You see, we are in the midst of an ever-escalating global Alzheimer’s epidemic.1,2 In fact, it’s now the sixth leading cause of death in the United States3 … and afflicts up to 30 million people worldwide.4,5 Americans account for about 20 percent of those cases, which are expected to triple by the year 2050.3,6

There is currently no cure for Alzheim-er’s … but scientists have identified sev-eral correctable factors involved in its onset, as well as nutritional interventions that may effectively target them. So the key here is to supplement your neurologi-cal health now to help head off problems later. And we’ve identified some of the nutrients you need to do just that.

Protect your memory and cognitive skills.

A lot of scientific evidence indicates that if you want to protect your brain from dementia and other ravages of aging, you should supplement with compounds that support neuronal connections, stimulate brain energy metabolism; boost acetyl-choline levels; protect against inflam-mation and oxidative stress. By taking advantage of recent advances in the understanding of nerve cell function, cognition and memory, and how these processes are disrupted during normal aging, you can customize a program of potent brain-protective nutrients.

Supplements like magnesium, phos-phatidylserine, DHA, vinpocetine, blue-berries and grape seed extract work via numerous mechanisms to provide natu-ral, broad-spectrum support for optimal brain health and function. So let’s take a look at those nutrients one by one to explore the vital roles they can play.

Magnesium L-threonate: heads off memory loss

Memories form and are stored in mul-tiple brain regions. But the most active and essential area is the hippocampus … a small, sea horse-shaped structure deep in the center of your brain.

Hippocampal memory enables you to recognize and distinguish between old friends and new acquaintances or to find your way around a well-known floor plan. It is also used to comprehend and navi-gate new experiences based on old ones.

This puts the hippocampus squarely at the center of your ability to assimilate new information and integrate it with what you already know. As you learn and experience new events, cells in your memory centers tighten and enhance their neuronal connections, known as synapses.7

The ability of brain cells to quickly form new synapses and remove old ones is referred to as neuronal plasticity. Large numbers of synapses promote rapid

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Foundation®For more than 32 years, the Life Extension Foundation has sought to help people like you live healthier longer. To that end, we’ve spent over $100 million on innovative anti-aging research, and made it our business to provide our members with products, services, and information to help them make better health decisions.

Based on the research we fund and the information we report, we’ve formulated some 350 different premium-quality, science-based nutritional supplements to help you achieve and maintain optimal health … and assembled an integrative team of Health Advisors to help you in customizing personal regimens of diet, exercise, and nutritional supplements.

With our help you can feel younger, stay healthier, and live longer. So call a Life Extension® Health Advisor at 1-800-226-2370 to get started today.

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For starters, acknowledge the fact that if you live long enough, you will probably experience some senior moments. The trick is to help ensure those moments remain as infrequent as possible by becoming extremely proactive about your brain health.

Hmmm ... What Do You Do If You’re

Getting Forgetful

is a form of magnesium that has been shown to dramatically boost levels of magnesium in the brain17,18… to enhance memory and cognitive performance.18

Now, since half of all older people in the developed world are already magnesium deficient, and getting more so over time, supplementation is particularly critical. American women, for instance, consume just 68% of the recommended daily intake of magnesium which is so crucial to brain function.20

Since it’s far easier to protect the health of your brain cells than it is to restore their function once damaged, supplementing with magnesium L-thre-onate as soon as possible really is a no-brainer!

Phosphatidylserine: enhances memory Your body manufactures phosphatidylserine to

maintain the structure and function of cell mem-branes. It helps your brain use fuel efficiently. It acts as an antioxidant to combat free radical damage and quell chronic inflammation.21 And it stimulates acetylcholine production22 to help with cognitive impairment5 (as shown in: a study of patients with age-related cognitive decline;23 controlled, random-

Neuronal plasticity is the physical equivalent of learning. Synaptic density is roughly the equivalentof memory.

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retrieval and processing of the information stored by connected cells.8

Neuronal plasticity is the physical equivalent of learning. Synaptic density is roughly the equivalent of memory.

A young brain exhibits high levels of neurologic plasticity that produce large numbers of intercon-nected synapses. That’s why young people learn quickly and have such strong memories.

But with “normal” aging,9 the numbers of synapses, and the ability to rapidly form new ones, steadily declines.10 People with Alzheimer’s disease, or its precursor, mild cognitive impairment, experience more rapid loss of both plasticity and synaptic number.11-14 And that’s when memories begin to fade or be lost.

People have always suspected that specific nutri-ents can positively affect cognitive functions such as learning and memory.15 It’s now known that many nutrients can actually modify aging brain function, in part by increasing the formation of brain synapses.16

Magnesium has been repeatedly shown to have a positive impact on both neuronal plasticity and synaptic density.17-19 And magnesium L-threonate

PROTECT YOUR Brain Cells

ized trials on patients with senile dementia;24 a study with Alzheimer’s patients exhibiting Parkinson’s-like stiffness and rigidity25).

However, the body’s production of phosphatidyl-serine declines with age. So in Europe and Japan, it’s sold as a prescription drug to treat memory and learning dysfunction. Lucky for you, it’s available here at home as a nutritional supplement.

Research indicates that while phosphatidylser-ine may help improve memory in patients who are older26 … it is most effective with early cognitive impairment. So the sooner you start supplement-ing with this safe, well-tolerated nutrient,27, 28 the better for you!

DHA: 30%–50% of the total fatty acid content of your brain

This omega-3 fatty acid is so essential to normal brain function, including learning and memory, that low levels of DHA are associated with an increased risk of Alzheimer’s.29

In the brain, DHA combines with phosphatidyl-serine to form nerve cell membrane components that support healthy nerve function. Substantial

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laboratory research suggests that the ability of phos-phatidylserine to improve cognitive skills is greatly increased in the presence of DHA.30

Furthermore, DHA combined with phosphatidyl-serine strongly supports energy production in brain cells. Scientists from the National Institutes of Health believe that phosphatidylserine with attached DHA is among the most critically important molecules for healthy brain function and that phosphatidylser-ine works best in the presence of abundant levels of DHA.31

Vinpocetine: better cerebral blood flowThe brain health benefits of vinpocetine are widely

recognized in Europe, where it is available by pre-scription to treat symptoms of age-related memory impairment.

It improves sluggish cerebral blood flow to enhance the brain’s use of oxygen and glucose, increases elec-trical conductivity between nerve cells, and supports the activity of nerve pathways related to mental alert-ness.32 When combined with the popular herb ginkgo biloba, vinpocetine speeds the processing of short-term working memory in normal adults.33

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So take the next step. Call a Life Extension Health Advisor now at 1-800-226-2370 toll-free. Find out what you need to be doing!

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In three studies of older adults with memory impairment due to poor brain circulation or demen-tia, vinpocetine was shown to produce improvement in tests of attention, concentration, and memory.26

Blueberries & grape seed extract: antioxidant protection for brain cells

The brain’s complex circuitry generates massive amounts of oxygen free radicals that attack delicate brain cells. This disrupts optimal cell function and often causes age-related cognitive decline.34

Increasing your dietary intake of antioxidant-rich fruits and vegetables can help you maintain optimal neuronal function and cognition well into old age.35-37 So it’s no surprise that neuroscientists are continually searching for natural agents that can protect brain cells from the devastating effects of oxidative stress and inflammation.

Blueberries are rich in polyphenols, powerful antioxi-dant phytochemicals that include proanthocyanidins which are particularly beneficial for brain health.38-41 Stud-ies of blueberries have found that they provide impor-tant protection against destructive inflammation in the brain.42

Like blueberries, grape seed extract is also rich in polyphenols that offer broad-spectrum protec-tion against premature aging, disease, and decay by improving blood circulation and strengthening capillaries, arteries, and veins. In fact, grape seed extract packs 20 times more antioxidant power than vitamin E and 50 times more antioxidant power than vitamin C.43

Need we say more!

References:1. Alzheimers Dement. 2008 Mar;4(2):110-33.2. Int J Alzheimers Dis. 2011;2011:848395.3. Available at: http://www.alz.org/downloads/Facts_

Figures_2011.pdf. Accessed September 28, 2011.4. Lancet. 2011 Mar 19;377(9770):1019-31.5. Sci Transl Med. 2011 Apr 6;3(77):77sr1.6. Available at: http://report.nih.gov/NIHfactsheets/ViewFact-

Sheet.aspx?csid=107. Accessed September 28, 2011. 7. Science. 1988 Nov 4;242(4879):724-8.8. Brain Topography, 24, 302-315.9. Trends Neurosci. 2006 Dec;29(12):662-70.

10. Gerontology. 1996;42(3):170-80.11. Nat Rev Neurosci. 2006 Jan;7(1):30-40.12. Curr Drug Targets CNS Neurol Disord. 2005 Aug;4(4):383-403.13. Neurobiol Aging. 2006 Oct;27(10):1372-84.14. Acta Neuropathol. 2009 Jul;118(1):167-79.15. Nat Rev Neurosci. 2008 Jul;9(7):568-78.16. Nutr Rev. 2010 Dec;68 Suppl 2:S88-101.17. Available at: http://www.mit.edu/press/2010/magnesium-

supplement.html. Accessed September 28, 2011.18. Neuron. 2010 Jan 28;65(2):165-77.19. Neuron. 2010 Jan 28;65(2):143-4.20. J Am Coll Nutr. 2009 Apr;28(2):131-41.21. Mech Ageing Dev. 2001 Nov;122(16):2025-40.22. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry. 1989;13

SupplS77-S88.23. Isr J Psychiatry Relat Sci. 2000;37(4):302-7.24. Acta Neurol Scand. 1986 Feb;73(2):136-40.25. Prog Clin Biol Res. 1989;317:1235-46.26. Nutrition. 2003 Nov;19(11-12):957-75.27. Nutr Neurosci. 2002 Oct;5(5):337-43.28. Nutrition. 1999 Oct;15(10):778-83.29. Pharmacol Res. 1999 Sep;40(3):211-25.30. Altern Med Rev. 2005 Dec;10(4):268-93.31. Kidd P. Phosphatidylserine: Nature’s Brain Booster for

Memory, Mood, and Stress. St. George: Total Health Com-munications, Inc.; 2005.

32. Eur J Pharmacol. 1990 Oct 23;187(3):537-9.33. Hum Psychopharmacol. 2001 Jul;16(5):409-16.34. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2001 Apr;928:226-35.35. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2002 Apr;959:128-32.36. Nutr Neurosci. 2004 Apr;7(2):75-83.37. J Neurosci. 1999 Sep 15;19(18):8114-21.38. J Agric Food Chem. 2001 May;49(5):2222-7.39. Gen Pharmacol. 1998 May;30(5):771-6.40. Drugs Exp Clin Res. 2001;27(1):3-15.41. Med Sci Monit. 2006 Apr;12(4):BR124-9.42. Neurobiol Aging. 2006 Feb;27(2):344-50.43. J Med Food. 2003;6(4):291-9.