First of a series on brain health

Recently I was asked to write a monthly column on brain health for a wonderful  local magazine called Nostalgic America. I took them up on the offer as it seemed like a valuable way to get the word out to the community… what follows is  the first article in this series. Its about  hope.

^{BRAIN DISEASE AND BRAIN HEALTH:}

^{REAL REASONS FOR HOPE}

^{Greetings… I hope all of you had a wonderful holiday season celebrating with family or friends. For those of you who were less fortunate lets hope that next year will be fuller as we help build meaningful connections which are a vital part of maintaining optimum brain health.}

^{I am honored being given the opportunity to write this column. Currently brain health is our most important health topic. It’s on everybody’s mind, from the aging baby boomers “worried well” who noticing their memory isn’t what it used to be… to the courageous individuals caring for family members with dementia. And then there are those of us who are scared because we have a genetic loading for Alzheimer’s disease. From where I sit I see both an individual and a collective fear mounting as our population continues to age and the cure for brain disease still eludes us.}

^{Nostalgic America’s new commitment to the topic of brain health reflects an obvious and overwhelming concern amongst its readership, which extends to most everyone over 50. That is, modern medicine has afforded us longer life by keeping our bodies alive, but what about our minds? And what about the quality of our day-to-day existence if we start having memory problems? What’s so great about living longer if we cannot remember who we are and the lives we’ve lived?}

^{We try not to think about memory challenges. And generally we avoid talking about our concerns with others. We’re much more likely to laugh it off and make jokes about lapses in memory, which actually is a good thing. Humor helps in most every imaginable human situation. But without learning to express our concerns, vent our feelings and making an action plan our joking will never be enough to quell the fears that wells up inside all of us.}

^{All that said there is good news at hand. The race for the cure is ON! Research dollars, both private and public are pouring in. New medicines are being tried. And there is some very promising breakthrough work being done in stem cell and gene therapies. For example, a cell biologist at Sloan Kettering recently cured a rhesus monkey of Parkinson’s disease with a stem cell intervention!  Another very exciting part of this breakthrough is that researchers are finally seeing that their collaboration speeds their knowledge acquisition and greatly increases the likelihood that the cure will come sooner than later.}

^{In the meantime our knowledge about how to cope with symptoms of brain disease is also increasing. It turns out that lifestyle choices play a very important role in brain health. Its been estimated that maintaining a combination of a heart healthy diet and regular exercise reduces your risk of brain disease by over 40%. That’s astounding!}

^{If you were to do one thing to keep your mind healthy it would be to exercise most every day. Current research has shown that exercise can actually help your brain grow new cells right in the areas of the brain associated with memory and learning. So today wouldn’t be too soon to get out there and take a brisk 20-30 minute walk every day! And if you are unable to do that, try some other way to get that heart rate up.}

^{Still, we here at Lifespan are concerned about all the barriers and the stigma that still exist regarding brain health.  Our newest project is memory improvement classes, using a traditional classroom environment to help folks improve their memory. These classes and individual tutorial in the home will go a long way to helping you stay mentally fit and get connected to other who share you concerns and your desire to actively do something about it. Look for our announcement for class times and locations this spring. By the way these classes will be covered by Medicare!}

^{All in all it’s an exciting time for brain health. More than any time in history there is reason to believe that the cure for brain disease is not far away.  Hope is a good thing.}

^{Be well… stay well.}