
of geriatric psychiatry at UCLA’s Longevity
Center. The research was published
online in the American Journal of Geriatric
Psychiatry.
A recent study attempted to determine how
dealing with life’s challenges relates to the
development of wisdom as people age.
The origin of wisdom
The old saying “with age comes wisdom”
may not be accurate – rather, it’s how a
person responds to challenging life events
that seem to come with getting older, such
as divorce, a health crisis or the death of
a loved one, that shapes the development
of wisdom over time, a new study from
Oregon State University suggests.
The study’s goal was to better understand
how coping with adversity leads to greater
wisdom and, ultimately, to healthier aging.
“What we [were] really looking at is ‘when
bad things happen, what happens?,’” said
Carolyn Aldwin, director of the Center for
Healthy Aging Research in the College
of Public Health and Human Sciences at
OSU. “The event can become a catalyst for
changes that come afterward. Generally,
the people who had to work to sort things
out after a difficult life event are the ones
who arrived at new meaning.”
The study included 50 adults between
the ages of 56 and 91 who had experienced
one or more major difficult life events. The
participants were asked to identify those
events, describe how they coped, and detail
whether and how the experience changed
their outlook or future actions. While some
participants considered the events as merely
something that could not be changed, the
largest group [32 participants] agreed that
dealing with these events disrupted their
sense of personal meaning, forcing them
to re-evaluate their fundamental beliefs
and their understanding of the world. “For
these folks, the event really rocked their
boat and challenged how they saw life and
themselves,” Aldwin said.
A person’s social environment and interactions
with family, friends and others also
were shown to be key factors in shaping their
responses to difficult life events, as well as
their development of wisdom. Those who
received unsolicited emotional support, for
example, developed wisdom around compassion
and humility. Seeking others with
similar experiences exposed some participants
to new ideas and interactions, leading
to deeper exploration and a new sense of self.
The findings recently were published in
the Journals of Gerontology: Series B.