" A true friend is one who thinks you are a good egg even if you are half-cracked"
"A friend is the one who comes in when the whole world has gone out " - Grace Pulpit
Friends are an important aspect of one's life. I believe that if you have one handful of true friends you are a lucky person. . If you have a partner, husband, wife or a true friend you can ask these types of questions of these people. There are many questions we ask ourselves on an every day basis as stated below
" How much time do we spend postponing enjoying our lives? How often do we say we will really be happy when we retire? Do we spend most of the winter talking and thinking about the summer place we have rented at the beach? Do we think that everyone will be alright as long as we save up a particular sum of money? Why can we not enjoy the moment? If we are to get the most out of life, we need to discern what is important and what is not. " - from www.rickandrickey.blogspot.com
Bacopa monnieri herb has been revered for centuries in the Ayurvedic herbal tradition of India. Over the past few years it has become more popular in the United States and its range of use is expanding. This herb is not widely known for its use on memory and cognition.
A study is reported on the effects of Brahmi (Bacopa monniera) on human memory. Seventy-six adults aged between 40 and 65 years took part in a double-blind randomized, placebo control study in which various memory functions were tested and levels of anxiety measured. There were three testing sessions: one prior to the trial, one after three months on the trial, and one six weeks after the completion of the trial. The results show a significant effect of the Brahmi on a test for the retention of new information. Follow-up tests showed that the rate of learning was unaffected, suggesting that Brahmi decreases the rate of forgetting of newly acquired information. Tasks assessing attention, verbal and visual short-term memory and the retrieval of pre-experimental knowledge were unaffected.
The active constituents of bacopa are thought to be saponins, though no specific compounds have been isolated. Research has elucidated that the saponins could be glycosides of jujubogenin or pseudojujubogenin. Standardized extracts sometimes refer to bacoside A, which probably refers to the total tetracyclic triterpenoid saponin content. Other constituents include bacoside (a triterpene), flavonoids, phytosterols, and alkaloids.
Bacopa has other activities in the body. Extracts have also been found to have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-parasitic activity.
Clinical studies have shown improvement of anxiety, memory and feelings of well-being after treatment with the equivalent of 12 g dried herb per day for one month. Improvements in concentration, IQ and visual motor function were seen in children taking 1050 mg a day of dried herb. In irritable bowel syndrome, bacopa mixed with Bael fruit (Aegle marmelos) was significantly more effective a treating diarrhea than the standard treatment. Several studies in epileptics showed improvement in the frequency of seizures using a dose of 50 g of fresh plant per day.
There is a combined study of bacopa and ginkgo that was published. Eighty-five men and women (aged 19-68 years) who did not smoke or take any drugs participated in this double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized study conducted at Swinburne University, Hawthorn, Australia. Subjects received either 4 weeks of placebo or a combined extract of ginkgo (120 mg/day) and bacopa (300 mg/day) (Blackmores Ginkgo Brahmi; Blackmores, Balgowlah NSW, Australia). The tablets contained bacopa extract equivalent to 3 grams dry whole plant, standardized to contain 67.5 mg bacosides, and ginkgo extract equivalent to 3 grams dry leaf, standardized to contain 16 mg ginkgo flavonglycosides and 4 mg ginkgolides and bilobalide. A battery of neurological testing was conducted at baseline and 2 and 4 weeks post-treatment. Treatment compliance was ensured by randomly allocating additional pills to each subject and then counting the number of pills remaining at the end of the study.
There were no significant differences between groups with regard to age, gender, or baseline measurements. The average compliance for the study was 83%. The authors investigated attention, short-term memory, working memory, verbal learning, memory consolidation, executive processes, planning and problem solving, information processing speed, motor responsiveness, and decision-making. There were no significant changes in cognitive performance in either group from baseline to 4 weeks post-treatment, even taking compliance into account. There were no treatment related adverse events.
The results of the study did not support the authors' hypothesis that the combined extract would have positive effects on cognitive function and affect a wider range of cognitive processes than either extract tested singly. The findings are in contrast to the positive findings published by other authors on the individual herbs.
For every herb discussed there are beneficial and not beneficial results. I feel it is important to discuss both in relation to any disease entity especially memory and cognition.
Until tomorrow...more herbs and supplements for MEMORY
No comments:
Post a Comment