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Katrina Oxentenko Professor Baum ZOOL 2111 28 October 2013 An Exploration of Preventive Measures Against Memory Loss As health care improves, the lifespan of humans increases; yet the number of diseases that affect the older population continues to increase as well. One of the more prominent and possibly one of the most feared is memory loss. According to The Scientist, of people over seventy, about 10-25 percent suffer from Alzheimers (Naqvi). There are a lot of different possible cures and preventive measures that have been suggested and experimented with, some being more effective than others. Hormone treatments, such as estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, and natural herbs, cognitive treatments, and physical exercise have all been used as ways of preventing memory loss with differing results (Naqvi). So are any of these treatments actually effective in staving off the ravaging affects of Alzheimers? While exercise and staying healthy can keep the mind stronger for longer, there is no true cure or surefire way of preventing the advance of memory loss caused by old age. The most effective treatment so far is the use of physical exercise to increase memory function. Since regular exercise keeps the whole body healthier in general, the idea is that it also improves cognitive function or helps prevent memory from deteriorating. Intlekofer and Cotman (2013) state that memory loss that is caused by aging may be stalled by physical activity. Exercising regularly can keep the body healthy and alert in many ways, and studies also indicate that many people who say that they exercise regularly tend to retain a healthier

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memory capacity (Intlekofer and Cotman 2013). Usually, regular exercise is a mostly preventative measure and should be a regular habit well before any sign of memory loss occurs. However, studies have shown that even after a persons memory begins deteriorating, beginning an exercise routine can improve cognitive function by increasing memory capacity (Intlekofer and Cotman 2013). Regular exercise is reputed to be one of the most reliable ways of staving off memory loss caused by aging by keeping the brain healthy and reducing the loss of brain mass. Therapies involving hormones, such as estrogen, glucose, and various natural herbs, have also been experimented with, but this group shows less consistency. Scientists experimented with the effect of glucose on cognitive function in middle aged rats and found inconclusive results (Hughes and Neeson 2003). The results for this study indicated that the glucose treatments caused no effect on middle-aged rats, even though it seemed to prevent some cognitive decline in human adults (Hughes and Neeson 2003). There was also a major drawback in that several of the middle-aged rats given the glucose treatments developed diabetes later on because of the treatments (Hughes and Neeson 2003). Naqvi showed through a study from 1993 that estrogen treatments caused a decreased number of people with dementia by nearly thirty percent. In contradiction however, a later study also presented by Naqvi from 2003 found that the dementia rates of people given the estrogen treatments increased to around eighty percent. Natural remedies became very popular for increasing memory retention, but there is no readily apparent proof that these are particularly helpful (Naqvi 2013). For medicinal therapies (i.e. estrogen, glucose, and natural remedies such as

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herbs) in general, it seems that the results either contradict each other in effectiveness, or else state that they are not affective in any way. I believe, though there are many different measures being taken to try to prevent the decline of cognitive function, the decay caused by old age is not something we can prevent. People grow older and as they do, cells begin to deteriorate and die. Just as all the other systems in the body shut down when the body grows older, so does the brain. There is the possibility of holding off this decline in memory capacity by keeping the rest of the body healthy, but this effect is only temporary. Eventually, the body will not be able to support itself anymore and if the body cannot function, then neither will the mind. This will continue to be until the day humans can live forever. Artificial remedies, like estrogen and herbs, will not help beyond what can keep the whole body healthier and alive for longer. The best (and for now the only way) to prevent memory loss is to live as healthy a lifestyle as possible before memory loss ensues. Memory loss and diseases such as Alzheimers have become a big problem in the older populations. With improved health care and medicines, people live longer. Some people even live to be so old that their bodies simply cannot support them any longer and their bodily systems just shut down. The brain is no different. As age advances, a persons cells deteriorate and cannot replenish themselves, resulting in memory loss and decreased cognitive function. Though there are several options out there that have been proposed to prevent this deterioration, such as medical treatments using glucose or estrogen, regular exercise, or natural herb remedies, few have purposed to actually reverse memory loss. The only successful

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method of preventing the decline in memory function is regular exercise, but even this may not hold it off forever.

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Literature Cited Hughes, R. N. and L. T. Neeson. 2003. Prevention of memory loss for a brightness change in adult and middle-aged rats by postacquisition treatment with glucose. PHARMACOLOGY BIOCHEMISTY AND BEHAVIOR 76:119-123. Intlekofer, K. A. and C. W. Cotman. 2013. Exercise counteracts declining hippocampal function in aging and Alzheimer's disease. NEUROBIOLOGY OF DISEASE 57:47-55. Naqvi, R. M. 2013. Opinion: On living longer. Online: http://www.the-scientist.com/ ?articles.view/articleNo/36150/title/Opinion--On-Living-Longer/