GARANG NEWS

IF YOU'RE a fan of the bubbly stuff you'll be pleased to hear there are certain health benefits.

 

Champagne might be expensive but there's an excuse to splash out on a bottle now.

Scientists claim three glasses of the bubbly beverage every week can boost the spatial memory - this is the part of memory responsible for recording information about one's environment. 

 

Helpful, right? It's thought this is all down to a compound found in the black grapes used to make a bottle of bubbly.

Introducing the Pinot noir and Pinot meunier hero grapes. These two 'super grapes' are said to prevent the onset of the brain diseases.

If you're worried about dementia, here's how to check if you're showing early signs of the disease. 

 

 

So could it really be true drinking up to three glasses of champagne every week helps prevent dementia and Alzheimer's disease?

Professor Jeremy Spencer conducted research at Reading University. Most of the experiments were conducted on rats. 

The Proff revealed:  "These exciting results illustrate for the first time that the moderate consumption of champagne has the potential to influence cognitive functioning, such as memory.  Such observations have previously been reported with red wine, through the actions of flavonoids contained within it. 

"However, our research shows that champagne, which lacks flavonoids, is also capable of influencing brain function through the actions of smaller phenolic compounds, previously thought to lack biological activity.

 

"We encourage a responsible approach to alcohol consumption, and our results suggest that a very low intake of one to two glasses a week can be effective.."

However, a spokesman for the Alzheimer's Society has since announced the experiment needs more research to be proven. 

We're sure they'll not be lacking in willing participants for the champagne challenge. 

It's yet to be discovered the effect of the champagne on one's liver. 

LAUGHING at inappropriate moments may be a warning sign of the impending disease, according to the research.

 

An increasingly warped sense of humour may actually be cause for concern, says a new study. 

It seems there may be a link between a change in comedic temperament and dementia. 

 

The research, from University College of London, spoke to friends and family of 48 dementia patients.

Respondents had known the patients for more than 15 years before the disease overcame them and many said their relatives' sense of humour had changed noticeably. 

 

The results showed dementia patients laughed at "frankly inappropriate" moments prior to the onset of the disease.

Such moments included watching news reports about natural disasters, or seeing a car parked badly. 

One respondent even remembered the relative laughing when they had severely injured themselves.

 

Another wrote: "I have asthma - (they) laugh sometimes when I am fighting to get my breath."  

The study also found dementia patients were more inclined to find slapstick comedy more funny than satirical. 

An altered sense of humour is especially common in two types of dementia: 'semantic' and 'frontotemporal,' from which sufferers lose their ability to read social situations. 

  

It was also found in patients with Alzheimer's disease. 

Speaking to the BBC, Dr Simon Ridley of Alzheimer's Research UK said: "This study highlights the importance of looking at the myriad of different symptoms that impact on daily life and relationships.

"A deeper understanding of the full range of dementia symptoms will increase our ability to make a timely and accurate diagnosis."