TV, Loneliness and Cognitive Decline

Today I read about a paper that was presented at the last Alzheimer's conference. It stated that there is a link between cognitive decline starting in middle age to long-term TV viewing of > 4 hrs per day and loneliness. They also mentioned little or no physical activity, but that isn't really news to me.

Yet another reason to push oneself. I guess I am lucky because I spent many years working out for hours a day in the gym when I was young. I hope this has some sort of protective effect. I can cut down on the TV, I can go to the gym or ride my exercise bike, but the loneliness part is the one that scares me the most, because that's the hardest one to overcome. This study, however, is certainly going to give me more motivation to get going on that front.

In my experience with Alzheimers, that adds up actually...

I have an account on Medscape for papers on cognitive decline and Alzheimer's. We're not supposed to post links, but it comes up if you put in proper keywords in google.

I wouldn't worry too much about studies. They're just that: studies. They're not definitive and they often don't paint the whole picture. They can be as inaccurate as polls. I have an interest in nutrition, so I read about all these studies on nutrition, and if you look long enough you'll always find discrepancies. Plus, there's always a study coming out that disputes a pervious studies findings.
They can also be biased; years ago I read about s study that found that meat caused all kinds of health problems. Most of it made sense and correlated with information I already assumed to be true. Then it went on to conclude that meat caused inflammation and lack of sexual drive. I found this suspicious. For example; meat is generally high in zinc, which has been known to boost sexual drive, at least in men. It took a little searching and fine-print reading, but guess who conducted this study? PETA. I'm pretty militant about animal rights, but those people are crazy.
What about all those "fat burning" pills you see advertised? They're all based on ''studies". Please. If losing weight was as simple as taking a pill, don't you think, in our lose-weight-obsessed culture, that everybody would be taking them and getting results?
Then there's that study I posted about a while back about yogurt curing anxiety. Pfffft! Come on. I'm more high strung than a million cats tied together and I've been eating yogurt all my life.
You're probably thinking 'oh there goes Marcus being all overly cynical again" but my point is this: you're not looking at the whole picture.
Lack of physical activity I can understand. I don't dispute that. 4 hours of TV viewing? Sounds plausible. Loneliness? Well, define loneliness. It can be different things to different people. Unlike "watching 4 hours of TV a day", loneliness is a somewhat abstract concept. Maybe they mean people who live alone are more prime to develop Alzheimer's. Not too reassuring, right? But why? Can an emotion cause illness? I doubt that. Maybe it ties into the lack of mental stimulation; having someone to converse with regularly,share opinions, etc. I know these forums are a poor substitute for that, but it's a start. It's better than nothing. Like I said, look at the whole picture. There are things you can do to prevent cognitive decline. Read. Do crossword puzzles. Lumosity is great.I have a lot of fun with that site.

I'll bet the things you can do to actively prevent cognitive decline have more impact on your cognition than the things that you don't do which supposedly cause it. Google "how to improve mental cognition" to "how to prevent Alzheimers" and I'll bet you find a lot more information on what to do to stop it than what youdon't do to cause it.

About exercise: I spent many years exercising when I was young as well. I lifted weights. I tapered off in my 30's and pretty much stopped in my 40's. I'm 52 now and after noticing a lot of sagging and weight gain, my vanity and mid-life crisis concerns got me back into it. This was after months and months of procrastination, thinking "I'm too old to lift heavy things over my head again and again", but when I finally did do it, it was amazingly easy to jump back into. The endorphins still rush. And the little details like the weird way I count reps (don't ask) and the clinking sound of the weights sliding onto the barbell; they all brought me back in time. I feel kinda young again when I work out now. I don't know what kind of exercising you did, but I guarantee it will be easier to get back into it than you think.

About TV. Hmmmph! How dare they badmouth TV. I wish I had the time for four hours a day. There was another study a while back that infuriated me. It said watching 3 or more hours of TV a day caused heart problems and lowered your life expectancy. Typical half-assed study rhetoric. Did this mean that if I watched TV while on a treadmill I was harming my health? What about if I never watched TV at all but spent 4 hours a day sitting in a chair and looking out the window? What they meant was that being over sedentary caused these problems. Not TV. You have to read between the lines.

Oh man, this is overlong. Too much coffee today. Sorry.

Anyway, I wouldn't worry. You're pretty well covered. Get back into exercising. Check out Luminosity. Watch less TV, or at least get up and walk around between shows/episodes. Or watch Jeopardy or something. Research how you can improve cognition. These things should cancel out any damage being lonely can do to a person. That last sentence sounded horrible, didn't it? We can't help being lonely. But as far as loneliness being damaging to your health, that's not me (or any kind of reason) talking. It's the "study".

skyflyz wrote:Today I read about a paper that was presented at the last Alzheimer's conference. It stated that there is a link between cognitive decline starting in middle age to long-term TV viewing of > 4 hrs per day and loneliness. They also mentioned little or no physical activity, but that isn't really news to me.

Yet another reason to push oneself. I guess I am lucky because I spent many years working out for hours a day in the gym when I was young. I hope this has some sort of protective effect. I can cut down on the TV, I can go to the gym or ride my exercise bike, but the loneliness part is the one that scares me the most, because that's the hardest one to overcome. This study, however, is certainly going to give me more motivation to get going on that front.

Having parents with Alzheimer's increases this risk of getting it. My father had it and his father had it. My mother didn't live long enough to develop it. I've read the loneliness link before. maybe a good reason for the government to issue hooker stamps! For us guys anyway.

I have always taken any supplement that might be protective - until a study proves otherwise. Like with vitamin E. Then I found out I was taking ginkgo pills that had no ginkgo in them - GNC ripped me off for years. Studies weren't showing much. I still take my curry pills - turmeric might help. People in India get less Alzheimer's. Might be the curry. And being too clean may be a risk! I have that one covered - I live like a PIG. The hygiene hypothesis is based on the assumption that lack of contact with "dirt" in the form of bacteria and other infectious agents upsets the development of white blood cells, key elements of the immune system.

I keep thinking about getting some clioquinol - it's a very inexpensive anti-fungal that has been shown to reduce amyloid plaques in mice. I got some for my father when he got Alzheimer's. It's not on the market in most countries since the 1970s, but I found a compounding pharmacist who got some. They make tons of it in India - it is still used topically in most countries. No large scale studies of it have ever been conducted - probably because no one could make much money on it. Only the new drugs can be patented and sold for high prices.

Marcus555 wrote:Anyway, I wouldn't worry. You're pretty well covered. Get back into exercising. Check out Luminosity. Watch less TV, or at least get up and walk around between shows/episodes. Or watch Jeopardy or something. Research how you can improve cognition. These things should cancel out any damage being lonely can do to a person. That last sentence sounded horrible, didn't it? We can't help being lonely. But as far as loneliness being damaging to your health, that's not me (or any kind of reason) talking. It's the "study".

Good points. By the way, after you posted about the yogurt study that one came up in my Medscape emails that I get. They talked about fermented products reducing anxiety then went into silliness with their thesis about yogurt. The point being that yogurt reduces stomach distress, and often anxiety causes stomach distress.

I am working out again. I've been doing so for awhile now. I have an exercise bike in front of the TV so hopefully the cycling cancels out the TV time. I don't get to the gym as often as I'd like, but at least once a week I'll go over there and lift some weights and get on their equipment. It gets me out of the house anyhow. I'm pretty overweight so I have to focus on losing the extra pounds.. extra weight is bad for just about everything. When I was young I used to work out for hours at a time, doing both weight training then aerobic exercise.

Parador wrote:Having parents with Alzheimer's increases this risk of getting it. My father had it and his father had it. My mother didn't live long enough to develop it. I've read the loneliness link before. maybe a good reason for the government to issue hooker stamps! For us guys anyway.

I have always taken any supplement that might be protective - until a study proves otherwise. Like with vitamin E. Then I found out I was taking ginkgo pills that had no ginkgo in them - GNC ripped me off for years. Studies weren't showing much. I still take my curry pills - turmeric might help. People in India get less Alzheimer's. Might be the curry. And being too clean may be a risk! I have that one covered - I live like a PIG. The hygiene hypothesis is based on the assumption that lack of contact with "dirt" in the form of bacteria and other infectious agents upsets the development of white blood cells, key elements of the immune system.

I keep thinking about getting some clioquinol - it's a very inexpensive anti-fungal that has been shown to reduce amyloid plaques in mice. I got some for my father when he got Alzheimer's. It's not on the market in most countries since the 1970s, but I found a compounding pharmacist who got some. They make tons of it in India - it is still used topically in most countries. No large scale studies of it have ever been conducted - probably because no one could make much money on it. Only the new drugs can be patented and sold for high prices.

I have a dog I never bathe.. so I probably have all sort of good germ resistance! He has a wonderful coat, and is very soft and shiny. Interesting about the clioquinol. I have never heard of it but will look into it.

As far as a hooker, well, I know that works for some people but having to pay for company is just too depressing for me. I have absolutely no sex drive anymore so I wouldn't need one for that.

skyflyz wrote:By the way, after you posted about the yogurt study that one came up in my Medscape emails that I get. They talked about fermented products reducing anxiety then went into silliness with their thesis about yogurt. The point being that yogurt reduces stomach distress, and often anxiety causes stomach distress.

You see? This is what I was ranting about. By this logic, wouldn't Rolaids work better? Why yogurt? Because this study was probably funded by a yogurt company, or the National Yogurt Association. So Basically, this whole study was an advertisement. For yogurt. And nothing else.

Marcus555 wrote:

skyflyz wrote:By the way, after you posted about the yogurt study that one came up in my Medscape emails that I get. They talked about fermented products reducing anxiety then went into silliness with their thesis about yogurt. The point being that yogurt reduces stomach distress, and often anxiety causes stomach distress.

You see? This is what I was ranting about. By this logic, wouldn't Rolaids work better? Why yogurt? Because this study was probably funded by a yogurt company, or the National Yogurt Association. So Basically, this whole study was an advertisement. For yogurt. And nothing else.

Well, once they started talking about fermented products I started thinking "Oh goodie, another reason to grab a beer". Hey so beer might decrease anxiety too.. who'd have thought that?

skyflyz wrote:As far as a hooker, well, I know that works for some people but having to pay for company is just too depressing for me. I have absolutely no sex drive anymore so I wouldn't need one for that.

You could hire one and just send them out on a beer run.