Lifelong,Health,for,Your,Brain health Lifelong Health for Your Brain

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Iwalked into the hospital room. She lay on her bed with tubes running from herarms and electrodes taped to her chest. Equipment at the side of the room recordedher heartbeat and blood pressure. Shelooked up at me and said, “I know you.” I smiled. She studied my face for a fewmoments. Finally she said, “Yes, I know you. You’re my son Billy!”Thatwas my mother about a month before she died. She was 85 years old. She had had Alzheimerdisease,the most common cause of dementia. The chances of having dementia rise asyou get older. By age 85, about 35 out of 100 people have it1. Afterwatching my mother I hoped I could figure out how to fit into the sixty fivepercent who grow old with a strong, active brain. TheBrain’s FunctionsThebrain is your body’s control center. It controls the autonomicnervous system,those automatic activities such as respiration, digestion, and heartbeat. Itcontrols the somatic nervous system which activates your sense organs andmuscles. It also controls conscious activities such as reasoning, abstraction,decision making and thought. It defines your characteristics and personality. Yourbrain controls every activity in your body.Asyou age, your brain begins to function at a slower pace. It also takes longerto rejuvenate. Your lifestyle, as well as other external factors, will affectyour brain’s aging process. The good news is there are ways to enhance thepower of your brain as time catches up with you. The following are four ways tohelp slow your brain’s aging process.1. Live a Healthy LifeThe second most common cause ofdementia is atherosclerosis, or in simple terms, hardening of the arteries inthe brain. This is known as vascular dementia, accounting for as many as 40% ofcases. Vascular dementia has been linked to high blood pressure, highcholesterol levels, heart disease, diabetes and related conditions. Mostexperts feel that treating these underlying conditions can decrease the odds ofcontracting vascular dementia or, if a person already has it, can slow itsprogress. These diseases are often accelerated by smoking, excessive drinkingand both prescription and recreational drug use. Smoking is bad for your health. It isalso bad for your brain. A study conducted in the Netherlands followed 7,000 peopleage 55 and older for an average of seven years. During that time, 706 of theparticipants developed dementia. Smokers were found to be fifty percent morelikely to develop dementia than people who had never smoked or had quit before participatingin the study.Alcohol abuse has beenlinked to15 to 25 percent of all dementia cases2. Alcohol affectsthe brain directly as a neurotoxin and is the cause of serious long term negativeeffects on the central nervous system. Alcohol abuse can lead to malnutrition, vitamindeficiencies and can also cause liver damage. Studies show that these can leadto brain shrinkage and brain damage.  Illegaldrugs can also cause dementia. Cocaine affects circulation and has been shownto cause small strokes.  Heroin, if takenfor long periods of time or in older people, can block the neurotransmitter acetylcholinewhich is involved with learning and memory. 2. Eat Healthy Foods.Asa general rule, good nutrition for the body is also good for the brain.Healthyeating has been shown to reduce the risk of many chronic diseases such asdiabetes, osteoporosis, cancer and heart disease. It also increases yourchances of living a fuller, longer life. Tofunction properly your brain needs top quality fuel. A diet that includes fiveservings of fruits and vegetables a day, carbohydratessuch as whole grain breads, pasta and cereals, as well as fats andprotein can provide this for you. Sometimescalled brain food, fish is a rich source of unsaturated fat and protein. Astudy published in the Archives ofNeurology3 found that eating fish at leastonce a week slowed down the development of dementia in elderlymen and women. Overall mental function declined at a rate ten percent slower inthese fish eaters when compared to peers who did not eat fish as often. Mentalfunction in elderly men and women who ate fish two or more times a week declinedat a rate thirteen percent slower than those who did not eat fish. Onefinal portion of a healthy diet that many people overlook is drinkingplenty of fluids. A dehydrated brain doesn’t think clearly. Remember, plain oldwater is the healthiest fluid you can drink. 3. Exercise Your Body  A study published in the Journal of theAmerican Medical Association, consisting of 2257 Japanese-American men between71 and 93 years old, reported that regular exercise can protect against thedevelopment of Alzheimer’s disease. The research from a number of organizationsincluding the Department of Veteran Affairs and the Pacific Health ResearchInstitute, also suggests that it is better to exercise throughout your liferather than trying to make up for an unhealthy lifestyle in your later years. Exercisehelps us feel better both physically and emotionally. It can help improve ourself image. It also improves our strength and endurance. It decreases body fat,improves movement to joints and muscles and increases the body’s ability toprocess oxygen. Regular exercise helps reduce depression while reducing therisks of cardiovascular disease.Whatkind of exercise program should you engage in? It depends on your particular likesand your body’s physical condition. If you are over forty five and haven’texercised in a while, you should check with your doctor before beginning anytype of exercise program.  Yourexercise program should include both cardiovascular and strength buildingexercises. Cardiovascular exercises are good for your heart. These include walking,swimming, and bicycling and for best results should be done for at least thirtyminutes a day, every day. Strength building exercises build your muscles while helpingkeep your bones dense, reducing the chance of osteoporosis. This can beanything from calisthenics to weight training. A favorite exercise of mine is Tai Chi,a combination of slow, circular movements. A study by the Harvard Medical School showed that olderwomen who practice Tai Chi regularly experienced a better fitness boost thanwalking briskly for three hours per week. The study pointed out that this wasdue to better oxygen utilization. Tai Chi can help people suffering fromarthritis and even osteoporosis. There is some evidence that indicates that theenhanced mind and body connection resulting from the practice of Tai chi canhelp protect against dementia and Alzheimer's disease. Whether it’s Tai Chi or any other type of exercisethe most important thing is to just do it.4. Reduce Stress Stressincreases your heart rate and blood pressure and can lead to stroke. There aretwo categories of stress. The first type, acute stress, is also known as theflight or fight reaction where the brain produces chemicals that tell the bodyto speed up, making it perform more effectively. This is the type of stressyou’ll experience when another car pulls out in front of you causing you to hityour brakes suddenly. This type of stress is normal and short-lived. Thesecond type of stress is known as chronic or long-term stress. This stress isabnormal and long lasting. There is strong evidence that this type of stressactually damages the brain. It occurswhen we don't let go of stress.Chronicstress increases the release of stress hormones. Studies have shown that thesestress hormones can actually kill nerve cells in animals and can probably dothe same in humans. Onemethod of reducing chronic stress is through exercise. Stress can also bereduced through meditation. Another proven method is through hypnosis. Using thevisualization process hypnosis can help a person learn to remain calm and relaxedeven while experiencing an event that had been stressful to them in the past. Whatevermethod of stress reduction you choose, it’s important to remember that takingsteps to reduce chronic stress will improve your overall health. It will alsohelp you sustain your mental abilities.In ConclusionAsyour brain ages, its mental capacity will diminish. But you can slow down, orperhaps even halt this process by avoiding unhealthy habits, eating fuel richfoods, having a regular exercise program and keeping your stress levels incheck. Takecare of your brain. You won’t be able to live your life to the fullest if yourbrain is not functioning properly. A brain that is well cared for can functionbetter for a longer period of time, giving you a more active and fulfillinglife.1.Beers MH, et al., eds. (2004). Merck Manual of Health and Aging. Whitehouse Station, NJ:Merck Research Laboratories2. Smith, D.M. & Atkinson, R.M. (1995). Alcoholism and Dementia. International Journal of theAddictions, 30(13-14), 1843-1869. 3. Martha Clare Morris, atel, Archives of Neurology (vol 62, 1-5), December 2005