It's now easier to file PTSD claims, Physical activity keeps minds sharp, Tea drinkers benefit

Starting this week the Department of Veteran Affairs is making it easier for veterans to file claims for Post–Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Scrapped are regulations requiring records searches, incident documentation and witness statements.

VA officials say now veterans need only provide basic evidence that they served in a war zone, not necessarily in combat, and were in a position to be exposed to hostile military or terrorist activity. A diagnosis of PTSD by a VA psychiatrist or psychologist is also required.

In addition to all its other benefits, physical activity appears to reduce the risk of cognitive decline. In a study, researchers analyzed data from more than twelve hundred people in their seventies. After over two decades of follow up visits, researchers found those who did moderate to heavy amounts of exercise had nearly a forty percent reduced risk of developing any type of dementia.

If exercising isn’t your thing there is still hope to remain sharp…just keep filling up your cup. New research suggests people over sixty–five who drank tea regularly were nearly a third less likely to show cognitive decline compared to those who don't drink tea. A study followed the tea drinking habits of more than 48- hundred americans sixty–five and older for 14 years to examine the relationship between drinking tea and changes in cognitive functions. And...results showed cognitive decline was lower among regular tea drinkers, even after adjusting for outside factors such as age, smoking or medical history.