Boosting Brain Health: Understanding and Maintaining Cognitive Function

How many times have you hear the phrase “senior moments”, “fuzzy thinking”, “old-timers disease” or “mental-pauses”? How many times has it been in association with misplacing your car keys and an attempt to shrug off the fear that perhaps you are beginning to “loose it”?

In midlife, both men and women are concerned about what is happening to our minds. We look at diseases and conditions that affect older individuals and wonder what is to become of us? I’ve heard many people say they’d rather have a heart attack or get hit by a car than develop Alzheimer’s Disease.

Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) or any of the dementias strike fear in almost all middle age, and virtually all older adults. Many have likened it to being imprisoned in a body with a mind that is no longer functions…like someone took away the key and lost it.

AD is a serious problem and it will become more of a problem as our generation – The Baby Boomers – age. While we do not have the answers as to what causes it, there are some things that can be done to protect our brains.

Briefly, Alzheimer’s Disease is a progressive brain disorder that causes a gradual loss of a persons memory. It goes further than that in that it also causes personal and behavior changes. While there are several forms of dementia, AD is the most well known. The damage is irreversible and as of the time of this writing, there is no cure.

Forgetting where you have left your keys, or that something was in the oven is not necessarily a sign of AD. More likely, those are signs of living a stress life and tying to do many things at once. Despite popular belief, we do NOT multi-task very well.

While the cause is not known, we do have a few pieces to the puzzle.

On average, it seems that 1/3 of the risk for dementia is due to genetics. That means that 2/3 of our risk is due solely to our environment and life style choices that we make today! In other words, it appears we may have a good amount of choice in reducing our chance of developing AD.

Here is a list of things you can do now to keep your brain happy.

• Keep your body healthy. Protecting your body against illness that damages your blood vessels (high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, smoking, strokes, etc) will also contribute to the health of your brain.
• Avoid substances that have toxic effects on your brain such as air pollution, lead, smoking, excessive alcohol, and street drugs. Think of these things as “brain pollution”.
• Avoid injury. That means avoiding falls, wearing helmets and seatbelts, and avoiding motor vehicle accidents.
• Learn to manage stress. Excessive exposure to stress causes negative long term effects in the brain and the body.
• Exercise your brain – use it or loose it applies here! (See below)
• Include foods in your diet that are high in antioxidants such as prunes, raisins, blueberries, cranberries, spinach, broccoli florets, avocados, oranges, red bell peppers and eggplant to name just a few.
• Consider taking antioxidant supplements to protect your brain. This can include a MVI, Vitamins C and E and omega 3 fatty acids. (Discuss this with your health care provider to see what is appropriate for you).

Your brain is no different than your body. It needs exercise in order to stay fit. There are lots of programs, under various names out there, and basically they do the same things. You want to burn new neural pathways, stimulate the release of chemicals and just give it a good workout. Make sure it’s something challenging.

Here are some suggestions to get you started.

• Use the opposite hand when you brush your teeth and hair in the morning.
• Go through a certain portion of your routine with your eyes closed.
• Travel a different route to work.
• Learn a new language
• Puzzle books – words, math, brain teasers

With proper care and feeding of your brain, it should continue to serve you well for years to come.

©2005, Barbara C. Phillips, Nurse Practitioner and founder of OlderWiserWomen™ inspires women to embrace the freedom, magic and wisdom of Successful Aging. Visit http://www.OlderWiserWomen.com for your copy of “Celebrating You: 50 Tips for Vibrant Living”.