#Brain January 15

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As we age I believe many of us have a fear of memory loss. Unfortunately for many of my friends it is a reality as they deal with a family member who has some form of dementia. On Sunday January 3rd I watched Sunday Morning aired on CBS. I was fascinated on what I learned about the BRAIN. We may not have to just fear memory loss but can take action to delay or prevent.

What intrigued me from that broadcast was an interview with Sanjay Gupta, an Atlanta Neurosurgeon discuss dementia and ways to slow or prevent it from occurring. Here were my takeaway from what he had to say.

We need to keep in mind that losing your keys is not dementia, but forgetting what your keys are for is. Forgetting to get something at the grocery store is not dementia but not remembering how to get to the store may be.

Being heart healthy also equates to having a healthy brain. Dr. Gupta had a list of things we all may want to consider adopting. Here is a recap of what we can all do:                         

1. Exercise
2. Sitting is the new smoking-so get up and move every 20 minutes at a minimum
3. There is a magic fruit-any type of BERRY
4. My favorite suggestion–Change builds BRAIN resistance-30 Day Challenges are great examples of stimulating new BRAIN activity -We all need to get out of our comfort zone everyday by challenging ourselves to do something new.
5. Sleep
6. Friends and family-social connections are critical for all of us.

Here is the segment

Fear often has to be countered with confidence or hope. We can take steps to mitigate the cause of memory loss to the BRAIN. Taking on a new challenge especially doing it with others is a way to keep our BRAINS sharp. Now where did I leave my keys?