A recent study out of the University of Michigan School of Medicine showed that 11 out of 22 children were cured of their ADHD when their enlarged tonsils were removed.

Large tonsils are thought to lead to breathing problems during sleep.

Why is this important? Numerous research studies have come out recently showing that sleep disorders are probably responsible for a large percentage of ADHD cases.

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Yet another study has come out that adds more support to the idea that oxidative stress leads to Alzheimer’s disease. {An earlier post of mine explains oxidative stress & damage in more detail}

The latest is from UCLA’s School of Medicine, published in the July issue of Biochemistry.

Why is this important? Simply because there are many steps you can take to minimize the damage to your brain caused by oxidative stress.

For starters, you can eat foods that are high in anti-oxidants. Anti-oxidants reduce the damage triggered by oxidative stress. This website describes many interesting foods that fall into this category.

Secondly, you can avoid substances that increase the production of free radicals. Free radicals lead to oxidative stress. Here’s a brief list:

• Stimulants (most people are surprised to see this one on the list; I’m going to devote an entire post to this one in a week or two)
• Tobacco smoke
• Alcohol
• Pesticides/herbicides
• Charred/burned foods(i.e. , the black lines on your steak or burger that make it look oh so good)
• Pollution
• Certain medications
• Many of the ‘bad’ fats

There are also ways to increase your body’s own, natural anti-oxidant defense systems, which we’ll shortly discuss.

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It turns out that falling in love may be a powerful way to crank up the bodily chemicals that boost brain power and enhance learning ability.

According to a new research study done at the University of Pavia (Italy) and published in Psychoneuroendocrinology, when you fall in love, a special chemical spikes in the brain.

This special chemical is called NGF- Nerve Growth Factor.

NGF has been shown to:

• Create new brain cells and
• Cause other brain cells to grow and connect to each other- a process very important for learning ability.

Interestingly, this chemical spike only lasts about 1 year-after which it falls back down to normal levels.

The scientists believe that the rise and fall of NGF correlates with the ‘rush’ you feel when you fall in love.

So after you fall in love, what happens to your brain when he/she leaves you? Read on…

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Adolescents who use anabolic steroids likely do permanent damage to their brain.

Since the teenage brain is still growing and not yet completely formed, anabolic steroids can permanently knock it off its proper development course.

One research center shows the brain’s serotonin neurotransmitter system may never recover. Serotonin is one of the major chemicals neurons use to communicate with each other, and is strongly associated with depression.

It is estimated that 4%-12% of high school athletes use anabolic steroids.

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A recent article published in Nature Neuroscience reveals that when the stomach is empty, it makes a special hormone called ghrelin.

Amazingly, ghrelin travels to the hippocampus portion of the brain and causes new connections to form between brain cells there. As discussed in previous posts, the hippocampus is the memory engine of your brain.

More interestingly, when lab animals are injected with extra ghrelin, their learning ability and memory improved.

Could intentionally keeping your stomach empty (by cutting down your food intake) accelerate learning ability and improve memory? The recent discovery involving ghrelin, taken in conjunction with recent research involving caloric restriction- suggests this may very well be the case. I’ll post more on this very interesting topic in the coming weeks.

Related Posts:

Calorie Restriction Reverses Memory Loss

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A study of 1,003 Japanese adults reveals that green tea may help keep your brain sharp as you get older.

The more green tea they drank, the less likely they were to develop cognitive problems.

The findings were reported in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

For a related post, see Tea is Brain Protective

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