WEDNESDAY, Dec. 26 (HealthDay News) -- Brief bouts of amnesia or confusion raise a person's risk of having a stroke or developing dementia, Dutch scientists suggest.

The findings, which add to previous research linking "mini-strokes" to full-fledged strokes, make sense to Dr. Argye Beth Hillis, a professor of neurology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

In the United States, some doctors typically take memory loss seriously, she said. But elsewhere in the world, "there are places where any kind of [brief neurological difficulty] is not taken seriously. That's changing, and it should," she added.

Neurologists like Hillis are very familiar with transient ischemic attacks, also known as "mini-strokes," which typically last about a minute and can cause a variety of sudden stroke-like symptoms, such as numbness, confusion, headache and difficulty seeing or walking. These attacks happen when clots briefly block blood flow to a specific part of the brain.

In the new study, the researchers looked at a different category of brief neurological problems -- confusion or brief amnesia that doesn't seem to be caused by a problem in a single region of the brain. "Damage to different areas can interfere with memory or level of alertness," she said.

Hillis said she sees such cases about once a month. "It usually is very transient and lasts less than a day, several hours during which people just don't remember what they did or said during that period. Generally, they never do remember that time period," she said. "I saw someone yesterday who had decorated a tree very nicely, and later that day he came down and said, 'Who decorated the tree?' He couldn't remember doing it at all."

In such cases, physicians often prescribe aspirin to thin the blood, she said.

In this latest study, researchers looked at 6,062 subjects who were 55 years or older when they entered the study between 1990 and 1993. The subjects were followed until 2005.

The findings were published in the Dec. 26 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The researchers found that brief neurological problems occurred in 548 of the subjects. Of those, 282 were classified as focal (suggesting a problem in a specific area of the brain), while 228 others seemed to be more of a widespread problem in the brain. The rest, 38 subjects, had incidents that fit into both categories.

Those who had focal incidents were more than twice as likely to have a stroke as the others; their risk of a stroke within three months after an incident was 3.5 percent. Patients with non-focal incidents had a 56 percent higher risk of stroke and 59 percent higher risk of senility than those who didn't experience such a problem.

"Our findings challenge the strong but unfounded conviction that non-focal [incidents] are harmless," the authors wrote.

In a commentary that accompanied the study, Dr. S. Claiborne Johnston, director of the Neurovascular Disease and Stroke Center at the University of California, San Francisco, wrote that there's too little information about how to handle patients who experience these problems: "There is no consistent evaluation, no guidelines for treatment, and no information on prognosis. This study argues that, whatever is causing these events, the prognosis justifies greater attention."

In any event, people should call 911 if they have any "new neurologic deficit," such as weakness, numbness, difficulty speaking, poor vision on one side, memory loss or a sudden headache associated with nausea and neck pain, Hillis said. Emergency care is needed for this condition "even if it only lasts for five to 10 minutes."

More information

Learn more about transient ischemic attacks at the American Heart Association  .

WEDNESDAY, Dec. 26 (HealthDay News) -- To correspond with the new U.S. Department of Agriculture's food pyramid (MyPyramid), Tufts University researchers have updated the content and appearance of their food guide pyramid for older adults.

The Modified MyPyramid for Older Adults still emphasizes nutrient-dense foods and the importance of fluid balance but now provides more guidance about the types of foods that best meet the unique needs of older adults and places added emphasis on physical activity.

"Adults over the age of 70 have unique dietary needs," first author Alice H. Lichtenstein, director of the Cardiovascular Nutrition Laboratory at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts, said in a prepared statement.

"Older adults tend to need fewer calories as they age, because they are not as physically active as they once were, and their metabolic rates slow down. Nevertheless, their bodies still require the same or higher levels of nutrients for optimal health outcomes. The Modified MyPyramid for Older Adults is intended to be used for general guidance in print form or as a supplement to the MyPyramid computer-based program," Lichtenstein said.

The Modified MyPyramid for Older Adults, which is expected to be published in the January issue of the Journal of Nutrition, includes information about:

• Whole, enriched and fortified grains and cereals such as brown rice and 100 percent whole wheat bread.
• Bright-colored vegetables such as carrots and broccoli.
• Deep-colored fruit such as berries and melon.
• Low- and non-fat dairy products such as yogurt and low-lactose milk.
• Dry beans and nuts, fish, poultry, lean meat and eggs.
• Liquid vegetable oils and soft spreads low in saturated and trans fat.
• Fluid intake.
• Physical activity such as walking, housework and yard work.

"Regular physical activity is linked to reduced risk of chronic disease and lower body weights. Government statistics indicate that obesity in adults 70 years and older has been increasing, [and] physical activity is one way to avoid weight gain in later years and its adverse consequences. In addition, regular physical activity can improve quality of life for older adults," Lichtenstein said.

More information

Here's where you can find the USDA's MyPyramid.

WEDNESDAY, Dec. 19 (HealthDay News) -- In people age 65 and older, simply walking regularly or engaging in other moderate exercise can reduce dementia risk, a new Italian study finds.

Vascular dementia is the second most common form of dementia after Alzheimer's disease.

This four-year study included 749 women and men over age 65 who had no memory problems at the start of the study. Researchers monitored the participants' weekly physical activity levels such as walking and climbing stairs, and moderate activities such as house and yard work, gardening and light carpentry.

By the end of the study, 54 of the participants had developed Alzheimer's disease and 27 had developed vascular dementia.

The findings are published in the Dec. 19 issue of the journal Neurology.

The top one-third of people who exerted the most energy walking were 27 percent less likely to develop vascular dementia than those in the bottom third, the study found. People who exerted the most energy in moderate activities were 29 percent less likely to develop vascular dementia, and those who were in the top one-third for total physical activity had a 24 percent reduced risk compared to those in the bottom third.

"Our findings show moderate physical activity, such as walking, and all physical activities combined lowered the risk of vascular dementia in the elderly independent of several sociodemographic, genetic and medical factors," study author Dr. Giovanni Ravaglia, of the University Hospital S. Orsola Malpighi in Bologna, said in a prepared statement.

"It's important to note that an easy-to-perform moderate activity like walking provided the same cognitive benefits as other, more demanding activities," Ravaglia noted.

More research is needed to determine how physical activity may help protect against vascular dementia, the study suggested.

More information

The American Academy of Family Physicians has more about dementia  .