2016-06-30
Through humor, you can soften some of the worst blows that life delivers. And once you find laughter, no matter how painful your situation might be, you can survive it.
-Bill Cosby


From "Neurology Now":

Science keeps catching up with what grandmothers have been preaching for ages: fish really is "brain food."

Following up on research that has shown eating fish to lower the risk for Alzheimer’s, another study adds to the growing evidence that a seafood-rich diet helps keep the mind sharp. People 65 and older who ate fish at least once a week fared better on tests of memory and thinking over six years than peers who didn't eat it, according to the 3,718-par¬ticipant study published in December's Archives of Neurology

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Eating fish once a week slowed the annual rate of cognitive decline by 10 percent; eating it at least twice a week slowed the decline by 13 percent. Among all the fish eaters, age-related mental decline was delayed by the equivalent of three to four years.

Though previous studies have credited fish that are rich in omega- 3 fatty acids with protecting against cognitive decline (as well as preventing heart dis¬ease), this one failed to find such a brain link Researchers speculate that the omega-3 fatty acids in such oily fish as salmon and tuna help keep the mind sharp by providing the main nutrients of cell membranes in the brain.

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