Category Archives: Stroke

Optimal dietary patterns for healthy aging

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A recent important study published in Nature Medicine examines the impact of long-term adherence to various dietary patterns on healthy aging.

Utilizing data from the Nurses’ Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study – over 100K people in their early fifties followed for 30 years – in the end, only 23% of them were free of 11 chronic diseases!

Primary Message: Eat well and believe the science.

Study Parameters

Healthy Aging
Better Cognitive Function
Better Physical Function
Better Mental Health
Free from Chronic Disease
Survival Past Age 70

Key Findings:

Dietary Patterns: Higher adherence to healthful dietary patterns, such as the Alternative Healthy Eating Index (AHEI), was associated with increased odds of healthy aging. Participants in the highest quintile of AHEI adherence had an 86% greater likelihood of aging healthily compared to those in the lowest quintile.

Beneficial Foods: Increased consumption of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, unsaturated fats, nuts, legumes, and low-fat dairy products correlated with better aging outcomes.

Not surprisingly, healthy options include vegetables, fruits, unsaturated fats, nuts, legumes, omegas-3s and fish. And surprisingly (you’ll like this!), wine, fast food, fried food for better chances of brain health & longer life!

Detrimental Foods: Higher intakes of trans fats, sodium, sugary beverages, and red or processed meats were inversely associated with healthy aging.

Unhealthy food, as expected, included trans fats, total meats, red meat, butter, margarine, snacks, sodium, processed meats, sweets and desserts, sugary juices, total alcohol and refined grains. Surprisingly, potatoes & starchy vegetables, low energy drinks were net negatives

Click to access full study

Here’s what actually causes high cholesterol (and how to cut it)

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Which foods should we point the finger at? Due to their saturated fat content, foods such as tropical oils (palm or coconut oil), baked goods, sweets and foods that have been fried all contribute to an increase of ‘bad’ cholesterol.


Processed meats – think sausages, bacon and hot dogs – also contain a high amount of saturated fat. According to one review involving 614,000 participants, each additional 50g (1.8oz) serving of processed meat per day is linked to a 42 per cent higher chance of heart disease.

Then there’s sugar. It also acts like a drug on your liver, encouraging it to produce more LDLs and fewer HDLs. A 15-year study found that participants who took in 25 per cent or more of their daily calories in sugar were more than twice as likely to die from heart disease, with cholesterol playing a key role.

https://apple.news/AXMuD4ku0QmqJpqmMtMI1qw

Why do obesity drugs seem to treat so many other ailments?

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“Curbing addiction isn’t the only potential extra benefit of GLP-1 drugs.

Mounjaro Zepbound Ozempic Wegovy

Other studies have suggested they can reduce the risk of death, strokes and heart attacks for people with cardiovascular disease or chronic kidney ailments, ease sleep apnea symptoms and even slow the development of Parkinson’s disease. There are now hundreds of clinical trials testing the drugs for these conditions and others as varied as fatty liver disease, Alzheimer’s disease, cognitive dysfunction and HIV complications.”

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-03074-1

Doctors Wish More People Over 65 Took Ozempic

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Insurance hurdles and worries about muscle loss mean fewer older patients are using weight-loss drugs

Millions of people are flocking to drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy to lose weight and treat health problems. Doctors say one group that could benefit from the drugs is missing out: seniors.

For older people, these medications can help in ways that go beyond losing weight, physicians say. Fewer pounds can lead to more mobility and better balance, allowing older people to become more active. That can boost mood, overall health, and sometimes makes the difference between walking freely or using a wheelchair or cane.

https://apple.news/Aiz7CIM58Qv-tvbGUuElibQ

Apple Vision Pro Game Changer for Disabled

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The headset is already changing disabled users’ lives.

In her childhood bedroom, Maxine Collard had a PC connected to a cathode-ray tube monitor so massive it bowed her desk into a smile that grew deeper every year. Collard has oculocutaneous albinism, which means that her hair is naturally bleach white, her complexion maximally fair, and she has uncorrectably low visual acuity with limited depth perception. In order to see the screen, she had to crane her neck until her face was two inches from the monitor.

When Collard was in middle school, her mother bought an iMac for the family. Collard spent hours messing around on the new machine, her nose pressed almost to the glass. One day, deep in the computer’s accessibility settings, she discovered that if she held down the control key while spinning the mouse’s scroll wheel, she could instantaneously zoom the entire screen to whatever magnification level she wanted. There was a rudimentary magnifier app on her Windows computer, but she found the interface difficult to use, and the low-res image on the zoomed-in PC screen, she said, was pixelated, hard to read, “disgusting.” Her experience on the iMac, which allowed her to magnify the entire screen into a much clearer image, came as a revelation.

Earlier this year, Collard had a similar aha moment when she tried the Apple Vision Pro for the first time. Some critics of the AVP were skeptical of a device that pressed two high-resolution micro-OLED screens within millimeters of one’s eyes for hours at a time. But to Collard, the ability to (as she put it) “strap an iPad to my face” was instantly appealing.

See Link for more:

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/apple-vision-pro-disabled-users.html

When Is It Time to Stop Driving Because of a Neurologic Condition?

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Getting loved ones who have memory and executive function problems to stop driving can be tricky. These recommendations may help.

“Because symptoms emerge at varying rates, every person needs to be assessed individually,” says Ergun Uc, MD, FAAN, director of the movement disorders division at University of Iowa Health Care in Iowa City. “Some people may retain the basic ability to operate a car but may become lost when driving or feel unsure when they have to make a decision quickly.”

Other problems that could develop include going too fast or too slow, getting confused by stop signs and traffic signals, and having difficulty changing lanes or making turns. If a driver starts getting into fender benders or receiving more traffic tickets than usual, that also could be a red flag. Family members can share their observations with the person’s doctors, who might refer the patient to an occupational therapist, the department of motor vehicles, or a driving-test center that can assess driving skills, says Dr. Morgenstern.

https://www.brainandlife.org/articles/when-is-it-time-to-stop-driving

FDA approves Wegovy for lowering heart risks

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Will neurologists start ordering weight loss drugs?

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Novo Nordisk’s (NOVOb.CO), opens new tabweight-loss drug Wegovy on Friday for lowering the risk of stroke and heart attack in overweight or obese adults who do not have diabetes.

Novo’s widely used diabetes drug Ozempic and weight-loss drug Wegovy, both chemically known as semaglutide, belong to a class of drugs called GLP-1 agonists. Originally developed for type 2 diabetes, they also reduce food cravings and cause the stomach to empty more slowly.

https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/fda-approves-novo-nordisks-wegovy-use-reducing-heart-attack-risks-2024-03-08