Word: acidizing
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...discovery, which he will present at the National Institutes of Health this week but which he first revealed at congregation headquarters in Rome last fall, shows a strong relationship between the severe brain atrophy of Alzheimer's disease and low levels of the common B vitamin known as folic acid, or folate. Furthermore, nuns with the highest levels of folate suffered the lowest levels of cognitive decline. Says Charles Halsted, professor of internal medicine at the University of California at Davis: "It's pretty exciting stuff...
...evidence, Snowdon cautions, it is still possible that folate does not play a direct role in the disease. The link could be coincidental. Or it could be that the same mechanism that triggers the disease also destroys the body's ability to retain folate. But folate and the amino acid it controls, homocysteine, have already been implicated in a broad range of diseases, as well as certain neurological birth defects...
Indisputable confirmation will require large-scale clinical trials. Luckily, these may not be long in coming. The National Institute on Aging has already modified a trial currently under way that looks at the influence of supplemental B vitamins, including folic acid, on heart disease in 3,000 older women. To make the Alzheimer's connection, the NIA simply added an annual test of cognitive function to the heart study to see whether the vitamins lower the rate of expected dementia in the group. Results from that study should be available within three years...
...what the nuns asked too. Unfortunately, there is very little information about how such nutrients are metabolized in the elderly. Snowdon suggests that taking double the current recommended daily allowance is probably a safe precaution. But it is possible to take too much of a good thing. Excessive folic acid can be dangerous if it masks symptoms of other diseases...
...meantime, I've gone on a so-called proton-pump inhibitor, a new kind of prescription drug that cuts down on acid production. I've also been given a list of changes to make in my life-style. Let's see: I don't drink or smoke or eat fatty foods, so I can't really stop. I'm not obese or even a little overweight, so losing weight won't help. That leaves giving up my beloved caffeine and my even more beloved bedtime snack. We'll see. I'm not making any promises...