Dementia: problem, risks, effects, and management

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I had met my classmate around 4 months back and informed her also about my mom's death. But in a recent email, she wrote to me that I had met her a couple of years back. She also enquired about my mom. Seeing her email, the first thought that came to my mind was: is she suffering from early dementia. I hope not. Maybe, she just forgot about the time that I had met her a few months back. Maybe because it was a hurried and surprise visit.  Nonetheless, dementia is on the rise. It affects people after 60 years of age. The increased life expectancy means that one will see more of such cases in the near future.  India has around 10 million dementia cases out of the world total of 57 million. This is a huge percentage. It affects not only an individual but the whole family. There is this individual who is physically okay but mentally absent. The person needs custodial care and it could turn out to be expensive. It is also emotionally disturbing to see your loved one in that state of...
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Cocoa flavanols can improve brain function after a challenge and make a person do complex tasks faster and better!

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Flavanols found in fruits and vegetables are known to be beneficial for vascular function. But now a new study from Birmingham has revealed that they can boost cognition and make people be able to do more complex jobs easily. Besides, the brain vascular function is better with them. The study was conducted using flavanols of cocoa origin.

THE STUDY ON FLAVANOLS AND BRAIN FUNCTION

This is the first study of its kind to determine the action of cocoa flavanols on brain function and cognition. Catarina Rendeiro, a researcher in nutritional sciences at the University of Birmingham led this research in collaboration with psychology professors, Monica Fabiani and Gabriele Gratton. The latter two were from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Their study is published in the Scientific Reports journal. 

Cocoa flavanols [Source: Confectionery News]

Catarina said:

“Flavanols are small molecules found in many fruits and vegetables, and cocoa, too. They give fruits and vegetables their bright colours, and they are known to benefit vascular function. We wanted to know whether flavanols also benefit the brain vasculature and whether that could have a positive impact on cognitive function.”

THE STUDY DESIGN

The research team recruited 18 participants who were healthy adults and non-smokers. These adults had no heart, vascular, respiratory, or brain diseases. These were tested before the intake of cocoa and after the consumption. The trials were two; in one the recruits consumed flavanol-rich cocoa and in the second trial they had processed cocoa with very low levels of flavanols.

Cocoa flavanol [Source: Cocoa Flavanol Science]

It was a double-blind study in which neither the researchers nor the participants knew what they are consuming. After two hours of consumption, the study people were exposed to 5% of carbon-di-oxide. This was to challenge the brain vasculature. The normal response is raised blood flow to the brain. Gabriele said:

“This brings in more oxygen and also allows the brain to eliminate more carbon dioxide,”

THE FINDINGS OF THE STUDY

14 of the 18 participants felt that the drinking of flavanol-rich cocoa assisted them in improvement in brain function and the ability to meet the challenge. Their brains recovered faster from the vascular challenge of carbon-di-oxide. 



And their brains also performed better on complex tests after the dietary flavanols in the form of cocoa. Chocolate contains cocoa and this could mean that consumption of chocolate could help a person meet challenges better and do more complex tasks!

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