Vinpocetine Fights Dementia

If you’re suffering from a fuzzy brain, you may want to know about vinpocetine. This semi-synthetic substance is a derivative of vincamine, an alkaloid of the periwinkle plant. It has been used in Europe, Japan and Mexico for the treatment of cerebrovascular and cognitive disorders. Here in the US, vinpocetine is a dietary supplement that is sometimes called a nootropic, meaning cognition enhancer.

Vinpocetine has been widely used in the treatment of different blood-brain (known as cerebrovascular) diseases and dementias. The chronic decrease of blood flow to the brain plays an important role in the development of certain types of dementia. As the consequence of complex set of actions, vinpocetine has been found to play a significant role in improving these conditions.

What’s new: Recently, Hungarian researchers found that vinpocetine may help improve cognitive functioning. They set out to investigate the characteristics of blood flow in those with mild cognitive impairment. Then they examined those patterns and cognitive functions while the subjects took vinpocetine for 12 weeks. Using psychometric tests, they found a significant improvement of cognitive functions after the 12-week vinpocetine therapy. In addition, the general condition of patients improved significantly according to both the investigator’s and the patients’ opinion. The researchers concluded that the vinpocetine improved the reserve capacity of the cerebellum and the blood vessels that supply it and that it favorably influenced the cognitive status and general condition of patients with chronic decrease of blood flow through their brains. As a result, they recommended the use of vinpocetine for the treatment of mild cognitive impairment.  What this means: This study adds to the scientific evidence that vinpocetine may increase brain blood flow and metabolism, and work as a cognition enhancer, neuroprotectant and antioxidant. Previous studies have been small-scale clinical trials that use that use PET scans and verify that vinopocetine, when taken orally, does pass through the blood-brain barrier and increases blood flow to the brain.  This definitely sounds like something I wish to try!

Still Here, I think

Life is certainly rolling on by.  Winter is just about gone, and we're happily looking forward to spring.  I'm keeping very busy at our apartment.  We're doing some spring cleaning now in our common room and organizing the cupboards.  I find between my brain games and the apartment activities I don't have much spare brain power to write in my journal.  I can only spend about half an hour at a time in the common room before the various conversations around me just become a blur, and I know its time for a quick brain break.  It took me fifteen minutes of resetting my password to get in here this time, so I must do it more often before I forget how to do it again!

Relax your brain

My friend Marcus just posted this on another website.

Do you have a couple of minutes to spare? If so, here's something productive you can do with that time: nothing.

A young student and website developer named Alex Tew has created a site called "do nothing for 2 minutes" (donothingfor2minutes.com). The site opens on a view of a sunset over the ocean and the gentle sound of waves.
...
When you arrive at the site, a counter starts counting backwards from two minutes to zero. That may not sound challenging, but if you touch your mouse or keyboard before two minutes pass, this message pops up: FAIL.

I guess even relaxation has its pressures!

Alex told the website Tech Crunch: "There is evidence that our brains are being re-wired by the internet, because we get a little dopamine kick every time we check our e-mail or Twitter or Facebook and there's a new update. So we're all developing a bit of ADD."

I'm not sure that visiting donothingfor2minutes.com will actually help lengthen your attention span, but it is relaxing if you can avoid the FAIL notice.

To Your Good Health,

Relax Your Brain