Every year 5% of people over the age of 70 lose their memory enough to be classified as having "mild cognitive impairment" and 7% of people of the age of 80. These people have serious problems (this isn't just forgettign a name).

When you start doing the math about how many people there are in the country (and how many people there will be) over the age of 70, this starts to become a big problem, a really big one. People with mild cognitive impairment may require extra help and can become a burden on the health care system. Just figuring out a way to delay the onseit of cognitive impairment a few years could mean improved quality of life for individuals and tremendous cost savings for the health care system.

Must Read: Alzheimer's Disease and Dementia Prevention

Kellogg just announced a recall of two of its lines of peanut butter crackers: Austin and Keebler. I'm sure the decision was terrible at the Kellogg corporate officer. Foods companies rely on the brands and they hate to be linked to something like a food recall. But they recalled the crackers anyway, even though no illness has been traced to them. They did it to protect their customers.

I think we should applaud Kellogg and trust their brand even more because of the food recall. They are acting responsibly and taking action (they didn't wait to be ordered to recall the crackers or wait until they found salmonella in the crackers, they just recalled them because peanut butter used in them could be traced to the same lots of peanut butter causing problems (see below).

So let Kellogg (and all the food manufacturers) know that this is what we, the consumers, want. If they think something is wrong, place recall the food. We won't hold it against them, in fact we will trust them more because of their action.

So give Kellogg a "thank you." Use their website's contact form or call them at 1-800-962-1413. we need to let food manufacturers know that we want them to be cautious and take preventative action. It makes us trust them more and want to buy their brand.

Here's the peanut story, in case you've missed it:

Over 430 people in 43 states have been sickened with salmonella and at least five people have died who have had salmonella. The CDC says that its investigations suggest that peanut butter is the cause and one of Kellogg's suppliers, the Peanut Corporation, recalled 21 lots of peanut butter because of possible contamination. Kellogg says that they haven't found any problem in their peanut butter crackers, but have asked that these crackers (which used peanut butter from the potentially contaminated lots) not be sold.

Q:  In the grocery stores, the labels of sports bars and drinks say that I'll get more out my workout if I use their products. Is it true? 

A: Sports drinks and protein bars, for most people, don't matter. It is true that if you are a performance athlete, timing your protein around your workout can add a few percentage points to your results (and in races where milliseconds separate first and second place, that matters a great deal). For the rest of us, we don't really need these performance enhancing foods and drinks.  

It always makes me sad at the gym when I see people who are there to lose weight drinking smoothies while on the treadmill. Sure, the smoothie has protein, but it also is about 400 calories. You would need to workout almost an hour on the treadmill to just burn the calories in the smoothie. These people, with their protein drinks, power bars and sports drinks end up doing a good workout and still gaining weight. 

Unless your workout is over 2 hours long, you don't really need any special foods. It is a good idea to have some protein after a strength building workout (a glass of chocolate milk is great). You don't need special food before a workout unless you feel yourself losing energy during the workout. And don't overdo the sports foods, they are all high and calories and frankly, if I'm going to have 200 extra calories, I'd rather have a scoop of ice cream than a protein bar.

Submit your own question to Dr. Mark by using the comments link below.
 

Prostate specific antigen (PSA) levels are lower in men who take aspirin, according to findings presented at the American Association for Cancer Research’s Seventh Annual Conference. Men who take aspirin have lower levels of PSA, especially men with prostate cancer who take aspirin.

Aspirin, PSA and Prostate Cancer

Prostate specific antigen is one of the most commonly used markers for prostate cancer. Basically, the higher the level of PSA in the blood, the more likely it is that cancer is present in the prostate (though high PSA numbers can also indicate other non-cancerous problems with the prostrate gland).

In examining 1,277 men, researchers found that 37% took aspirin daily. In the aspirin takers, the average PSA level was 9 percent lower than in the non-aspirin takers (after considering age, race and other factors). The effect was grater in men who had been diagnosed with prostate cancer. Researchers believe that the aspirin has some effect on cancer growth.

Of course, the aspirin may be suppressing the PSA levels but not changing the growth of prostate cancer. In other words, the aspirin could be hindering the ability to detect prostate cancer. What is known is that taking aspirin reduces the PSA level, but whether that means less growth of cancer or a masking effect remains to be seen.

Must Read: Prostate Cancer and Life Expectancy