Are Symptoms of Dementia or Alzheimers in Your Future?

Are Symptoms of Dementia or Alzheimers in Your Future? by Gene Millen

Do you sometimes wonder if symptoms of dementia are in your future? You need to make some deposits in your brain reserve account.

In my former life as a banker one of my favorite quips was, "Money isn't everything, but it's way ahead of whatever is in second place." It's nice to have money but you can't buy health with money, as so many have discovered during their golden years.

Good health has to be earned by making smart lifestyle choices. This of course is a lot easier said than done. For most of us this requires discipline and the moving of exercise nearer to the top of our To Do list.

The dividends accrued from these efforts are far greater and more lasting than the gains from financial investments, especially in the world we live in today. They include dramatically better health and increased energy to live a vital, high quality independent life for a long, long time.

When it comes to heart health I have greater experience than most. It isn't everyone who has enjoyed having their chest sawed open by a heart surgeon to stitch in bypasses to six of their favorite heart arteries.

I've known for a long time that physical and mental exercise are good for both my heart and brain, but it wasn't until recently that I learned that my lifestyle changes have been making regular deposits into a brain reserve account.

It used to be thought that after age 20, brain cells (neurons) began to die and were never replaced. Declining function was inevitable. Thankfully, this fallacy has since been proven wrong.

Today's researchers have proven that our brains can grow and evolve as long as we live. Brain cells are ready and waiting to adapt to new challenges. You have the ability to keep symptoms of dementia at bay.

Mental and physical exercise stimulates growth of new neurons and neuronal pathways and increases connectivity between neurons and between brain regions. This growth and adaptation is known as cognitive reserve or brain reserve.

It works somewhat like a money market account, storing up short and long-term brain functionality by increasing the efficiency of connections between neurons. And the dividends include a more powerful and quicker brain.

David Snowden eloquently described this in the 2003 landmark Nun Study. In this study, autopsies of the brains of nuns who lived well into their nineties or older were examined. Snowden discovered that many of the nuns showed significant changes in brain structures and brain pathology usually associated with Alzheimer's disease.

But in spite of the damage to their brain, they did not show any of the usual symptoms of dementia or Alzheimer's disease. Snowden concluded that continued mental exercising encouraged the development of new pathways that bypassed the diseased portions of the brain and preserved mental functioning into old age.

This is great news. My brain needs all the help it can get.

About the AuthorDo you sometimes wonder if Alzheimer's is in your future? Are there times when your "forgetter" outwits your memory? This site explores the latest research about brain fitness and shows you how to revitalize your memory, create new brain cells and keep Alzheimers at bay. BrainBeQuick.com

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