 but these are years away from approval, and the side effects are currently unclear. While trials for these promising drugs are underway there is plenty we can do to help ourselves and some of them are more unexpected than others. One habit when you go to sleep could lower your risk of developing the disease. Lavender and other essential oils could actually boost your memory and cognition, according to a new study from the University of California. They found when 43 adults with no cognition problems were exposed to the smell of an essential oil for two hours every night for six months, they saw a 226 per cent improvement in memory compared with a group who received a small amount of diffused scent. Brain scans also revealed that the essential oil group had better functioning in a part of the brain associated with memory and cognition which usually declines with age. 'Information about odours has direct input to areas involved in cognition, memory and emotion,' says Dr Donald Wilson – a director and senior research scientist at the Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research in New York – who was not involved with the research. 'Research shows that just breathing, even if there's no odour, can entrain the activity of cognition, memory and emotion which helps them communicate with each other,' he said. 'This is important for storing and retrieving memories and keeping memory-related regions active. Smelling odours during sleep m){kind=link}
While trials for promising new drugs in the fight against the disease are underway there is plenty we can do to help ourselves, and some of them are more unexpected than others
Most of us know about the importance of staying active, keeping our minds occupied and eating healthily as we age to try and fight off developing dementia but what about the more unexpected tricks that could help too?
In the past year, two exciting new drugs have shown breakthrough success in slowing the progression of Alzheimer’s, (the most common form of dementia) but these are years away from approval, and the side effects are currently unclear. While trials for these promising drugs are underway there is plenty we can do to help ourselves and some of them are more unexpected than others.
One habit when you go to sleep could lower your risk of developing the disease. Lavender and other essential oils could actually boost your memory and cognition, according to a new study from the University of California.
They found when 43 adults with no cognition problems were exposed to the smell of an essential oil for two hours every night for six months, they saw a 226 per cent improvement in memory compared with a group who received a small amount of diffused scent.