Staying Sharp

You have checked your medicine chest (don’t get frightened by its enormity: the average adult takes over 14 medications per year) and have exchanged (with your doctor’s blessings) many of them. You have gotten rid of over-the-counter medicines, prescriptions and dietary supplements that may impair your memory.  Yet, you find yourself forgetting words that you knew yesterday, or you get lost driving to visit your children (a car trip that you undertake almost daily) or have misplaced (again) your keys, or you experience wild mood changes for seemingly no reason, at least that you can remember.  What are you to do?  How do you keep yourself sharp as you age? You take pride in your fly-paper memory.  You remember every detail, no selective memories for you.  But you are afraid that you will lose that mental acuity.

There are four (somewhat) easy steps that you can take to keep your memory as you get older as sharp as when you were younger.  But first, some good news:  As we get older, we don’t inevitably lose our memory.  We have been taught this rumor, and we accept it.  But it is untrue. Older brains generate just as many cells as young ones do, only our minds have less blood-vessel growth.   In other words, our brain doesn’t function the same as we age as when we were younger. But if you implement all - or any of these procedures- there is a good chance that you will keep an active brain.  That is, assuming you had one decades ago. These recommendations don’t make you smarter!  Only experience and reading does that.

·         Choose your diet.  Eat foods that are rich in healthy fats but are low in unhealthy fats.  Stay away from processed food.  Eat plenty of vegetables (I know, I hate them too) whole grains, legumes, and nuts.

·         Do mindful exercises. Anything - it could be meditation or yoga- that reduces stress is helpful to the health of your brain.  Stress is toxic because it reduces the growth and maintenance of brain neurons. Think of a rubber band: how much can you stretch it before it snaps?

·         Get off the couch.  By now - even if you haven’t read past blogs – you should know the value of exercise. It not only guards against obesity and heart disease, but aerobic activity helps increase the blood activity to your hippocampus. At the very least, limit the time you sit in your favorite cushy recliner by engaging in physical activity.

·         Help control your health. This is the most challenging recommendation because it means battling medical problems that may be genetic or hereditary.  But they are essential to the health of your brain. Try to resolve your sleep apnea problem.  Next, control your high blood pressure; bring your blood pressure to acceptable levels. Also, reduce your cholesterol levels. If you are (like me), suffering from atrial fibrillation (AFib, as cardiologists and cognoscenti call it), note that blood-thinners can reduce the risk of dementia.

I know: all of these-especially the last recommendation–is easier said than done.  But put your mind (while we still have it), and we can retain a healthy mind, full of memories as we make new ones. 

Have any thoughts on the issue? Share them with us at www.MatureAging.com, and we may post them (only after getting your permission) in a future edition.

Till next time,

Josh