Eat That Burger Now, Damage Your Brain Later

Researchers at the International Conference on Alzheimer's Disease are releasing a slew of studies correlating midlife behavior with later mental decline.

Today's news includes:

• Mid-life dietary fat intake seems to be tied to poorer "global cognitive function and memory" later in life, according to the Alzheimer's Association. High intake of saturated fats (from milk, for instance) at about age 50 negatively affected study subjects' mental performance twenty years later.
• Another long term study tied mid-life physical activity to reduced risk of Alzheimer's and dementia. The press release linked above summarizes the finding: "People who were physically active at their leisure time had 50 percent lower risk for dementia and 60 percent lower risk for Alzheimer's than the more sedentary persons." "Physically active" means exercising twice a week.
• And in a study that further links physical health with brain health, researchers in Louisiana found that people with cardiovascular disease risk factors -- such as high blood pressure or poor insulin processing -- perform worse on memory tests than control groups.

This is on top of yesterday's release of a list of Alzheimer's / dementia risk factors that included high systolic blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity and inactivity.

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