Posted by Jack (from Netscape editors)
If you want to keep your wits about you when you’re in your 70s, you had better keep your cholesterol level and blood pressure down when you’re in your 40s. It turns out that the same things that are bad for your heart in mid-life are bad for your brain in your later
years. High cholesterol, hypertension, diabetes and smoking in mid-life raise the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia many years later, according to a joint project by researchers from the Kaiser Permanente division of research in Oakland, California and the University of Kuopio in Finland.
The study: The cholesterol levels of 9,844 men and women who lived in Northern California and Finland were measured from 1964 to 1973 when they were 40 to 45 years old. They were then followed for 40 years in what is considered the largest and most diverse long-term study to examine the link between cholesterol at midlife and the development of dementia later on. Of the original 9,844 participants, 598 were diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease or vascular dementia between 1994 and 2007 when the participants were between 61 and 88 years old.
The results:
–People who had high blood cholesterol at 240 milligrams per deciliter or higher in middle age had a 66 percent higher incidence of Alzheimer’s disease decades later.
–Even those who had borderline high levels of cholesterol at around 200 mg/dl to 239 mg/dl had a 52 percent higher risk of developing vascular dementia, the second most common form of dementia after Alzheimer’s disease. Vascular dementia is a group of dementia syndromes caused by conditions affecting the blood supply to the brain.
“Our study shows that even moderately high cholesterol levels in your 40s put people at greater risk for Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia decades later,” said the study’s senior author Rachel Whitmer, Ph.D., a Kaiser Permanente research scientist and epidemiologist. “Considering that nearly 100 million Americans have either high or borderline cholesterol levels, this is a disturbing finding. The good news here is that what is good for the heart is also good for the mind, and this is an early risk factor for dementia that can be modified and managed by lowering cholesterol through healthy lifestyle changes.” The study findings were published in the journal Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders.
..oatmeal. It’s hot, tasty and quick to make. Best of all, it can dramatically lower your cholesterol.
The link between eating oatmeal and cholesterol reduction is stronger than when the Food and Drug Administration initially approved the health claim’s appearance on food labels in 1997, concludes a new study from the University of Kentucky College of Medicine.
If you are concerned about your cholesterol, the results might make you change your breakfast menu to include oatmeal:
Total cholesterol levels are lowered through oat consumption.
Low-density lipoprotein (LDL, the “bad” cholesterol) is reduced without adverse effects on high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL, the “good” cholesterol) or triglyceride concentrations.
“Whole-grain products like oatmeal are among some of the best foods one can eat to improve cholesterol levels, in addition to other lifestyle choices,” Anderson said. “Lifestyle choices, such as diet, should be the first line of therapy for most patients with moderate cholesterol risk given the expense, safety concerns and intolerance related to cholesterol-lowering drugs.”
And that’s not all. More recent data indicate that whole-grain oats, as part of a lifestyle management program, may confer health benefits that extend beyond total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol reduction, Anderson said.
Recent studies suggest eating oatmeal may:
Reduce the risk for elevated blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and weight gain.
Reduce LDL cholesterol during weight-loss.
Provide favorable changes in the physical characteristics of LDL cholesterol particles, making them less susceptible to oxidation. (Oxidation is thought to lead to hardening of the arteries.)
Supply unique compounds that may lead to reducing early hardening of the arteries.
“Since the ’80s, oatmeal has been scientifically recognized for its heart health benefits, and the latest research shows this evidence endures the test of time and should be embraced as a lifestyle option for the millions of Americans at-risk for heart disease,” said Anderson.
The study findings were published in the American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine.