One of the powerful attributes that we admire (or even marvel at) among many elderly, age 80, 90, and older, is the “youthfulness” of their mind. Unfortunately, not every one of them is gifted with senior brain power or brain youth when they reach 70 or older, and some have significant physiological “cerebral handicaps” even before they reach 70.
A generation ago, these senior “disabilities” (forgetfulness, diminished cognitive power, reduced mental “energy” in general) were considered normal and inevitable. Today, with the advancement in medical science and technology, we know that many of these “age-related” changes in the anatomy and physiology of the brain are treatable, and many of them even preventable. Science now believes that even Alzheimer’s could be significantly slowed down, if not prevented.
Article in the New York Times asks “Is there hope for your hippocampus, a new lease for your temporal lobe?” Funny as it might sound, this is serious stuff.
Brain calisthenics is in! All over the United States, brain health programs are now a craze, whose objective is to provide “cognitive fountain of youth.” There are now brain gyms on the web, and brain-healthy foods on the shelves of natural nutrition and herbal stores. There are also mental exercise programs and physical activities for the elderly at home and at assisted living centers. All of these are aimed at preserving a healthier mind by slowing down loss of brain cells and ward off the onset of dementia. We want a sharp cerebrum and an alert, youthful, happy, and playful brain, even at age 101.
“This is going to be one of the hottest topics in the next five years,” said Nancy Ceridwyn, co-director of special projects for the American Society on Aging. “The challenge we have is going to be a lot like the anti-aging industry: how much science is there behind this?”
Let’s take Alzheimer’s for example. It is a dreaded condition among the elderly. a severely devastating disease of the brain that, in an instant, totally robs and erases the person’s memory, a nightmare everyone fears. When it occurs, it happens so fast like transforming a well-lit room into total darkness with a flip of a switch. The entire memory bank is emptied, turning even a great, talented mind and a charismatic communicator, like the late President Ronald Reagan, one of the best presidents the United States has ever had, into a confused, non-verbal, totally dependent and helpless stranger, oblivious of his environment, his loved ones, and even of his own self. If we could slow this process down with brain calisthenics, it would be one of the greatest medical discoveries of our time.
Currently, there are a lot of simultaneous activities and programs all over the United States addressing this issue. Alzheimer’s Association and its “Maintain Your Brain” workshop at Apple Computer and Lockheed Martin; MetLife’s 61-page “Love Your Brain” book; Humana’s $495 brain fitness software and “brain fitness camps,” and many others. On the web, we have HappyNeuron.com and MyBrainTrainer.com “for those who wished you could be a little quicker, a little sharper mentally.”
Why are we so concerned?
Well, the alternative is obvious and gloomy. Alzheimer’s is the most dreaded one, a severely devastating disease of the brain that, in an instant, totally robs and erases the person’s memory, a nightmare everyone fears. When it occurs, it happens so fast like transforming a well-lit room into total darkness with a flip of a switch. The entire memory bank is emptied, turning even a great, talented mind and a charismatic communicator, like the late President Ronald Reagan, one of the best presidents the United States has ever had, into a confused, non-verbal, totally dependent and helpless stranger, oblivious of his environment, his loved ones, and even of his own self.
The post-mortem pathology found among Alzheimer’s patients is the abnormal and extensive build-up of beta-amyloid plaque in the brain, which damages the nerve cells and their connections, resulting in memory loss.
The brain exercise we can do daily may include reading, doing cross word puzzle or sudoko (logic), or solving puzzles and riddles for mental agility, watching stimulating shows, like Discovery, National Geographic, Jeopardy, Millionaire, etc. frequent interaction with family and friends, and indulging in philosophical thinking about our environment, nature, universe, etc.
So, while it makes sense to do physical exercises daily and take cholesterol-lowering drug, statin, and fish oil, multivitamin plus B-complex, Gingko Biloba, coffee, tea, and other antioxidants, and abstain from alcohol abuse and tobacco, not doing regular mental calisthenics or brain exercises will not allow us to maximize the health benefits of those medications listed above. A healthy lifestyle now includes activities geared towards the preservation of our brain power, our cerebral health, our brain youth.
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Philip S. Chua, MD, FACS, FPCS, Cardiac Surgeon Emeritus in Northwest Indiana and chairman of cardiac surgery from 1997 to 2010 at Cebu Doctors University Hospital, where he holds the title of Physician Emeritus in Surgery, is based in Las Vegas, Nevada. He is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, the Philippine College of Surgeons, and the Denton A. Cooley Cardiovascular Surgical Society. He is the chairman of the Filipino United Network – USA, a 501(c)(3) humanitarian foundation in the United States. Email: [email protected]
