The idea that healthy older brains are so much smaller than young brains comes from earlier studies that unknowingly used people who had undetected, slowly developing brain disease that would have been killing off cells – accounting for the smaller size.

Expecting that it’s normal for the brain to shrink with the years has given rise to the myth that mental decline must also be a natural, inevitable part of aging.

This latest study, appearing in the September 2009 issue of the American Psychology Association’s Neuropsychology changes all that.

Participants for this work came from Holland’s longstanding Maastricht Aging Study. Using behavioral data collected from 1994 to 2005, with MRI scans taken between 1997 and 1999, the researchers divided participants into two groups – 35 people who were in good cognitive health (free of dementia, Parkinson’s disease or stroke), and 30 others who didn’t have dementia but were dealing with substantial cognitive decline, though still free of dementia.

The average age of the subjects was 69 years.

Both groups took neuropsychological tests (including a screening for dementia) at the start of the study, and every three years afterward for a total of nine years.

An MRI scan of seven different parts of the brain, the hippocampus (important in forming and retaining memories) and the frontal and cingulated areas of the critical cortex, vital to thinking skills and documented the actual size of these areas in each subject.

What the team saw was that those who were dealing with declining cognitive skills also had shrinkage in the brain. Among those who struggled with thinking, older participants had smaller brain areas than the younger participants in this group.

Continues below…

Older Brains Aren’t Necessarily Smaller Brains Continued…

This suggests that among healthy older people without cognitive decline the brain may not change size much at all. So getting on in years isn’t a guarantee of a smaller, more shrunken brain.

In fact, brain atrophy (shrinkage) may have been overestimated, and normal brain size for older people very much underestimated based on the results of this study.

“If future longitudinal studies find similar results, our conception of ‘normal’ brain aging may become more optimistic,” explains the study’s lead author, Saartje Burgmans, a graduate student at Maastricht University in Holland who is due to receive her Ph.D. later in 2009.

The team feels strongly that if you keep your brain healthy as you get older, the key parts of your grey matter could shrink very little, if at all.

Though a cure for the most destructive, debilitating brain diseases continues to elude medicine, there are some completely natural things you can do to help lower your risk of losing cognitive function in your later years.

Eating a nutritious diet, exercising regularly, being a part of regular social activity and enjoying mentally stimulating hobbies are all simple ways to help you keep a mature brain and mind mind sharp as you continue to age.

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And while the risk of falling goes up as we age, a recent research review appearing in the online issue of BMJ finds that taking vitamin D supplements could reduce the risk of falls by 19% in those over 65. The amount of vitamin D needed is from 700 to 1,000 International Units (IU) a day according to a new study.

The review is based on eight studies of those 65 and older who took either vitamin supplements (doses varied by study) or placebos and lived on their own or in nursing homes.

To qualify for the review, the studies had to be double blind, randomized and controlled trials of older subjects (65 or older) who got a defined oral supplement. A fall assessment had to be conducted as part of the research.

The team of Swiss and American researchers found that for participants to get the reduced risk, they had to take at least 700 IUs a day. Smaller doses didn’t seem to make any impact in how likely a senior was to fall.

In fact, the team found that the reduction in fall risk was only seen in those who had a vitamin D blood level of at least 60 nonomoles per liter.

Vitamin D is known to help with muscle strength and keeping bones healthy. Strong muscles and bones as we age could be the reason these older folks didn’t experience as many falls.

As a fat-soluble nutrient, vitamin D is found naturally in foods like oily fish (salmon, tuna and mackerel), beef liver, fish liver oils, cheese and eggs. If these aren’t to your taste then there are fortified choices as well, like milk, ready to eat cereals, some brands of orange juice, yogurt, margarine and fruit juices.

Even with all these natural dietary sources of vitamin D, it’s hard for people to get enough just from the foods they eat, which is why supplements have become so popular.

Your body also produces vitamin D naturally from exposure to sunlight, though this ability declines as we age. What’s more, sunscreens of SPF 15 or higher – are a valuable weapon against skin cancer – are also known to block nearly all vitamin D synthesis by the skin. Being obese or overweight also makes your body less able to make vitamin D while you’re out in the sun.

This latest research review suggests that higher doses of vitamin D supplements might be even better at preventing falls in this age group. The highest dose used in the studies was 1,000 IUs a day. Medical experts warn that taking too much vitamin D can cause trouble – abnormal heart rhythm, confusion, constipation, kidney stones and nausea – so talk with your own doctor before making supplements (any supplements) part of your diet.

Continues below…

Vitamin D Reduces The Risk of Falling Continued…

Today the Institute of Medicine (IOM) recommends 200 IU of vitamin D as an adequate daily intake for adults under 50 years old.

For those aged 51-70 years, the number doubles to 400 IUs of vitamin D per day, and for those over 71 years old, daily intake should be 600 IUs per day.

The IOM puts the upper limit for vitamin D intake at 2,000 IUs a day for adults, 1,000 IUs a day for infants. Many experts believe that the adequate daily intake of vitamin D should be far higher (maybe 1,000 IUs a day for adults and children). The IOM is reviewing their own recommendations and expects to announce any changes in May 2010.

For now, older people should keep an eye on the debate and talk with your own doctor about adding a vitamin D supplement to your diet.

Getting your vitamin D from food sources is usually best, try adding some rich sources of this vitamin to your diet once in a while.

Beyond helping prevent falls, recent research has shown that sufficient levels of this key nutrient may help keep the brain healthy, reduce arthritis and osteoporotic fractures, as well as cutting your chances for developing heart disease and even some cancers.

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American researchers have found that being fat in middle age cuts a woman’s chances of reaching a ripe old age in good physical and mental shape by almost 80%.

The study appears online in the medical journal BMJ, and was funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health and the Boston Obesity Nutrition Research Center.

With average life spans increasing due to advances in both detecting and treating illness, it’s those extra pounds so many of us carry that might just undo these hard won gains.

And since fat is known to act the same way in both men and women, it’s likely these results linking extra weight at midlife with a reduced chance of a healthy old age hold for men as well as women.

The team of researchers observed over 17,000 female nurses, part of the U.S. Nurses’ Health Study, who were an average age of 50 years and healthy, when the study began in 1976.

The subjects weight and health changes such as occurrence of chronic diseases, information on cognitive function, physical function and mental health were taken every 2 years by questionnaires until 2000. In terms of weight we know that a Body Mass Index (BMI) between 19-25 is considered more healthy, numbers from 25-29.9 designate a person thought to be overweight, and a value over 30 is categorized as obese.

Researchers Qi Sun and colleagues at the Harvard School of Public Health and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston found that for every one point increase in BMI women had a 12% lower chance of making it to age 70 in good health compared to those with lower BMI.

Good health was defined as being free of 11 different chronic conditions while also having enough physical and mental ability to do everyday things like shopping, cleaning or climbing stairs.

What’s more, for every 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds) a woman gained after age 18, her odds of living past 70 dropped by 5%. Subjects who were already overweight at 18 and then gained more than 10 kilograms later in life had about a 20% chance of making it to age 70 in good health.

You can see how those extra pounds early on can bring some real troubles as you get older. The diseases often plaguing these overweight women were major, life changing ones – like diabetes, heart disease and cancer.

Continues below…

Overweight In Middle Age Can Reduce Life Continued…

“People may think they can safely gain weight through their 20s, 30s and 40s, but there is no evidence that gaining weight is natural,” points out Aviva Must, professor and chair of the public health and community medicine department at Tufts University School of Medicine, but not part of the study. “These results suggest that small weight gains are not innocuous.”

Medical experts agree that our population is aging, and that obesity is more common than ever before. In fact, in 2003-4, a record 66.3% of American adults were overweight or obese – this compared to just 14.5% in 1976 when the Nurses’ Health Study began.

Adding to the need to get rid of those extra pounds is the work by British researchers published earlier this year that found those with a BMI from 30-35 die almost 3 years earlier than those with BMI’s in the normal range.

Anyone with a BMI over 40 is considered morbidly obese and likely to die almost 10 years before they should.

All the more reason for getting up – getting active now, so average age expectancy is increased

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Work appearing in the June 9, 2009 issue of Neurology is some of the first to look what factors might help you hold on to your mental function.

The exciting new study found older people who retained their cognitive function had a unique profile.

They had at least a high school education and 9th grade literacy level. They exercised moderately (or vigorously if they were in shape) at least once a week and they didn’t smoke or live alone or if they did they were also still active outside the home.

The work involved examining 2,500 subjects, both men and women aged 70 to 79 who were living in either in Memphis, TN or Pittsburgh, PA and taking part in the Health, Aging and Body Composition study. The cognitive skills of the subjects were tested at the beginning of the eight year study, and then again in years 3, 5 and 8.

As the researchers expected, many of the participants showed cognitive decline as the study progressed – about 53% had minor cognitive decline and 16% experienced major cognitive decline. About 30% of the subjects showed no cognitive decline. Unexpectedly, a few had even improved their scores.

The researchers wondered what made the difference in those who experienced cognitive decline compared to the subjects who didn’t.

The answers were quite eye opening.

Exercisers who did either light or vigorous workouts once a week were 30% more likely to hold on to cognitive function than those who didn’t workout.

Education also played a part. Those who had a high school education were almost three times as likely to retain function than those who hadn’t graduated from high school. Literacy levels, of 9th grade or better, made a subject nearly five times as likely to avoid decline as those with lower levels of literacy.

Nonsmokers were twice as likely to stay sharp. Seniors who continue to work (or volunteer) as well as those who didn’t live alone were 24% more likely to hold on to cognitive functioning. There was no effect on cognitive skills linked to conditions like diabetes or high blood pressure.

Many people think becoming senile as you age is unavoidable and while one in four older adults experiences some form of cognitive decline this isn’t a part of healthy aging.

What this work is telling us is that you can keep your mind sharp as you age but you need to plan now to do so.

Continues below…

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Professional Trainer (CPT) Reveals Truth About Quick Fat Loss…

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And he’s giving his insider report away today – you can get your copy here at Lean Body Fitness Secret

What To Do To Keep Your Mind Sharp As You Age continued…

It’s important to challenge your brain – give it a workout by taking up different things, enjoying hobbies and pursuing interests.

There’s no one mental exercise that’s shown itself so much better than any other – anything that has your mind working is a good choice.

But that’s not all you should be doing.

Being mentally active works best when you’re living well – eating healthy, being active as much as you can, avoiding tobacco and other unhealthy substances while keeping those appointments for regular medical checkups and screenings.

“The take-home message from the study is, you can maintain your cognitive function in late life,” explains study author Alexandra Fiocco, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, San Francisco.

“People are afraid they will experience cognitive decline as they age. But not everyone declines.”

In fact, this work raises the very real possibility that cognitive decline might even be preventable with the health benefits of exercise being wider than ever thought before.

To your good health,

Kirsten Whittaker
Daily Health Bulletin Editor

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When you’re shopping for that sun protection product this summer, look beyond the package and the claims on the label… make sure you know exactly what you’re buying.

According to a report known as the Environmental Working Group, EWG 2009 Sunscreen Guide, three of five brand names either don’t offer sufficient protection to skin from sun damage or contain hazardous chemicals.

Sometimes both come together in one handy little package according to the just released report by the EWG, a self-proclaimed watchdog organization.

Critics say the report makes some valid points, but also carries a more alarmist tone than might be strictly necessary.

The report looked at 1,599 sunscreens, lip balms and moisturizers with an SPF (Sunburn Protection Factor) of at least 15. This is often the minimum recommended, though you can buy products with lower (and higher) SPF numbers.

The researchers obtained a list of ingredients from retailers and used lots of databases to look at the safety and effectiveness of each product’s ingredients.

This year’s study, like the one in 2008, was prompted because the FDA has yet to set safety standards for sunscreens… at least when it comes to UVA protection, UVB labels already exist.

It’s UVA rays that are associated with skin wrinkles and sagging, but also with skin cancer. UVB rays lead to sunburn and skin cancer.

The group also isn’t happy that the FDA has approved only 17 chemicals for use in sunscreens, yet there are at least 29 used in other parts of the world.

The EWG report makes plain the belief that the agency is lagging behind other countries. Other experts who reviewed the report for online resource WebMD agree that drawing attention to snail’s pace of the FDA on this issue is a good idea.

“The most important thing they highlight is that the FDA is really lagging behind in getting a UVA rating,” agrees Eric Schweiger, MD, a Manhattan dermatologist and clinical instructor of dermatology at Mount Sinai School of Medicine.

He recommends that patients use as high an SPF as possible when it comes to sun protection, since he believes most people don’t apply sunscreen properly anyway.

Improvements the EWG finds from last year?

Almost 70% of brands (only 29% in 2008) have added strong UVA protection to the mix.

What’s more, the ingredient oxybenzone, with the potential to disrupt hormone systems was in 19% fewer products this year.

The report also has a list of 339 sunscreens that it does not recommend.

The report’s detractors from the sunscreen industry say the assessment is flawed and that the sunscreen ingredients weren’t looked at in terms of stability.

They insist that what’s inside the bottle isn’t nearly as important as applying the product correctly, using the right sunscreen for what you’ll be doing (and your skin type) and reapplying every two hours.

Continues below…

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Sunscreen Safety: What You Must Know continued…

You’ll want to look for these ingredients known to help protect against UVA as you shop for products. They include avobenzone (Parsol 1789), titanium dioxide, zinc oxide or mexoryl. And, in case you’re wondering here’s EWG’s list of the ten best sunscreens:

1. Soleo Organics Sunscreen Organic chemical-free sunscreen, SPF 30+
2. Badger Sunscreen, SPF 30
3. UV Natural Sunscreen, SPF 30+
4. Mexitan Sunscreen Lotion, SPF 50
5. Lavera Sunscreen Neutral, SPF 40
6. California Baby Sunscreen Lotion No Fragrance, SPF 30+
7. Trukid Sunny Days Facestick Mineral Sunscreen UVA/UVB Broad Spectrum, SPF 30+
8. Kabana Skin Care Green Screen Organic Sunscreen, SPF 22, Skin Tone Tinted
9. Obagi Nu-Derm Physical UV Block, SPF 32
10. Elta MD UV Physical, SPF 41.

You can find the rest of the list that is rated by sunscreen effectiveness, including top ten lip balms and daily moisturizers, as well as the 339 products the group doesn’t recommend online.

To your good health,

Kirsten Whittaker
Daily Health Bulletin Editor

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The work showed that long-term exposure to ground level ozone significantly increases the risk of death from breathing problems. In fact, the risk is more than 30% greater in metro areas with the highest ozone concentrations as opposed to places where concentrations were lowest.

Ozone is a naturally occurring gas typically at the higher levels of our atmosphere where it offers protection from the ultraviolet rays of the sun.

But this gas can also be found at lower levels of the atmosphere; only down here it does us little good.

Produced by the exhaust from cars and power plants, at ground level ozone reacts chemically with sunlight. We know that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says that ground level ozone can make lung conditions worse and contribute to other breathing problems as well.

The other, more well studied part of smog – particulate matter (super small particles of dust and soot) – has been shown in earlier research to be dangerous. Breathing in these particles has been identified as a major risk factor of death from both heart and lung diseases.

Only now do we know that ozone also brings a higher risk of death from these conditions.

The work followed 450,000 subjects in 96 metropolitan regions over an 18-year period. Despite what we might expect, ozone actually forms in higher concentrations in places that are downwind of the cities, so suburbs and rural areas aren’t free of the danger, though they might be less congested and seem safer.

“This is the first study to show that ozone, long considered a secondary pollutant, is a key cause of death,” says study lead author Michael Jerrett, Ph.D., an associate professor of environmental health at the University of California. “This is the first time we’ve been able to connect chronic exposure to ozone with the risk of death.”

The risk of dying from a respiratory condition goes up 4% for every 10 parts per billion increase in ozone exposure according to the study.

During the 18-year period, Riverside California had the highest daily average concentrations, while the lowest were recorded in San Francisco.

Most often, cities in the northeast part of the country had less ozone than western states like California – Los Angeles had a 43% greater risk, while New York came in at 25%; Washington, D.C. at 27%.

What the experts recommend you do to manage your risk is to exercise or do physically demanding work in the early morning hours, or later on in the day to avoid the sunniest, hottest hours, especially if you live in a warmer climate.

Keeping your windows closed when ozone levels are highest is also a good idea, and you might want to limit your time spent outside when ozone levels are reported to be high.

Continues below…

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WARNING: The truth about Moles, Warts and Skintags…

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Long Term Ozone Exposure Can Kill You continued…

On a larger scale, the researchers recommend steps be taken to reduce traffic congestion – maybe give financial incentives to carpoolers, set up more high occupancy lanes and encourage hybrid cars.

Higher gas taxes are a punishment often used to discourage excess driving, so there will be fewer vehicles on the road. Of course, power plants must also be dealt with, and regulations put in place to keep them from sending toxic chemicals into the air.

If you or someone you love has breathing problems, you might consider keeping an eye on the ozone levels with some of the easy to use online resources out there.

This will help you make wise choices and perhaps limit your exposure to a gas that researchers are finding increasingly dangerous.

To your good health,

Kirsten Whittaker
Daily Health Bulletin Editor

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A solid study out of Sweden presents compelling evidence that it really doesn’t matter if you have not worked out until mid-life – just so long as you get up and get moving, you’ll still be able to prolong your life.

A team from Uppsala University and the Karolinska Institute conducted the study, and the work was funded by the Swedish Research Council.

As a population-based cohort project, men were followed for 35 years, and beyond the physical activity, and any changes between surveys, the scientists looked activity level versus quitting smoking to see which key lifestyle change might have the most impact on how long you live.

The researchers gathered data from over 2,200 men who were age 50 before 1973. The subjects completed surveys that asked four basic questions about leisure time activity, and were grouped based on their responses into low, medium or high activity types.

Subjects were then examined again at ages 60, 70, 77 and 82 and any changes in physical activity level were also recorded.

Blood pressure, cholesterol levels, smoking status, use of alcohol and body mass index (BMI) were taken at each survey point.

The team also looked at the men’s educational levels, socioeconomic group and occupations from both the 1970 and 1980 census data. Any medical or psychiatric diagnoses were caught by the national hospital discharge register, deaths through the Swedish National Population Register. All are exceptionally reliable sources of information that can be easily obtained.

The change in physical activity between ages 50 and 60 was given special attention.

At the beginning of the study in the early 1970s, about half of the subjects said they engaged in a high level of activity – at least 3 hours of recreational sports or heavy work in the garden each week.

Thirty six percent reported medium activity – listing activities like walking and cycling, and 15% fell into the low activity or sedentary category.

In the end, the mortality rates were highest among the men who got the least activity, and lowest for the men who were the most active.

But interestingly and reassuringly after a decade, the mortality rate in men who’d increased their activity was the same, over years of time mind you, as the subjects who’d kept up high levels of activity throughout the study. The benefit was on par with quitting smoking.

After adjusting for other risk factors, subjects who reported high levels of activity from age 50 onward were expected to live 2.3 years longer than subjects who were the least physically active, and 1.1 years longer than the men who’d originally reported medium physical activity.

This is certainly a significant amount of time, and well worth a commitment to regular physical activity.

“It shows that it is never too late to start exercising,” according to Karl Michaelsson, lead researcher. The work appears in the March 5, 2009 British Medical Journal, BMJ.

Continues below…

*Highly Recommended*

Professional Trainer (CPT) Reveals Truth About Quick Fat Loss…

Have you ever dreamt about hiring a personal trainer? Just think of the results you’d achieve! Well, now you can have access to your own PT at no cost.

Mike Geary, a Certified Nutrition Specialist and Certified Personal Trainer (CPT), has blown the lid off the ‘Professional’ health industry and released a no-cost “no-gimick” insiders report which reveals the explosive truth about fat loss…

And he’s giving his insider report away today – you can get your copy here at Lean Body Fitness Secrets

It’s Never Too Late To Start Exercising to Live Longer continued…

You should also understand that while this study is solidly designed and carefully executed, a person’s health (and lifespan) are likely determined by a complex interplay of medical, psychological, social and lifestyle choices – these certainly weren’t considered in the work.

And as a still surprising amount of research does, this work applies only to men, women were not part of the study so the results can’t automatically be applied to females, although it is likely that the results will be similar.

Consider the study a wake up call if you’re not active… or active enough. But know too that exercise for older people isn’t the only healthy lifestyle choice you’ll need to make in order to add years to your life.

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The study, a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial conducted by University of Florida researchers and published in the March 2009 issue of The Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, is based on research that involved both older (aged 50 to 74) and younger (aged 25 to 35) subjects who were social drinkers and nonsmokers.

Some subjects from each age group drank a moderate amount of alcohol while others consumed non-alcoholic, placebo beverages.

Each group was then asked to take a test at 25 and again at 75 minutes after drinking the beverage.

The tests called for subjects to use a line to connect letters and numbers in order. The exam helps to measure planning, visual and motor coordination as well as the ability to move from one task to the next.

Participants also rated how intoxicated they felt, and how much they thought the alcohol hurt their performance on the test.

And while peak breath-alcohol measures were similar between the younger and older groups – showing they metabolize alcohol in similar ways, older subjects who had drunk alcohol took longer to finish the test than the younger participants did.

Soon after having the alcohol, older subjects took an average five seconds longer to complete the test than those who didn’t have an alcoholic drink.

The non-drinking subjects also saw no difference in test performance related to age.

“That doesn’t sound like much, but five seconds is a big difference if you’re in a car and need to apply the brakes,” researcher Sara Jo Nixon, a psychiatry professor at the University of Florida’s McKnight Brain Institute explains. “It can mean the difference between a wreck, and not-a-wreck.”

What’s more troubling, older drinkers were found to be less aware that they were impaired, especially at the 25 minute mark after drinking.

At the 75 minute point, the older drinkers reported themselves more impaired, though they performed just about the same as the older people who hadn’t drunk any alcohol, so waiting does make a difference.

So, all the more reason to follow up the alcoholic drinks you enjoy as part of your lunch or dinner with dessert and coffee.

Allow some time to pass so that your body has chance to metabolize the alcohol you’ve taken in, and you’ll be better able to react and perform when needed, on the road or elsewhere.

Continues below…

*Highly Recommended*

Announcing: Doctor Approved Store Cupboard Remedies that Really Work…

Do you buy over the counter drugs?

Stop right now and don’t waste any more money.

Did you know that you can easily treat illness without side effects, using only natural herbs, vitamins and nutrients?

Charles Silverman N.D. Certified Naturopathic and Herbalist Doctor has taken his 18 years research and experience and condensed it into a home remedy encyclopeida of the most powerful, and more importantly proven, home remedies.

You can eliminate the Flu virus, boost your immune system, and recover faster from colds using these doctor-approved home remedies…

As well as sleep better, look younger and treat any skin problem with your own skin care home remedies and recipes.

Want to know more..? Just click through

Older Drinkers Less Likely To Recognize How Alcohol Affects Them continued…

Of course, the best and safest route if you’ve been drinking, even a little bit earlier in the evening, is to hand your car keys to a designated driver.

The statistics speak for themselves. An alcohol related car accident kills someone every 31 minutes, with a person being hurt every 2 minutes.

Much more common over the holiday season, drunk driving is the leading criminal cause of death in the United States, and in 2007 nearly 13,000 (a decrease of 3.7% from 2006) people died in car accidents that involved alcohol-impaired drivers, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. So, it’s important for all drinkers to be aware of the effects of drinking alcohol and take the neccessary steps to stop drunk driving.

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Some recent work may finally answer the age-old question. It seems a chain reaction of chemicals in the body cause a massive buildup of hydrogen peroxide that removes the color from hair – so that hair bleaches itself from the inside out.

The research report that discusses the breakthrough discovery appears online in The FASEB Journal; a publication sponsored by the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, one of the most cited scientific journals worldwide.

The team of European scientists made the discovery by looking at cell cultures of human hair follicles. Such basic research in biology has brought us the answer to one of the questions most curious questions of aging and perhaps will one day help create new ways to manage those pesky gray hairs if you choose to, that is.

The researchers from the University of Bradford in the United Kingdom found that the graying process begins not with demanding work or raising free thinking children, but rather with a dip in an enzyme known as catalase that makes it harder for the hydrogen peroxide that’s naturally inside your hair to be broken down.

Any veteran of hair coloring can tell you that hydrogen peroxide takes the color from hair. As hair follicles undergo wear and tear, the hydrogen peroxide continues to build up, blocking the synthesis of melanin, our hair’s natural pigment.

What’s more, other protective enzymes that might help to repair the damage are also in short supply and so gray hairs appear.

Some gray hairs – especially coarse hairs, prematurely gray hairs and gray hairs around the hairline or at your temples are especially resistant to being colored, or lose what color you apply more quickly than grays in other parts of your head.

“Not only blondes change their hair color with hydrogen peroxide,” said Gerald Weissmann, MD, Editor-in-Chief of The FASEB Journal.

“All of our hair cells make a tiny bit of hydrogen peroxide, but as we get older, this little bit becomes a lot. We bleach our hair pigment from within, and our hair turns gray and then white. This research, however, is an important first step to get at the root of the problem, so to speak.”

The experts suspect the mechanism identified in the research might also be responsible for a condition known as vitiligo, where white spots appear on the skin. Skins cells are known to also produce small amounts of hydrogen peroxide as part of the natural oxygen cycle.

Continues below…

*Highly Recommended*

WARNING: The truth about Moles, Warts and Skintags…

There are so many “scare” stories that it’s sometimes hard to know what to believe. Which is why this is so timely…

Announcing the breakthrough solution by Chris Gibson, a respected natural health practitioner, that gets rid of moles, warts and skin tags without any expensive medical procedures or over-the-counter products.

Chris has written several books on alternative health and wellness and appeared on various TV channels like Fox 26 News and CBS.

Find out how you, too, can:

- Have freedom from the pain and irritation of your unsightly moles, warts, or skin tags

- Naturally REMOVE moles, warts, or skin tags at the root without any scarring

- Enjoy having clear skin, free from unsightly and painful moles, warts or skin tags

Read the full private and confidential report here

What Really Causes Your Hair To Go Gray continued…

So, if you could stop that initial chemical reaction, could you keep hair from going gray?

Maybe.

The scientists who completed this work hope to find a way to remix the chemical soup so that the natural color stays in the hair follicles.

This would be gold (no pun intended here either) for the hugely profitable hair care industry, and it might not be long until products that take out the naturally produced hydrogen peroxide in your hair follicles are on the shelves at your local drugstore, meaning one less thing to worry about getting older.

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This is a physical sign that the brain is able to learn to cope with life’s upsets as we age. Not news to most of the older women reading this.

Still it’s a shift from the idea that the brain goes into an inevitable decline as we age.

This new work supports the idea that the brain changes over time. As people learn new things, the brain does in fact rewire itself (a process often referred to as neuroplasticity), giving older people the advantage of practice.

The older brain has had more chance to rewire itself than younger brains have had.

In fact, researchers have long thought that the brains of older people deal with emotions differently. There seems to be a shift in bias so that positive emotions are processed more readily.

In this latest work, Roberto Cabeza, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Duke University and his team put these theories to the test in 30 healthy female subjects – 15 women with an average age of 25, 15 women whose average age was 70.

Subjects were shown photos that had been selected to bring positive, neutral or negative responses.

The subjects were later tested to see which photos they recalled. MRI scans of the subjects’ brains were also conducted to measure the neural activity.

And while both older and younger women remembered negative images, the older women remembered fewer than did their younger counterparts.

The results “fit in with the theory that older adults are down-regulating or somehow suppressing a processing of negative information,” Cabeza says, maybe because the older subjects have been able to adapt to the demands of everyday life. “They may try to emphasize positive information and process less negative information.”

Why? Older people are facing lots of negatives in a society that’s unabashedly youth obsessed. Health may be less vibrant than when they were younger. Friends, relatives and spouses may be ailing or have died. Careers or children disappoint. Dreams have been challenged.

It may be only natural that as a result of dealing with all this, older people have learned to pay less attention to negative events… a sort of protective reaction to the self.

What’s the response to the study?

Continues below…

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How Women’s Brains Adjust To Cope With Life… continued

Paul Sanberg is a neuroscientists who is familiar with the research and is the director of the University of South Florida Center of Excellence for Aging and Brain Repair, explains that our brains rewire themselves over time as you learn.

“Younger people aren’t experienced in the world, they haven’t seen as many negative things in their lives,” Sanberg explains. “They haven’t learned to cope with those things as much.”

Moving forward, further brain study and research could look at the difference between men and women in terms of brain changes. Perhaps studies of middle aged people would help identify just when the change start to happen.

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