(19-12-10) Memory loss is nota normal part of aging

by David Gutierrez, staff writer

(NaturalNews) Memory loss is always a sign of disease or injury, and should
never be attributed to the natural course of aging, according to a study
conducted by researchers from the Rush University Medical Center in Chicago and
published in the journal Neurology.

Researchers followed 350 catholic nuns, priests and brothers for 13 years,
giving them memory tests every year and then examining their brains after
death.

Alzheimer's disease, the most common form of dementia, cannot be conclusively
diagnosed without dissecting the brain and examining it for tangles of a toxic
protein known as tau. In addition to searching the participants' brains for
tau, researchers also looked for Lewy bodies, an abnormal protein implicated in
a form of dementia called Lewy body disease, and for evidence of prior strokes.

Neither tau, Lewy bodies or signs of stroke were found in the brains of
participants who had died without experiencing memory loss.

"It appears these brain lesions have a much greater impact on memory function
in old age than we previously thought," researcher Robert S. Wilson said. "Our
results challenge the concept of normal memory aging and hint at the
possibility that these lesions play a role in virtually all late-life memory
loss."

Patients who had suffered from memory problems tended to develop them slowly,
with a rapid worsening in the last five years of life. Because experts believe
that dementia develops long before symptoms manifest, the researchers believe
that these participants suffered from early-stage, undiagnosed dementia.

"What we're saying is the brain changes that are mainly responsible for
Alzheimer's and other dementias also seem to be mainly responsible for very
mild early changes in memory and thinking," Wilson said.

"We don't think that just because you are old, a problem in thinking and
memory is normal and should be ignored. We think it's an actual sign of
disease."

Sources for this story include: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/a... http:
//www.webmd.com/healthy-aging/....

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