University of Kentucky’s Sanders-Brown Center on Aging
PREADVISE Bulletin Board
Newsletter for the SELECT men in PREADVISE
Volume 2, Issue 2
November, 2005
What causes the transformation from healthy
aging to Alzheimer’s disease?
As a person gets older,
changes occur in all parts
of the body, including the
following changes in the
brain.
●Some neurons shrink,
especially large ones in
areas important to learning, memory, planning,
and other complex mental activities. In certain
brain regions, chemical
and electrical changes
occur in neurons and
their connections to lower
their efficiency and ability
to communicate with
other cells. These
changes may make neurons more vulnerable to
damage.
●Neurofibrillary tangles
develop in neurons and
beta-amyloid plaques
develop in surrounding
areas, though in much
smaller numbers than in
AD.
●Damage by free radicals
increases (a free radical
is a kind of molecule that
reacts easily with other
molecules; too many of
these molecules can
damage neurons.
● I n f l a m m a ti o n
(the
complex process that
occurs when the body
responds to an injury or
abnormal situation ) also
increases.
Many investigators are
now focused on understanding fully these
changes in normal aging
and their effects on memory and thinking. By identifying the changes that
occur in normal aging,
investigators hope to be
able to understand the
transformation from healthy
aging to Alzheimer’s disease. In addition, learning
more about the very earliest
stages of the disease process may open the doors to
treatments that may delay
the onset of the disease or
prevent its progression.
Inside this issue:
Bad predictions
2
Totally useless trivia
2
Do camel humps hold water? 2
Ice cream headache
2-3
Old dogs
3
As they get older, some The name sounds familiar 4
people develop memory
problems greater than PREADVISE update
4
those expected for their
age. However, these prob- Vocabulary builder
4
lems do not necessarily
meet all the accepted criteria for AD. These people
are thought to have mild
cognitive impairment, or
MCI. In certain studies,
about 40% of these individuals develop AD within 3
years. Other people with
MCI, however, have not progressed to AD, even after 8
years. From the 2003 NIA
Progress Report
Benefits to shedding the spare tire?
Source: Alzheimer’s
Assoc.
In support of growing evidence linking obesity as a
risk factor for Alzheimer's
disease, one small study
by the University of Tasmania in Australia found
that waist size may be
associated with an increased risk of Alzheimer's disease and
being overweight in midlife may play a role in the
later development of Alzheimer's.
The study charted the
weight history (measured
by waist circumference
and body mass index
[BMI]) of 10 men and 15
elderly women (mean age
74.9) diagnosed with Alzheimer's and compared
their weight history
against a control group
without Alzheimer's.
While all those in the
study experienced some
increase in waist size and
BMI as they aged from 25
to 45 years, those individuals who later were
diagnosed with Alz-
heimer's disease were
found to have had a 14
percent higher BMI increase in middle age and
a higher weight gain by
135 percent than those
who did not develop Alzheimer's later in life.
The study suggests the
need for further research
into the relationship between increased mid-life
obesity, particularly abdominal weight, and Alzheimer's disease.
Quotes to remember
Memory is the cabinet of the
imagination, the treasury of reason, the registry of conscience,
and the council chamber of
thought.
Basile, 17th century Italian author
PREADVISE Bulletin Board
Bad Predictions
“There is as much chance of
repealing
the
18th
amendment (prohibition of
alcohol) as there is for a
hummingbird to fly to the
planet
Mars
with
the
Washington Monument tied to
its tail."
Why are manhole covers round?
So they don’t roll in! Manholes, which interconnect
underground sewerage
pipes, and serve as a
point of entry for cleaning
the pipes, are located at
every major sewer pipe
junction, and are capped
with round manhole covers. The reason for the
circular construction of
these covers is, quite simply, that covers of any
other shape would fall
through the manholes by
virtue of their varying diameters. Circular manhole covers do not vary in
width, or in diameter, as is
the case with these other
shapes, thus remaining in
place despite the street
traffic running roughshod
over them.
Manufacturers craft the
manhole covers together
with the smaller sized lip,
upon which they rest, at
the same time to ensure
a tightly sealed fit. Additionally, the manufacture
of circular manhole covers is easier and more
accurate than the manufacture of covers of any
other shape. Lastly, round
manhole covers, once
removed, require less
lifting and less manpower, as their shape
allows them to be rolled.
Did you know?
That The Muppet
Show was banned
from TV in Saudi Arabia because one of its
stars (Miss Piggy)
was a pig.
Totally useless trivia
The stepped sides of the
Great Pyramid were once
smooth and not climbable. They were originally
covered with a casing of
fine, dressed limestone.
Over the eons, the casing
stones were stripped off
the pyramid and used for
other building projects.
- Senator Morris Sheppard,
TX, author of the 18th
Florida is not the southAmendment
ernmost state in the
United States. Hawaii is
.
farther south.
Shakespeare spelled his
own name several differ-
ent ways.
The name of the legendary Lady Godiva's horse
was Aethenoth.
At 12,000 feet above sea
level, there is barely
enough oxygen in La Paz,
Bolivia to support combustion. The city is nearly
fireproof.
The footprints left on the
moon by the Apollo astronauts will not erode since
there is no wind or water
on the Moon. The foot-
prints should last at least
10 million years.
Four states have active
volcanoes: Washington,
California, Alaska, and
Hawaii, whose Mauna
Loa is the world's largest
active volcano. Hawaii
itself was formed by the
activity of undersea volcanoes
An ant can survive for up
to two weeks underwater.
What causes an ice cream headache?
Fact: Sir Francis Drake’s name for
California in 1579 was New Albion.
snow cone and tries to
heat your brain. This
swelling of blood vessels
is what causes an ice
cream headache, or what
is more commonly known
as "brain freeze" or
"frozen brain syndrome."
Luckily the intense stabbing pain in your head
usually lasts only for
about 30-60 seconds.
I scream, you scream, we
all scream ice cream
HEADACHE! - 30% of the
human population suffers
from these excruciating
headaches. The best way
to avoid getting an ice
cream headache is keep
the chilled foods or beverages you eat on the side
of your mouth, away from
the roof of your mouth.
Answer to riddle on page 4: They were the same man. Grover Cleveland served two terms as president of the United
States, but the terms were not consecutive. Answer to scramble on page 4: FOOT STEPS
Page 2
An ice cream headache is
triggered by a sudden
change in temperature
that occurs in your mouth
when you eat something
cold.
On a hot day when you
eat a snow cone, the cold
crushed ice that touches
the top of your mouth
initiates a nerve reaction
that swells blood vessels
in your head. The nerve
center on the roof of your
mouth overreacts to the
cold temperature of the
Do camels humps hold water?
Not really! The humps on
a camel's back are actually huge heaps of fat and
flesh that can weigh as
much as 80 pounds in a
healthy camel. These
humps help camels survive for weeks without
food and water.
When water and food become scarce on the deserts where camels roam,
the fatty humps serve as
stored food and are used
for nourishment. As the
camel's body metabolizes
or uses up the humps'
stored fat, the hump becomes smaller and flabbier. So the longer the
camel goes without eating,
the smaller its hump gets.
The size of a camel's
hump helps determine a
camel's health, food
sources, and overall wellbeing. These humps, or
reserves of fat, are the
reason why camels can go
for days without water and
food. While humans are
supposed to drink 8
glasses of water a day,
camels , camels can go
without water for up to 2
weeks!
Camel characteristics:
- Camels are the only animals with humps.
- Got milk? Camels can produce up to 600 liters of
milk a year.
- Camels can close their
nostrils (for example, in a
sandstorm).
- Camels eat just about any-
Volume 2, Issue 2
thing. When camels are
really hungry and there is
no food around, they won't
think twice about gobbling
up people's tents, sandals,
or blankets.
- Camels as professional
boxers? In some countries
camels are a source of entertainment. For example,
camel fighting attracts audiences of all ages in several
countries around the world.
- Are camels faster than a
speeding bullet? Well not
quite. But camels can run
just as fast as horses, if not
faster. Similar to horse
races in the United States,
camel races
are a popular
sport in Morocco.
Interesting Fact
Margaret Mitchell, who wrote
Gone With the Wind, never
wrote a book before that, and
never wrote a book after that.
Her original title for the book
was Tomorrow Is Another Day;
her publisher changed it to
Gone With the Wind. The publisher also changed the heroine's name from Pansy O'Hara
to Scarlett O'Hara.
Can Old dogs teach us new tricks?
Scientists are trying to
discover whether biological markers exist that
cause or result from the
process of beta-amyloid
plaque formation, or are
related to other triggers
(these plaques, along
with neurofibrillary tangles are present in the
brains of Alzheimer’s patients). Resarchers from
the University of California
at Irvine have studied the
impact of oxidative damage on cognitive function
in dogs (Cotman et al.,
2002: Milgram et al.,
2002). As in humans,
dogs naturally accumulate beta-amyloid plaques
in their brains as they
age, and the amount of
beta-amyloid plaques in
dogs correlates with the
severity of cognitive decline. Oxidative changes
are also apparent in the
brain tissue of old dogs.
The scientists speculated
that if beta-amyloid is
related to the oxidative
changes seen in the brain
in normal aging and in
disease, the reduction in
oxygen free radicals
should bring about improvements in cognition.
To test their hypothesis,
the researchers developed a series of increasingly difficult behavioral
and learning tests for 23
old and 16 young dogs.
One group of the young
and old dogs ate a regular diet; a second group
of young and old dogs ate
the same diet supplemented with antioxidants
(vitamin E and selenium
are antioxidants). The
antioxidant-enriched diet
improved the learning
and memory in the old
dogs, but it had little effect on the young animals. These results suggest that the impact on
behavior of oxidative
changes in the brain occurs in later life, and that
this can be modified in
dogs by a diet high in antioxidants.
Excerpted from the 2003
Progress Report on Alzheimer’s Disease published by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
How to spot false health
claims
medical profession or
research scientists have
conspired to suppress the
product ads and include
undocumented case history or personal testimonials claiming amazing
results.
The product is advertised
as “limited availability”
and “advance payment is
required.”
The seller promises norisk “money-back guarantees.”
The FTC cites the following signs of a fraudulent
claim:
The product is advertised
as a quick and effective
cure-all for a wide range
of ailments.
Keywords such as
“scientific breakthrough,”
“miraculous cure,”
“secret ingredient," or
“ancient remedy” are
used.
Claims are made that the
The electric chair (used in capital
punishment) was invented by a
dentist. (Maybe that explains the
universal fear of the dentist chair)
.
Source: Alzheimer’s Association
Page 3
University of Kentucky’s SandersBrown Center on Aging
101 Sanders-Brown Bldg.
800 South Limestone Street
University of Kentucky
Lexington, KY 40536
Phone: 866 846-1412
Fax: 866 846-1412
E-mail: [email protected]
PREADVISE update: The number of SELECT men who have who have registered to
be part of PREADVISE has now increased to more than 5100. The entire staff of
PREADVISE would like to extend a big “Thank You” for your unselfish and altruistic
decision to take part in this important study.
The PREADVISE Coordinating Center is located at the University of Kentucky in the
Sanders-Brown Center on Aging.
Vocabulary builder
acrimonious
Pronunciation: /ak-ri-MOW-nee-us/
adj : full of bitterness and spite
"The bipartisan meeting turned acrimonious after somebody mentioned the President's latest proposal."
affable
Pronunciation: /AF-a-ble/
adj : approachable
"The manager was a friendly and affable supervisor."
We’re on the web:
www.mc.uky.edu/preadvise
inured
Pronunciation: /in-YUR-ed/
n : to accustom or harden, especially to something unpleasant
"She had become inured to the criticism."
Scramble : The more you take, the more you leave behind.
Unscramble the following letters to find the answer: OFTO TSSPE
(Answer on bottom of page 2)
The 22nd and 24th
presidents of the
United States had
the same mother and
the same father, but
were not brothers.
How was this possible?
Answer on bottom of page 2
Answer bottom of page 2
"Beware the wrath of a quiet man."
- Chinese Proverb
"Once the game is over, the king
and the pawn go back in the same
box."
The name sounds familiar
Uncle Sam, Troy, New York,
resident Sam Wilson worked
as a meat packager. His
reputation for friendliness
earned him the nickname
"Uncle Sam." During the War
of 1812, Wilson acted as
inspector for a government
contractor. The meat that
passed Wilson's inspection
was stamped "U.S.," for
"United States." The nation
was quite new then, and
"U.S." was not yet a common
abbreviation, so when soldiers asked what the "U.S."
stood for, some people supposed it must stand for Uncle Sam. This is how "Uncle
Sam" came to symbolize the
U.S. government. The first
caricature of an Uncle Sam
figure, attired in stars and
stripes, appeared in political
cartoons in 1832.
From the book The Name's Familiar
by Laura Lee
John Breck, in 1898, , a fireman with the Chicopee, Massachusetts Fire Department,
The difference between genbecame the youngest fire
ius and stupidity is that genchief in America. Personally,
ius has its limits."
however, Breck was troubled.
- Unknown
He was only 21 years old and
was already losing his hair. In
those days, there was no Ro"Time is nature's way of
gaine, no Hair Club for Men,
keeping everything from hapnot even much shampoo.
pening at once."
Most Americans washed their
- Unknown
hair with the same bar of soap
they used on their bodies.
Breck was unwilling to accept
his hair loss, so he began taking chemistry classes at Amherst College in his spare
time, determined to find a
cure. He earned a doctorate,
and opened a scalp treatment
center where he used his own
liquid shampoo. Breck never
discovered the cure for hereditary baldness, but he did introduce modern shampoo to the "The richer your friends, the more
they will cost you."
American public.
From the book The Name's Familiar
by Laura Lee
- Elisabeth Marbury