​Memory gradually starts to fall from 30s.
 
Q1. Which waking speed makes the risk of dementia higher?
(A) Fast  (B) Slow
 
A1. (B) Slow
 
If the walking speed is slow, the risk of dementia is 1.77 times higher.
The motor area in the brain orders the body to walk fast. The nerve cells in the brain transmit the information to the arms and legs and we can walk fast. But if the nerve cells die, the information can’t be transmitted to the arms and legs, resulting in being unable to walk fast.
 
If the walking speed is slower than 90 cm per second, there is a risk of dementia.
That is, if you can’t cross the crosswalk during the green light, there is a risk of dementia.
 
Even if you forget something, if you can remember, that is just forgetfulness.
But if you forget that you made a promise itself, that can be a sign of dementia.
 
 
Q2. Which steps of walking makes the risk of dementia higher?
(A) Long steps  (B) Short steps
 
A2. (B) Short steps
 
Q3. Which exercise is expected to prevent dementia?
(A) Aerobic exercise such as walking  (B) Anaerobic exercise such as weight training
 
A3. (A) Aerobic exercise such as walking
Aerobic exercise helps produce BDNF which is a kind of protein that activates the brain. BDNF is not only produced in the brain but also is produced by the contraction of the muscles and is transmitted to the brain. BDNF restores the network of the nerve cells in the brain.
 
MCI (Mild Cognitive Impairment) is a condition that there is a slight decline of cognitive abilities, but no difficulty in daily life. But if a person with MCI doesn’t take any countermeasure, over half of those with MCI are at a risk of developing dementia within 4 years.
 
Q4. Which contains the substance that is expected to prevent dementia?
(A) Blue cheese  (B) Camembert cheese
 
A4. (B) Camembert cheese
The substances contained in camembert cheese such as Oleic amide decreases amyloid beta which causes dementia. People with Alzheimer’s disease store amyloid beta abnormally. Amyloid beta is considered that it emits toxins to kill the nerve cells.
 
Q5. Which contains substances that is expected to prevent dementia?
(A) Beer  (B) Distilled liquor
 
A5. (A) Beer
Hop (iso-α acid) which is bitterness of beer is expected to decrease amyloid beta. Proper amount is 1 to 2 bottles of beer a day. Too much consumption of alcohol progresses dementia.
 
Red wine is rich in polyphenol which has antioxidant effects.
 
Q6. Which should be taken positively to reduce the risk of dementia?
(A) Rice  (B) Milk
 
A6. (B) Milk
According to a research, people who took more vegetables, beans, sea vegetables and milk and took less rice reduced the risk of dementia by 30 %. This research suggests that eating rice is not bad but if you eat more rice, you can’t eat other things, so it is better to reduce the amount of rice (carbohydrate). To prevent dementia, it is important to take various kinds of nutrition through balanced meals.
 
 
Reading a picture book to a child activates the brain and prevents dementia.
Telling new information you have learned recently to your family has also the same effect as reading a picture book.
 
Q7. How long should you take a nap to reduce the risk of dementia by 80 %?
(A) 30 minutes  (B) One and a half hours
 
A7. (A) 30 minutes
Short nap within 30 minutes is effective to prevent dementia. But nap more than 1 hour raises the risk of dementia.
 
Short nap within 30 minutes lowers the stress caused by lack of sleep. When you are sleepy, your brain is stressed and nerve cells in the brain can be damaged.
 
A human being has biological rhythms that they get sleepy 8 hours after waking up. But if you put up with sleepiness and continue what you are doing, that stress weakens the nerve cells in the brain. That is why taking a nap reduces the stress of the brain.
 
10 minutes nap doesn’t affect the sleep at night, but if you sleep too much during the daytime, that affects the sleep at night.
 
When you take a nap, the sleep should be light so you should not darken the room or change clothes but take a nap on the couch.
 
Recommended time of taking a nap is within 8 hours after waking up in the morning and the length is within 30 minutes.
 
Q8. How many hours should you sleep at night to prevent dementia?
(A) 5 hours  (B) 7 hours
 
A8. (B) 7 hours
According to a research, between less than 6 hours, 7 hours and more than 8 hours of sleep, 7 hours sleep lowered the risk of dementia.
 
 
According to a research for 10 years in US, a game called Brain HQ reduced the risk of dementia by 48 %.
 
 

​Self-Check for the risk of stroke
 
Q1. More than 40 years old. Yes or No?
Q2. You eat only a little of vegetables and fruits. Yes or No?
Q3. You like salty dishes. Yes or No?
Q4. You are obese. BMI (Weight (Kg)/Tall (m)/Tall/(m))>25. Yes or No?
Q5. You rarely do exercise. Yes or No?
Q6. You smoke. Yes or No?
Q7. You have people who had stroke in your family or relatives. Yes or No?
 
If you have more than 3 Yes, you get a yellow card. You can have stroke in the future so it is necessary to improve your life habit.
If you have more than 5 Yes, you get a red card. You have a high risk having stroke in the future. You need to improve your life habit right now.
 
People with fluctuating blood pressure has 6 times more risk of stroke than normal blood pressure.
 
How to check if you have fluctuating blood pressure
 
(1) Measure your blood pressure in the resting condition. (ex. 114/85)
(2) Measure your blood pressure once again. Stand up when the pressure starts going down. (ex. 130/86)
If the difference between 2 measurements of higher blood pressures is more than 15, there is a possibility of fluctuating blood pressure. (ex. 130-114=16)
 
Signs of stroke
 
Many diseases in the brain cause abnormalities on one side of the body.
 
When the left part of the brain is damaged, aphasia which is an inability comprehend and formulate language and acalculia which people have difficulty performing simple mathematical tasks show up.
 
Damage to the brain makes people lose contact sensation and misunderstand it as feeling cold.
 
There is a case that abnormalities appear in the eyes, accompanying with double vision or visual field defect.
 
When the damage to the brain is suspected, a grip of one of the hands becomes weak like you can’t lift up a coffee cup or you often drop a spoon.
 
How to find an abnormality of the brain appearing in the arms – Barre's arm sign
 
Extend both arms upright in the supinated position and hold them at shoulder height for at least 10 seconds with eyes closed.
 
Pronation (the arm rotates inward like the palm faces down) or downward drift of the arm indicates the abnormality in the brain such as stroke (Fig. 1).
 
Treatment of stroke (cerebral infarction) (Acute stage)
 
1. Medication
Thrombolytic agent called t-PA is used, which dissolves blood clots but only can be used within 4 hours after the onset.
 
2. Surgery
Blood clots can be removed completely, but the burdens on the body is large.
 
3. Clot recovering treatment
A stent retriever is sent to the place where is a blood clot in the brain from the thigh, using catheter. This treatment has less load to the body and can be done within 8 hours after the onset.
 
Correct approach until an ambulance arrives (Fig. 2)
 
(1) In the case of cerebral hemorrhage or subarachnoid hemorrhage, 80 % of people vomit. So lay the person on his or her side, facing down.
(2) Paralyzed side of the body should be upper side because the throat is also paralyzed on the same side. If paralyzed side is lower side, vomit goes into the airway.
 
Causes of stroke
 
(1) High blood pressure (2) Irregular heart beat (3) Abnormal lipid diseases (4) Diabetes (5) Smoking (6) Overconsumption of salt (7) Drinking too much alcohol (8) Insufficiency of water intake
 
Dehydration makes the blood sticky, making the blood vessel easily clogged and making the risk of stroke (cerebral infarction) higher.
 
Overconsumption of salt, smoking and alcohol attack the blood vessel, causing high blood pressure. If there is a fragile part in the blood vessel, hemorrhage or clogging of the blood vessel in the brain occurs.
 
Women after menopause should be careful because female hormone has the function to lower the blood pressure and to protect the blood vessels. Even if the blood pressure was lower when they were young, there are a lot of cases that their blood pressure elevates after menopause.
 
Constipation can be a cause of stroke. When you strain to eliminate stools, the blood pressure suddenly goes up. In that case, the body involuntarily tries to lower the blood pressure, lowering the heartbeat. That causes irregular heartbeat, making blood clots in the heart. That sometimes causes stroke (cerebral infarction).
 
Abnormalities of the arm
Dropping things, Inability to fasten buttons, Inability to wear one side of shoes
 
Food to prevent stroke
 
The food is chocolate. One of the biggest causes of stroke is high blood pressure. Chocolate prevents and improve the high blood pressure. Cacao polyphenol included in cacao which is material of chocolate is bitter taste component. Cacao polyphenol prevents breakdown of NO which makes the blood vessels flexible and wide, lowering the blood pressure.
 
High cacao content chocolate which contains more than 70 % of cacao is effective to lower the blood pressure. About 25 grams per day of high cacao chocolate is good to lower the blood pressure.

Outline
 
The penitent was a 78 years old female whose main complaint was pain in the ischial tuberosity known as the sit bones when she sat down for 3 years. She had tried physical therapy and steroid injections, but the pain had not been improved. When she sat for a long time, pain was radiated to her buttocks, sacrum, inguinal area and the front side of her thighs.
 
After starting acupuncture treatment, the pain decreased every treatment. At the end of the course of treatments (Twice a week until 5th treatment, Once a week until 9th treatment and Twice for every 2 weeks treatment), she became able to sit for a long time and sit on a hard chair without any pain.
 
Treatment
 
(1st Treatment)
I diagnosed her with Liver Deficiency and strengthened left Liver-3 with Yin technique. This was the first experience of acupuncture treatment for her, so I only treated her back with light spreading needle technique and pressed down some tight spots on her buttocks with Teishin.
 
 
(2nd Treatment)
After the last treatment, there was no change in the pain in the sit bones, but she felt warmer in her lower back and buttocks. Root Treatment was right Large Intestine-6 with Yin technique (Liver Deficiency with fast pulse). From this time, I added treatment with Dispersion needle at the painful spots around the sit bone (Sacrotuberous ligament). She was complaining about the pain in both sides of the sit bones, but pressure pain was only existed on the left side, so I used Dispersion needle only on the left side.
 
(3rd Treatment)
After the second treatment, the pain in the sit bone decreased and radiating pain to the inguinal area when she sat long also decreased. Root treatment was Liver Deficiency and like the last treatment, I used Dispersion needle at the pressure pain around ischial tuberosity. The area of the pressure pain became smaller.
 
(6th Treatment)
2 days before the treatment she went to a concert, but during the concert, there was no pain in the sit bones very much. Pressure pain around the sit bone was only 1 point.
 
(9th Treatment)
The pain around the sit bone considerably decreased. There was no pressure pain around ischial tuberosity, so I told her to come back in 2 weeks.
 
(10th Treatment)
There was almost no pain for 2 weeks. There was one pressure pain point around the sit bone. Dispersion needle was used on the point. I told her to come back in 2 weeks again.
 
(11th Treatment)
There was no pain even if she sat for a long time and sat on a hard chair. Since there was no pressure pain around the sit bone and she felt much better, the course of the treatments ended.
 
Consideration
 
Root treatment was mostly Liver deficiency with Yin technique. The pain was mostly on the Bladder meridian, but it was on the ligament, so I think Liver deficiency was a good choice.
 
Special treatment was only Dispersion needle. There could be treatment using distal points, but the pain was localized and 3 years already had passed, so I think it was necessary to move Blood directly with Dispersion needle and it was very effective.
​

It has been thought that unhealthy diet like overeating and over drinking causes a lot of fat attaching around the internal organs such as the heart or the stomach, causing serious diseases like heart attack or stroke.
 
But according to the new common sense in the medical profession, regardless of the amount of fat, the fat rusts like metal rusts, causing progression of aging and damage to health.
 
Rust of fat can cause hardening of blood vessels, dementia and cancer.
 
What is rust of fat?
 
Rust of fat is oxidization of fat and it happens in the body, causing damage to health.
 
How to check if there is rust of fat in the body
 
Check the smell of your pillow. If you smell aging odor in your pillow, there is rust of fat in your body. Aging odor is a kind of body odor which is produced by aging. The smell of aging odor is the smell produced by rust of fat.
 
The cause of rust of fat is waste matters produced by the weakened body cells with aging. The more the waster matter is, the more the fat rusts and the smell of the rust oozes out to the surface of the body.
 
The characteristics of aging odor are oxidized smell like old oil or dusty smell like an old closet. When you check the smell of your pillow,
(1) Smell the pillow right after you wake up.
(2) Ask other family members to smell the pillow.
(3) Smell the part of the pillow where your neck touches with focus.
 
The nutrition removing rust of fat - Vitamin E
 
Vitamin E is antioxidation substance removing rust of fat.
 
Ingredients rich in vitamin E

Fish: Eel, Yellowtail, Sea bream
Vegetables: Kabocha (squash), Red bell pepper, Sweet Potato
Fruits: Mango, Kiwi, Avocado
Nuts: Almonds, Peanuts, Pine nuts
Meats don’t contain vitamin E very much.
 
Required vitamin E for a day

​To remove rust of fat in the body, more than 25 mg a day of vitamin E is required.
 
A 50s couple whose pillows had aging odor tried to take more than 25 mg of vitamin E for a day for 5 days, using the above ingredients. The measured smell of their pillows became less. That means the rust of fat decreased.
 
 
Safflower oil is rich in vitamin E and contains 27.1 mg/100 g (Olive oil: 7.4 mg/100 g). Vitamin E is soluble in oil, so the absorption of vitamin E becomes higher when it is taken with oil.
 
Olive oil or perilla oil which contains a lot of linolenic acid and EPA/DHA contained in bluish fishes also remove the rust of fat.