Paul Hoskins, "Exercise and healthy diet slow memory loss", Reuters UK,
September 7, 2005,
Link:
http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=healthNews&storyID=2005-09
-07T181538Z_01_YUE763559_RTRIDST_0_HEALTH-AGEING-DC.XML

An active lifestyle and a healthy, fish-rich diet are not only good for
your heart, they may also help tackle the memory loss associated with
old age, two leading neuroscientists said on Wednesday.

As people live longer, finding ways of halting the decline in mental
agility is becoming increasingly important, said Professor Ian
Robertson, director of the Institute of Neuroscience at Trinity College
Dublin.

"The biggest threat to being able to function well and properly is our
brains," he told journalists at the British Association for the
Advancement of Science meeting in Dublin.

"There is very strong evidence, particularly in the over-50s, that the
degree to which you maintain your mental faculties depends on a handful
of quite simple environmental factors," he said, having identified
seven key areas.

Those who remained physically fit, avoided high stress levels and
enjoyed a rich and varied social life are better equipped to stay alert
as they age. Mental stimulation, learning new things and simply
thinking young also help.

A new survey compiled for the University of Kent and the charity Age
Concern showed ageism was rife in Britain where people, on average, see
youth as ending at 49 and old age beginning at 65.

But Robertson said such attitudes were not helpful given the number of
80-year-olds who remain "sharp as pins."

"If you start to think of yourself as old when you are 60, which is no
longer justified, you will behave old," he said.

GOOD FOR YOUR BRAINS

Research conducted by his Trinity College colleague Professor Marina
Lynch showed healthy eating was another key requirement for staying on
the ball, according to Robertson.

Lynch said new research showed fish oils may reduce the cell
inflammation that triggers a decline in memory.

"Studies have identified the anti-inflammatory properties as well as
the restorative qualities of omega-3," she said of the essential fatty
acid found in supplements like cod liver oil and fatty fish such as
mackerel, salmon and tuna.

Already believed to protect the brain against the damage caused by
Alzheimer's disease, omega-3 has also been linked with maintaining
healthy hearts and joints.

Lynch said the biggest surprise of the latest discovery was that
omega-3 appeared not only to replace anti-inflammatories that dwindle
with age but also to stem a corresponding rise in chemicals that cause
the cell inflammation in the first place.

"These effects seem to cobble together to restore the ability of people
to maintain memory as they grow older," she said, pointing to a study
by the University of Aberdeen showing a diet rich in fatty fish slowed
the brain's aging process.