. >> alzheimer describes the disorder in 1906. but 's quite remarkable that for 40, 50,0 years after that there was no talk, no deception about alzheimer. mainly because it was thought to be part of normal aging. so in the 1980 there was a real serious attempt to try to understand this disorder. and the reason why one should be cautiously optimistic is because rational drug discovery, a basic principal of that is that the only way you will really cure a disease is if you understand its fundamental molecular mechanism. and we are only starting to shed light on that in the last 10, 20 years. >> we continue this evening talking to dr. henry kissinger about his recent conversation with vladimir putin in moskow. >> what putin has been trying to do is to conduct a very assertive foreign policy to put russia on the map again like his model peter the great who brought russia into europe. and so some of his apparent-- is his attempt to give russia an identity. but he has the strategic dilemma that russia isn't strong enough to play that role towa

in your 30's and 40's and you have them into your aging process, you are not going to have a comfortable old age. you are also seeing in terms of epidemics, an increase in alzheimer's and it is going to increase as the population increases. there are quite a few seniors who have mental health problems but they are also, the majority of seniors, who are hard-working, who had minimum wage jobs their whole lives, who paid social security. think about living on $889 a month in the city of san francisco needing to buy medication, one meal a day, hopefully, and health care. if we could provide health care early on we might prevent (inaudible) and people would be less likely to end up in the emergency room with a drastic outcome. we could actually provide prevention and health care to people who had no other way of getting health care, those without insurance, it might be more cost effecti >> welcome, everybody. to the 2011 justice summit by the book. i'm so excited to be here. you know, we've been doing these summits now for seven years, but this by far is the most exciting summit. i cannot wait to hear the panelists that we have today. we're going to be delving in to so

people with alzheimer's contain tangles of a protein called tau, thought to play a role in memory loss. researchers genetically engineered mice with tau in their brains brains and mapped s spread over 22 months. as the mice aged, tau spread from cell to cell, destroying them as it moved. >> there's no-- an appreciation that tau, at the very least, is this sort of excutioner. it's the abnormality that results in cell death and dysfunction. >> reporter: coauthor karen duff said the finding raised hopes for new therapies that might block tau. >> we are fascinated by the idea it can spread from cell to seld and that allows a hole range of interventions that can catch it as it's leaving one cell into another. >> reporter: can this be a new therapy? we ask the chief medical officer at the alzheimer's association. >> that might be a useful therapeutic pathway, but there are many steps that have to come before you're actually going to get to a useful product that could be used to treat human disease. >> reporter: he said it could take five more years of research before any conclusions can be drawn. and, scott, one red flag. there have been many approaches to fighting alzheimer'

. >>> this morning on "today"'s health, preventing the onset of alzheimer's, memory loss and forgetfulnesse a normal part of the aging process but new signs show we can prevent the symptoms that can lead to alzheimer's. dr. gary small author of "alzheimer's prevention program". a lot of people fear as they get older they're going to lose their memory through alzheimer's or the aging process. is it inevitable our memory begins to slip? >> that's a midmyth it's inevit. lifestyle choices we make every day have a greater impact on how well our brain ages. what is exciting and unique about the alzheimer's prevention program is that it provides people with a seven-day jump start program so they can really see change right way. it makes it easy and it helps them create new brain healthy lifestyle habits they can continue for the rest of their life. >> to be clear, are we talking delaying the onset or preventing alzheimer's? >> we're talking about delaying the onset of symptoms and if people can keep up these brain healthy lifestyle habits for one, two, three or more years, they can delay that ons

alzheimer's reported what they ate and drank. the top third took in more than 2100 calories a day. the lower third, 600 to just over 1500 calories a day. the results,s stun issue inning. >> the higher the calorie intake. the higher the risk. >> reporter: they found the odds of memory loss more than doubled for people eating the most food compared with people eating less. but consuming fewer calories, the body doesn't have to produce as much insulin. when there's less insulin, brain cells communicate better. at a time when there's no proven medicine to help preserve our memory, we now know that simple lifestyle changes may offer the best protection to hold on to what we have. >>> at st. agnes today they were thinking about your heart health. it was red dress day and many of us found a way to think about heart disease by wearing red. it's the number one cause of death in america and most common among african american and hispanic women. today was an opportunity to get educated, find out how you can turn your life around, a better diet, more exercise. come springtime, st. agnes will open a new clinic for physical training. >> we'll be right back after

alzheimer's. >>> coming up, stay here with us because we have captain jack sparrow cat woman and a can of pepper spray. >> that is a tease. the wild bra making a brawl on l.a.'s famous hollywood boulevard coming up. >>> normally don't win things so i was in shock. >> plus, how a mother's luck turned into a dream come true for her soldier son. leep? can'? clinically proven unisom helps you fall asleep faster and stay asleep so you wake rested. unisom. fall asleep faster. sleep longer. with captain jack sparrow being pepper sprayed in the face. police say som >>> a superhero brawl in hollywood with captain jack sparrow being pepper sprayed in the face. someone dressed as the character got in a fight last night with cat woman and an alien. can't we all just get along? the sidewalk outside of the kodak theater as you might know is notorious for costumed characters who convince tourists to pay for photos. the man who looked like johnny depp's character was treated for minor injuries. no arrests though have been made. >>> doesn't you miss l.a.? [ laughter ] >> i do. don't mess with johnnie. >>> it may be a new trend in office meetings. >> have your employees stand.