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One of the most frightening health concerns facing the aging is Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimer's disease is a progressive brain disorder that gradually destroys a person's memory and ability to learn, reason, make judgments, communicate and carry out daily activities.

As Alzheimer's progresses, victims sometimes experience changes in personality and behavior, such as anxiety, suspiciousness or agitation. In addition, some patients have hallucinations or delusions.

Doctors don't fully understand what causes Alzheimer's, though much research is ongoing. Once diagnosed, the disease may progress very slowly or very quickly. The first functions to be affected are memory and thinking, but as the disease progresses, cells die in other parts of the brain, too.

Eventually the patient requires complete care. Though most Alzheimer's patients die from other health issues, Alzheimer's itself can be fatal, once enough brain function is lost.

As with most serious illnesses, research focuses on two areas; prevention and treatment. Today, though there is no cure for the disease, there are treatments available that can improve cognitive function, at least for some period of time. In terms of prevention, since little is known about what causes the disease, we also don't know a lot about how to prevent it.

However, we are learning the benefit of the anti-oxidants in tea in both the prevention and treatment of Alzheimer's. In the past few years, lots of research has shown tea's anti-oxidants to be powerful fighters of aging and disease. Green tea, in particular, has been shown to prevent heart disease and several forms of cancer.

Anti-oxidants are important because they fight free radicals in our bodies. Free radicals are created as we process the food we eat into energy. Free radicals have the capacity to damage our cells and our DNA if we don't keep them in check. Anti-oxidants rid our bodies of the free radicals, protecting it from the damage they can cause.

Fruits and vegetables are full of anti-oxidants, as are coffee, dark chocolate and red wine. In addition, tea is a great source of anti-oxidants. For prevention and treatment of most diseases, green tea has been found to be more protective than black tea, because the anti-oxidants in green tea are in a more natural state than those in black tea. This is because black tea is fermented during processing while green tea is not.

However, in the research surrounding Alzheimer's there seems to be no difference between using black tea and green tea, because the particular anti-oxidant most effective against Alzheimer's is not altered by the fermentation process, making both teas equal for this purpose.

One study reported by the UK Tea Council showed drinking tea to be an effective way to prevent and even treat Alzheimer's. The study concluded that the anti-oxidants had a neuro protective effect on some of the brain chemicals that become toxic to brain cells during Alzheimer's.

While far more research is required, this is promising news. If tea can protect the brain, it may show potential in both prevention and treatment of Alzheimer's. In terms of protection, it is theorized that drinking tea may have the ability to prevent brain chemicals from turning toxic and killing brain cells.

As far as treatment goes, tea's ability to protect brain cells from toxic chemicals may slow the progression of Alzheimer's. It is far too soon to predict if tea's anti-oxidants may someday lead to a cure for Alzheimer's, but the news does represent some hope in the face of a disease whose cure has eluded us so far.

Green Tea and Aging

In addition to the research noted above, it's important to consider the overall effect of green tea on the aging process. Green tea has been shown to slow down the aging process and protect our bodies from many different types of disease, including cardiovascular disease.

Why is this important in the fight against Alzheimer's?

While scientists don't have a full understanding of the causes of Alzheimer's disease, they do have some understanding of at least some of the risk factors for this disease. Two important risk factors for Alzheimer's are:

Age - The greatest known risk factor for Alzheimer's is increasing age. Few people contract the disease under the age of 65. The risk for developing Alzheimer's doubles every five years over the age of 65. After age 85, the risk of Alzheimer's is nearly 50%.

Heart Health ' Any disease that decreases the health of the heart decreases the health of the brain. Cardiovascular problems such as high blood pressure and atherosclerosis have been shown to be linked to the development of Alzheimer's. This is thought to because the damage to the arteries and veins caused by these conditions reduces the amount and quality of blood flow to the brain.

Since we know that green tea helps prevent heart disease and premature aging, it stands to reason that adding green tea to your diet can also, in the long run, prevent Alzheimer's. While we can't actually prevent ourselves from getting older, we can minimize the damage of aging by filling our bodies with anti-oxidants like those found in green tea.