100 year old Japanese female swimmer sets record of 1,500 metre freestyle swimming

Came across this enthusiastic news about a 100 year old Japanese swimmer Mieko Nagaoka who became the world’s first centenarian to complete a 1,500 metre freestyle swim in around an hour and sixteen minutes.

It is interesting to note that she took up swimming at the age of 82 to recover from a knee injury. She currently holds 24 world records and plans to set more records. More details are available on: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2015-04/05/c_134125635.htm

She is a perfect example of active ageing and is really an inspiration for those young and middle aged people who feel that they are too old to learn swimming at their age.

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'MIND' diet for reducing risk of Alzheimer’s disease

In a recent study done at Rush University (USA), the Director of Nutrition and Nutritional Epidemiology Dr. Martha Clare Morris and colleagues developed the “Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay” (MIND) diet. The  MIND diet is a mix of Mediterranean and DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diets, both diets have been found to reduce the risk of cardiovascular conditions and have also been found to provide protection against Dementia.

The 'MIND' diet has 15 dietary components, including green leafy vegetables, nuts, berries, beans, whole grains, fish, poultry, olive oil and cheese. For more details see: https://www.rush.edu/news/press-releases/new-mind-diet-may-significantly-protect-against-alzheimers-disease

The study was done in Chicago in which it was found that the MIND diet lowered the risk of Alzheimer's disease by as much as 53 percent in participants who adhered to the diet rigorously, and by about 35 percent in those who followed it moderately well.

It is an interesting and much needed study for the prevention of Dementia and Alzheimer’s. Such type of study needs to be done in other parts of the world as well for exploring ways of reducing the risk of Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.

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