"Dan Abel" > wrote in message
...
>
> You can say that again! My father has senile dementia. He has said
> that he is just putting in his time. He knows that he has it, and that
> he doesn't have much of a life. If someone can relieve some of their
> senile dementia for a while, and trade that for a somewhat shortened
> life ended mercifully by a heart attack, maybe that is worth it.

I've had family members with dementia and it is very sad. I did a paper in
my college class about preventing Alzheimer's, and it can be very much diet
related. Trans fats (another of it's evils).

Here's an excerpt:

To help understand the way something as simple as diet can impact onset or
prevention of Alzheimer's, it's important to understand that the brain is a
fatty organ, and it works best with the addition of the correct kinds of
fats in the diet (Tickell, 2007), and the opposite is true when it is
exposed to the wrong kind of fats, such as trans fats which can be found in
hydrogenated oil.

A 2003 study in the Archives of Neurology surveyed 815 people over the age
of 65 and found that those with high intake of trans fats were 20% more
likely to develop Alzheimer's than those who did not have a high intake of
trans fats, and that those who consumed a low amount of polyunsaturated fats
were also 20% more likely to develop Alzheimer's than those who consumed
more. So, by combining a low polyunsaturated fat/high trans fat diet will
make a person 9 times more likely to develop Alzheimer's than one consuming
a low trans fat/high polyunsaturated fat diet, according to the 2003 study.

Consuming mono-unsaturated fats such as that found in oleic acid in olive
oil could benefit brain chemistry and reduce degeneration, according to a
1999 study published in Neurology magazine. "This effect could be related
to the role of fatty acids in maintaining the structural integrity of
neuronal membranes" (Tickell, 2007).

Omega-3 oils have successfully treated depression, ADHD and other mental
disorders. A study published in the Archives of Neurology in 2006 suggest
that the oils reduce build-up of the amyloid plaque linked with Alzheimer's
in mice, and may also help humans. The study of early stage Alzheimer's
patients given omega-3 supplements showed slowing of the symptoms including
dementia.

Other dietary inclusions that can slow progression of dementia are B12,
polyphenal antioxidants in fruits and vegetables, vitamin D, turmeric (rich
in the oily chemical curcumin which triggers defense mechanisms against free
radicals - the cause of cellular damage), to name just a few. Of course,
keeping active as we age is a very good preventative strategy.