Is Alzheimer's a Byproduct of Modern Life?



Making Some Life-style Changes 

Could Cut the Incidence of Alzheimer’s

Evelyn E. Smith

M. S. in Library Science, University of North Texas (2012)

Dr. Mercola’s warning that owners of cell phones and personal computers don’t get enough sleep nowadays because they keep electronic devices in the bedroom started a hunt for correlations between modern practices and the rise of Alzheimer’s.   Even though correlation doesn’t necessarily equate with causation, it is easy to find popular articles backed up by scientific researcher that give a reader pause.

Ban Personal Computers and

 Cell Phones from the Bedroom

Dr. Mercola. (2014, June 26).   Sleep and technology don’t mix.  Why you need to set an electronic curfew.  Mercola.com.  Retrieved from http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/06/26/sleep-electronic-gadgets.aspx

Approximately 95 percent of adults and 75 percent of children in the United States have at least one electronic device in their bedroom that interferes with their sleep-wake cycle (Mercola, 2014, June 26, para. 1-2).  Following a natural circadian cycle not only helps with morning alertness and memory retention, but it also regulates melatonin levels that guard against cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, and heart disease.

 Bedrosian, T A. & Nelson, R. J. (2012, August 13).  Pro: Alzheimer’s disease and circadian dysfunction:  Chicken or egg.  Alzheimer’s Research & Therapy, 4(4) 25. doi: 10.1186/alzrt128. eCollection 201210.1186/alz [Abstract].  Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22883711

Research suggests that circadian disruption may exacerbate Alzheimer’s disease pathology.  Furthermore, sleep deprivation, sleep apnea, and insomnia may be related.

Naismith, S. L., Hickle, I. B.,  & Terpening, Z (2014)  Circadian misalignment and sleep disruption in mild cognitive impairment.  Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease: JAD, 38(4), 857-66. doi: 10:3233/JAD-131217. [Abstract].  Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24100124

Disruptions in the sleep cycle might well serve as a marker for Alzheimer’s since patients with mild cognitive impairment demonstrate significant alternations in the timing of melatonin secretion, demonstrating a great incidence of waking up after falling asleep as well as the failure to achieve enough Rapid Eye Movement sleep.

 __________

For information about the harmful effects of allowing your teens and preteens to keep cell phones, TVs, and computers in their bedrooms at night, look at the follow Website: 

Ways to improve your child’s grades (1 of 10):  Make sure your child has a regular bedtime & enough sleep. (2014, Jaunary 18, 2014; updated 2014, March 14).  McGregor, Texas McGinley Memorial Public Library Books  & Friends.  Retrieved from http://evelynelainesmith.blogspot.com/2014/01/ten-ways-to-improve-your-childs-grades.html

 _________

Adopt a Semi-Vegetarian Lifestyle:
Limit Meat Consumption 

Giem, P., Beeson, W. L., & Fraser, G. E.  (1993). The incidence of dementia and intake of animal products: Preliminary finding from the Adventist Health Study.  Neuroepidemiology, 12(1), 28-36. [Abstract].  Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8327020

A Loma Linda, California, study found that those participants who ate meat, including poultry and fish, were twice as likely “to become demented” as their vegetarian counterparts.  Vegetarians tended to delay the onset of dementia.

Dr. Qaadri.  (n. d.).  Alzheimer’s disease:  New theories.  Retrieved from http://www.doctorq.ca/alzheimers-theories.html

Beef-eating countries have a higher incidence of Alzheimer’s than do countries like Japan, Korea, and India where  the diet is primarily vegetarian (Qaadri, n. d., para. 7).  Qaadri ties this higher rate of Alzheimer’s disease with the transmission of prion diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson’s, and Creutzfeld Jacob’s disease, all of which medical science first described in Western Europe during the last quarter of the nineteenth-century (Qaadri, n. d., para. 17-18).

 ___________

Habitual Aspartame Use
May Aggravate Dementia

Is artificial sweetener poisoning you?   (2013). Food Matters. Retrieved from http://www.foodmatters.tv/articles-1/is-artificial-sweetener-poisoning-you

Independent researchers have linked long exposure to Aspartame (NutraSweet, Equal, Sugar Twin) to diseases such as MS, AS, Alzheimer’s, and Parkinson’s since it triggers an excitotoxin that frees an excessive amount of free radicals that kills brain cells (Food Matters, 2013, para. 3).  As early as 1971, a neuroscientist at G. D. Seale noted that the chemical causes holes in the brains of mice, although Seale didn’t inform the FDA about this until 1981 (Food Matters, 2013, para. 4). 

Phenylalanine levels also dramatically increase with the habitual consumption of Aspartame, which also causes serotonin levels to decrease, possibly leading to depression and schizophrenia (Food Matters, 2013, para. 5).  Aspartame also contains methanol, or wood alcohol, a toxin, and formaldehyde a carcinogenic that may damage the retina as well as interfere with DNA replications (Food Matters, 2013, para. 6-7).

Kovacs, Betty.   (2014). Artificial sweeteners (cont.).  MedicineNet.  Retrieved from http://www.onhealth.com/artificial_sweeteners/page7.htm

The Federal Drug Administration approved Aspartame in the 1980s, but 92 percent of all independent studies continue to point out that it is unsafe as opposed to those studies funded by the manufacturer (Kovac, 2014, para. 2).  By 1998 Aspartame products caused 80 percent of complaints to the FDA about food additives (Kovac, 2014, para. 3), and studies have also linked it to headaches, depression, brain tumors and other cancers in addition to increased hunger (Kovac, 2013 para. 4-7).

Olney, J. W., Labruvere, J, & deGubareff, T. (1980, summer).  Brain damage in mice from voluntary ingestion of glutamate and aspartate.  Neurobehavioral Toxicology, 2(2), 124-9) [Abstract].  Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7290308

Mice will voluntarily ingested enough glutamate and aspartate in a water solution to “sustain conspicuous hypothalamic damage”.

Whitehouse, R., Boullata, J, & McCauley, L. A.  (2008, June).  The potential toxicity of artificial sweeteners.  AAOHN Journal, 56(6), 251-9.  [Abstract].  Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18604921

Nurses detail the controversy that accompanies the possible link between artificial sweeteners and Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Multiple Sclerosis, autism, lupus, and chronic fatigue syndrome.

Note to Self:

• Remove the Personal Computer  and the cell phone from the bedroom after 9 p.m.;

• Further restrict the consumption of beef;

• Wean myself off diet drinks.

See:  Blank, Laura. (2013, October 21). Which diet sodas don’t contain aspartame? Livestrong.  Retrieved from http://www.livestrong.com/article/232708-which-diet-sodas-do-not-contain-aspartame/

Now for a personal note:

 

Since I have written and researched this blog page, I have been wearing asleep mask that I first work in college forty years ago thus achieving a similar effect to banning all light sources from the bedroom. I’ve also drastically cut down on my diet sodas, rationing myself to about one diet drink per week, although I eventually will cut out this one. Unfortunately, not one of the nearby supermarkets carries aspartame-free sodas, so this more or less limits me to unsweetened iced tea.  Consequently, my sleep has been better and deeper in the last few weeks and I have experienced a spurt in energy (possibly brought about by taking 1000 mg. of vitamin D daily as well as a fish oil supplement during the last week).  Indeed, this is the first time I remember dreaming since Mother went into hospice last year.   Also, without dieting, I have lost two dress sizes!  Now, that's a bonus benefit!