AMD typically starts late in life. It affects the retina, located in the center of the eye. AMD can cause vision loss. Previous research shows that diets rich in antioxidants might help prevent AMD.

The new study adds one more diet tip: Go for carbohydrates that don’t make your blood sugar spike quickly.

Doing so might help prevent AMD, note the researchers. They included Chung-Jung Chiu, DDS, Ph.D., and Allen Taylor, Ph.D.. They work in Boston at Tufts University’s Jean Mayer U.S. Department of Agriculture Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging.

Nearly 4,100 U.S. adults aged 55-80 took part in the study. They completed dietary surveys and had their eyes checked for AMD.

The dietary surveys listed 90 foods. Participants noted how often and how much of those foods they typically ate. The researchers paid close attention to the glycemic index — a measure of how much certain foods raise blood sugar.

Sugary items and refined grains (such as white flour, which has the bran stripped out of it) are examples of foods that rank high on the glycemic index . Whole grains, legumes, and vegetables rank lower on the glycemic index.

The researchers tracked AMD by eye, not participant, because some people may have had AMD in one eye but not the other.

Most eyes showed no signs of AMD. But 602 eyes had advanced AMD. People with the diets highest on the glycemic index were the most likely to have advanced AMD in at least one eye. Those findings held when the researchers considered participants’ age, gender, and other risk factors.

The study doesn’t show exactly what caused AMD. It’s not clear that diet was solely responsible for any cases of AMD. Participants weren’t followed over time, and they weren’t asked to change their diets for the study.

However, the researchers estimate that a fifth of the advanced AMD cases in their study might have been prevented by eating foods low on the glycemic index. CBS News

Many doctors believe that using high sugar foods resulting in loss of eye vision and usage of contacts lens are increasing. There are many companies making contact lenses especially acuvue contacts are popular ones. If you want to buy cheap lenses for you then you can use biomedics.

Drinking caffeinated beverages may induce a “healthy” rise in blood pressure that counteracts the drop in blood pressure that occurs after a meal, a phenomenon that becomes more pronounced as people age, researchers note.

Among 6,594 adults participating in the study, 426 died of heart disease during a 9-year period. For subjects 65 years of age or older, the researchers found that greater daily consumption of caffeinated beverages was associated with a lower risk of death from heart disease. This acted in a dose-response fashion - the higher the caffeine level, the lower the risk, and visa versa.

People who consumed four or more servings of caffeinated beverages daily had a 53-percent lower risk of death from heart disease compared with those who consumed less than half a serving daily. Subjects who consumed two to four servings per day had a 32-percent lower risk of dying from heart disease.

Caffeinated ground coffee and caffeinated instant coffee, both of which have relatively large amounts of caffeine per serving, were the only specific beverages associated with a statistically significant protective effect, the authors note.

This apparent protective effect of caffeinated coffee consumption was not seen in people with severe high blood pressure or those who were younger than 65 years of age.

Studies on caffeine and heart disease have yielded conflicting results, note principal investigator Dr. James A. Greenberg and colleagues from Brooklyn College of the City University of New York. “It is possible that the conflict is due to differences between nonelderly and elderly persons,” they point out, noting that one study found that drinking coffee increased the risk in younger subjects and that the level of risk decreased with increasing age.

As mentioned, caffeine may protect against heart disease death in the elderly by preventing a decline in blood pressure after meals, a phenomenon that becomes increasing more pronounced with age.

If confirmed, the current findings could have important ramifications, the authors conclude, given that coffee is widely consumed and heart disease is one of the leading causes of death in the elderly.

SOURCE: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, February 2007.

Flavanols are said to be responsible for this new found benefit. Flavanols, an antioxidant found in cocoa beans, can increase blood flow to the brain.

In tests given to young women who were asked to do a complex task while their brains were being studied with magnetic resonance imaging. It was shown that those who have taken flavanol-rich cocoa drink has improved brain blood flow.

A study on Cuna Indian tribe in Panama, who drink cocoa exclusively, revealed similar health benefits. Those who live on native islands do not have high blood pressure. Further, when tribe members move to cities, their blood pressure rises. A major difference is the consumption of their own prepared cocoa, which is high in flavanols. In native areas, that is all they drink; in cities they adopt the local diet. In addition, there were no reported cases of dementia among the native Cuna.

A study done on mice also showed the same benefits. When flavanol was added to their food, the mice showed improved ability to solve a maze and remembered it longer than mice without the flavanol.

These new findings gives hope to the increasing number of dementia cases in aging population.

What can you do?

1. Stop smoking. It has been pointed out in many health articles and in government campaigns that “Smoking is dangerous to one’s health.” In a study conducted by the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), smoking is the major factor that could contribute to reduced lifespan. In my previous health article, I emphasized the hazardous effects of smoking on one’s health which can lead to reduced lifespan.

2. Reduce your alcohol consumption. According to the study, 3+ drinks a day is too much. Excessive alcohol drinking could result to many diseases such as liver cirrhosis, pancreatitis and cancers. Drinking while driving is the most common cause of vehicular accidents which could immediately end one’s life. The CDC cited few more effects of excessive alcohol consumption.

3. Avoid high blood sugar. High untreated blood-sugar is related to many long-term health problems including the kidneys, nerves, eyes and vision, risk of heart disease and stroke, and erectile dysfunction in men and pregnancy complications in women. Diabetes increases the risk of having a heart attack as much as smoking. Source: I-Base.org.uk

One way of preventing high blood sugar is watching your diet. Avoid eating junk foods, drinking soft drinks, and refined carbohydrates such as potato chips.

What should you eat? High-fiber diet can lower blood glucose level by 10% according to a study by The New England Journal of Medicine.

Probably, the Glycemic Index can help you choose which foods should be avoided according to its carbohydrate content.

4. Get enough sleep. Sleeping too much can reduce life expectancy, according to a February 2002 study in the Archives of General Psychiatry. The study shows that people who sleep more than eight hours per night had a significantly higher death rate than normal. But late-night-party-goers shouldn’t rejoice: researches say that sleeping less than four hours also increases death rates. People who sleep between six and seven hours per night were shown to live the longest. Source: Forbes.com.

5. Be optimistic. A health article on MSNBC points out the effects of optimism to one’s health. Optimists tend to adjust better to health threats and conditions than pessimists do.

6. Exercise, exercise and exercise. Regular exercise can help protect you from heart disease and stroke, high blood pressure, noninsulin-dependent diabetes, obesity, back pain, osteoporosis, and can improve your mood and help you to better manage stress.

7. Get some good laughs. US cardiologist Dr William Fry says that a good laugh is like a mini-workout - 100 to 200 laughs are equivalent to ten minutes of jogging or rowing.

8. Get some relaxation techniques. A relaxation technique such as yoga or meditation are proven to help alleviate stress. Relaxation reduces blood pressure and helps reduce stress-related conditions such as depression.

9. Get a pet. People who own pets, especially dogs, have been shown to be less stressed and require fewer visits to their physicians than non-owners. Pet owners have also been shown to have lower blood pressure. The reasons for these findings are most likely related to an array of psychological factors, such as the facts that owning a pet decreases loneliness and depression, encourages laughter and nurturing, and stimulates exercise. Source: Forbes.com

10. Go to church. In a recent study, the researchers found out that people who attend religious services weekly live longer. Specifically, the research looked at how many years are added to life expectancy based on:

* Regular physical exercise: 3.0-to-5.1 years
* Proven therapeutic regimens: 2.1-to-3.7 years
* Regular religious attendance: 1.8-to-3.1 years