Hi,

What does Alzheimer’s have to do with this blog?  As you know this is called a health blog.  And while a lot of this focuses on fitness and nutrition we will also look at ways to keep you healthy. 

 This would also include stopping, slowing down or preventing the progress of diseases like Alzheimer’s. 

One of the scariest things I ever heard was when a friend of mine told me his dad had Alzheimer’s. 

Now his dad was sharp.  He was a finance manager and very smart.  Ran his own business and was quite successful. 

But the scariest part was when his son told me that his dad told him that he knew what was happening to him and he couldn’t do anything about it. 

To know that you have this terrible disease and couldn’t do anything to stop it.  That would have to be one of the most horrible things to have to go through in your life.   

Back then – in the late 70′s, early 80′s – not much was known about how to stop it or prevent it. 

And today, there is a lot we still don’t know about the disease. 

But, we are learning somethings.  Like the importance of living a healthy and fit life.  Exercising and eating right still go a long way in preventing many diseases and the ravages of older age. 

There is some promising research that shows it is important to keep your brain active.  But in certain ways. 

I know many of the mind games being promoted talk about keeping your mind active and continually learning.  However, most of them are only good at improving (if they improve at all) your mental ability in one area. 

There is no transference into other areas of your brain.  So a computer game that promotes recognizing patterns will do only that.  It won’t make you react faster, it won’t make you think better and so on.

So what can you do?  You have to build up your CR.

CR is your cognitive reserve.  Your CR consists of your IQ, education level attained, occupational level, and participation in novel leisure events.

People that have  a higher level of CR activities in their life have a lower risk of Alzheimer’s. 

The really great thing is that no matter what your current CR is you can improve it.  One of the studies showed that improving your CR can reduce the risks of Alzheimer’s by up to 70%!

So what can you do?  You have to participate in activities that engage your attention and involve more than one of your senses. 

You should also routinely break out of your regular patterns.  Drive home from work a different way once or twice a week would be an example. 

One of the things I have done for years is to notice license plates.  I add or multiply the numbers in the license plate together and see how long how I can go with multiple cars. 

I also notice the letters and try to make up a sentence based upon the letters.   Sometimes I try to keep the sentences going with another license plate. 

That engages my mind and it is something different every day. 

Here are a couple of other ideas.   Take a walk and sing or hum a song as you are doing so.   This gets two parts of the mind working at the same time.

Pay real close attention to your surroundings.  Describe them outloud.  (You might not want to do this at work.)  But, just look around you and say the kitchen counter top is marble and describe the shades of color in it.  Describe your whole kitchen while you are cooking. 

You are only limited by your imagination here.  Do this a few minutes a couple of times a day. 

Lastly, meditate – which since this article is getting longer – I will get into tomorrow. 

Try these few simple things and you will stop Alzheimer’s in its tracks.

Thanks,

Mike Val

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