Share and Enjoy: .. . Age-related cognitive decline -- a growing problem For many people, fear of senility and dementia trumps even the fear of death, and there is justification for their concern. Alicia Munnell, director of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, recently advised retirees to plan for the fact that currently more than half of men and women over the age of 80 have either dementia or such serious cognitive impairment that they are unable to handle their own finances. Rates of Alzheimer's Disease are skyrocketing. A 2007 Johns Hopkins University study estimated that by 2050, one in every 85 people will have the disease -- that's 4 times the prevalence found in 2006. A recent survey published in the British Medical Journal found that mental decline begins in the mid 40s for most people. These investigators predicted that the average person will lose 20% of their cognitive ability between the ages of 45 and 75.…

It is now considered normal to lose cognitive function as you age -- to experience diminished memory, reasoning and speed in processing information. This "normal" age-related cognitive decline is contrasted to dementias, like Alzheimer's, which are much more debilitating and include severe nerve cell damage and death of nerve cells. In fact, age-related cognitive decline and dementia are the same thing. What you call it is a matter of degree, and it is primarily a product of our unhealthy diets and lifestyles.Maintaining a youthful brain does, however, require superior nutrition from both diet and high-quality supplements. A brain support program would include the B vitamins and the antioxidant vitamins A, C, D and E. Fish or flax oil is a must, and the need for it increases with age.By middle age, it's best to be supplementing with CoQ10, acetyl-L-carnitine, and multiple B vitamins. (Deficiencies in vitamin B12 are common and often misdiagnosed as dementias or…