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Mediterranean Diet Helps Memory

[April 30,2013] Do you remember what you had for dinner last night? 

You might have a better shot at that if your meal contained foods associated with the Mediterranean diet.  That's according to a REGARDS study published in Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.  The study, looking at the diets and cognitive abilities of more than 17,000 people, is being called the largest yet done on the Mediterranean diet, UAB says.

The Mediterranean diet consists of foods with healthy amounts of omega-3 fatty acids such as found in fish, chicken and salad dressing.  Researchers found that in healthy people, those who followed the diet were 19 percent less likely to develop problems with their thinking and memory skills.

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Stroke Risk: Why Health Habits Matter in Children, Teens

[April 24, 2013] Health habits during childhood and adolescence may play a crucial role in people's risk of stroke later in life, a new study finds.

People who lived in the region known as the "stroke belt" as children or teens had a higher risk of stroke even if they lived elsewhere during other periods in their lives compared with people who spent their childhoods or teen years elsewhere, according to the researchers. States in the Southeast U.S. comprise the stroke belt.

The findings suggest that "If we are going to prevent strokes in adults, waiting until the underlying risk factors — problems such as hypertension and diabetes — develop may be too late. We need to start in childhood," said study researcher Virginia Howard, a stroke epidemiologist at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Public Health.

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