preventive maintenance for the brain

Filed in archive Investigational , News , Studies on February 24, 2006

As we grow older, we all feel that we are becoming forgetful. (Well, I certainly do!)

Experts say that we are indeed becoming forgetful because like most organs in our body, our brain is getting smaller as we age. We might be experiencing some decline in memory but this doesn't mean that we are going into that "scary" steep hill decline into dementia.

However, scientists are giving us growing evidences that offer solutions to better the odds of preserving our brainpower and protecting it against disease.

Studies funded by the National Health Institute (NIH) came up to the conclusion that getting lots of physical activity and reducing your risk of heart disease (by cutting cholesterol and blood pressure) are among the best ways to maintain a healthy brain.

Through its "Maintain Your Brain" campaign, the Alzheimer's Association urges people to regularly engage in mentally stimulating activities. These may involve doing logic puzzles like Sudoku, reading an entire newspaper daily or going to a museum -- anything that takes you outside your normal range of thinking, said elizabeth Edgerly, a clinical psychologist who helped develop the campaign.

Mental challenges such as these, researchers theorize, build neural pathways in the brain, buffering against age-related loss and possibly an assault by disease. Some researchers have hypothesized that persistent, effortful mental activity might even retard underlying disease.

Keeping your brain active with intellectual activities and living on a healthy diet is the way to go. Read the full report on Washington Post.