"Diet affects the risk of Alzheimer's Disease"

An article reported in The Times stated that "Eating lots of nuts, fish and poultry, whilst cutting down on red meat and butter could reduce the risk of Alzheimer's"

The study followed the dietary patterns of 2,000 elderly people (aged 65+) in the New York for an average of 4 years. However there are causality issues; we cannot be certain that the reduced risk of AD is due to diet, there are other extraneous variables which haven't been controlled such as whether the participants exercise regularly, smoke or have a history of Alzheimer's in the family.
The study was a cohort study so none of the participants had Alzheimer's disease at the start, researchers could then over the duration of the study see who developed the disease. The researchers have concluded that a dietary pattern is strongly protective against the development of AD; however further research is required.

I found this article of interest as I have recently completed a paper on the disease and it's current treatments available. I am also focusing my biology coursework on Alzheimers.

Art Project: Dissection

For my AS art exam I have decided to focus my work on the topic of DEATH AND DECAY, which has been extremely interesting. My boyfriend is currently on an apprenticeship, training to become a butcher, he kindly prepared 4 birds for me to photograph.

Also he disected the birds exposing the interior organs, I find dissections very educational and wish we got to do more at school. It was an opportunity to not just see the organs, but see how they are arranged and positioned around each other.

Many people think that it is ironic as I am infact a vegetarian, yet I am choosing to see dead animals.

Targeting Obesity

It has been reported by the BBC that we are required do at least one hour of exercise a day to target the growing issue of obesity as the recommended 30 minutes may not be enough to tackle the excessive weight gain.

The longitudinal (12 year) study was researched on 34,000 Americans, however they were all female participants so the results may not be so eaily generalised to both sexes. It may also be noted that the sample used was ethnocentric. The research has further limitations, for example, the women's diet was not controlled or recorded during the study; this could have been a major extraneous variable. Also self report methods were used to record the participants exercise levels and weight so the accuracy is questionable as bias may have been introduced.

Further studies may need to be conducted to take diet into account and other lifestyle factors which may alter an individual's risk of suffering from obesity.

We do already know the great health benefits of exercising, these include:

• a decreased risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, cancer, osteoporosis, premature death.
• a decrease in blood pressure, body fat, cholesterol levels, arthritis symptoms, mental and muscular tension, feelings of depression and anxiety.
• Relaxes and revitalizes, increases concentration and energy levels
• Increases self-esteem, self-confidence and promotes psychological well-being.

Recently I have started to exercise more, regularly attending aerobics classes; also I am starting to go on bike rides with my Mum. I am aware that I am not exercising as much as I should be, however some is better than none and I hope to improve my health a little!