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An 81-year-old brain doctor’s 7 ‘hard rules’ for keeping your memory ‘sharp as a whip’

From https://www.cnbc.com

Published Thu, Feb 2 2023 10:41 AM EST Updated Thu, Feb 2 2023 5:22 PM EST

Richard Restak, Contributor

Like any other part of your body, your brain needs daily exercise. Neglecting your brain health can make you vulnerable to degenerative brain diseases like Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia.

As a neuroscientist, I’ve spent decades guiding patients with memory problems through brain-enhancing habits and exercises — many of which I practice, too.

Here are seven hard rules I follow to keep my brain and memory sharp as a whip at 81 years old:

1. Choose fiction when you can.

You can learn a lot from non-fiction works, but they are often organized in ways that allow you to skip around based on personal interests and previous familiarity with the subject.

Fiction, on the other hand, requires you to exercise your memory, as you proceed from beginning to end and retain a variety of details, characters and plots.

Incidentally, I’ve noticed over my years as a neuropsychiatrist that people with early dementia, as one of the first signs of the encroaching illness, often stop reading novels.

2. Never leave an art museum without testing your memory.

My favorite painting to do visualization exercises with is Edward Hopper’s “Western Motel,” which depicts a woman sitting in a sunlit motel bedroom.

Start by intently studying the details until you can see them in your mind’s eye. Then describe the painting while looking away from it.

Did you include the tiny clock on the bedside table? The gooseneck lamp? The piece of clothing on the chair at the lower right of the painting? Can you recall the colors and the composition of the room?

You can do this with any piece of art to boost your memory.

3. Keep naps under 90 minutes.

Naps lasting anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour and a half, between 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., have been shown to increase later recall for information encoded prior to the nap.

Several studies have also found that naps can compensate for poor sleep at night. If you struggle with insomnia, a mid-afternoon nap can boost memory performance.

Over the years, I’ve trained myself to nap for exactly half an hour. Some people I know have learned to nap for only 15 minutes, and then wake up refreshed and reinvigorated.

4. No party is complete without brain games.

My favorite activity is “20 Questions,” where one person (the questioner) leaves the room and the remaining players select a person, place or thing. The questioner can ask up to 20 questions to guess what the group decided.

Success depends on the questioner’s ability to keep clearly in mind all of the answers and mentally eliminating possible choices on the basis of the answers.

Bridge and chess are also great for exercising your memory: In order to do well, you have to evaluate previous games, while also considering the future consequences of your decisions in the past and present.

5. Eat brain foods.

Dr. Uma Naidoo, a nutritional psychiatrist at Harvard Medical School, has a great acronym for a BRAIN FOODS:

B: Berries and beans
R: Rainbow colors of fruits and vegetables
A: Antioxidants
I: Include lean proteins and plant-based proteins
N: Nuts
F: Fiber-rich foods and fermented foods
O: Oils
O: Omega-rich foods
D: Dairy
S: Spices

And good news for chocoholics (like me): A 2020 study found that cocoa flavonoids, the ingredients in dark chocolate, can enhance episodic memory in healthy young adults.

6. Use images for hard-to-remember things.

My wife’s dog, Leah, is a Schipperke (pronounced “SKIP-er-kee”). It is a distinctive name, but I’d have the hardest time remembering it. So to finally be able to answer “What kind of breed is that?” at the dog park, I formed the image of a small sailboat (small dog) with a burly skipper holding a huge key.

Get in the habit of converting anything which you find hard to remember into a wild, bizarre or otherwise attention grabbing image.

7. Don’t sit on the couch all day.

One recent study of 82,872 volunteers found that participants 80 years or older who engaged in moderate to high level of physical activity were at lower risk for dementia, compared with inactive adults aged 50 to 69 years.

Even just a shift from sedentary non-activity (prolonged sitting, a “never walk when you can drive” attitude), to active movement (standing, climbing stairs, walking a mile daily) made a difference.

Housework has also been linked to higher attention and memory scores and better sensory and motor function in older adults.

Dr. Richard Restak, MD, is a neuroscientist and author of 20 books on the human brain, including “The Complete Guide to Memory: The Science of Strengthening Your Mind” and “Think Smart: A Neuroscientist’s Prescription for Improving Your Brain’s Performance.” Currently, he is the Clinical Professor of Neurology at George Washington Hospital University School of Medicine and Health Sciences. In 1992, Dr. Restak was a recipient of The Chicago Neurosurgical Center’s “Decade Of The Brain Award.”

An 81-year-old brain doctor’s 7 ‘hard rules’ for keeping your memory ‘sharp as a whip’ Read More »

Monthly Motivation

“The groundwork of all happiness is health.” — Leigh Hunt

Mental Health Awareness – a good reminder that your brain needs check-ins too, not just your blood pressure. The research is clear: staying socially connected, sleeping well, and keeping your mind active are some of the most powerful things you can do as you age. That means calling a friend, doing a crossword, or even just stepping outside counts as self-care. No gym required.

Your Medicare benefits may help more than you realize. Depression screenings are covered at no cost. You may also have access to telehealth counseling – a therapist, from your couch. And your Annual Wellness Visit includes a cognitive screening, which is worth doing sooner rather than later.

Oh – and also Dental Care – Oral health plays a key part in maintaining your mental health and self esteem, so if you’ve been putting off that cleaning, this is your nudge. Call me if you’re not sure what dental coverage your plan includes!

𝑪𝒚𝒏𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒂 𝑯𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒔—𝑯𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒔 𝑰𝒏𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝑨𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒚—(𝟵𝟯𝟳) 𝟯𝟴𝟳-𝟲𝟲𝟳𝟮

Monthly Motivation Read More »

Exercise is an all-natural treatment to fight depression

February 2, 2021 From Harvard Health Publishing

Exercise is as effective as antidepressants in some cases.

One in 10 adults in the United States struggles with depression, and antidepressant medications are a common way to treat the condition. However, pills aren’t the only solution. Research shows that exercise is also an effective treatment. “For some people it works as well as antidepressants, although exercise alone isn’t enough for someone with severe depression,” says Dr. Michael Craig Miller, assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.

The exercise effect

Exercising starts a biological cascade of events that results in many health benefits, such as protecting against heart disease and diabetes, improving sleep, and lowering blood pressure. High-intensity exercise releases the body’s feel-good chemicals called endorphins, resulting in the “runner’s high” that joggers report. But for most of us, the real value is in low-intensity exercise sustained over time. That kind of activity spurs the release of proteins called neurotrophic or growth factors, which cause nerve cells to grow and make new connections. The improvement in brain function makes you feel better. “In people who are depressed, neuroscientists have noticed that the hippocampus in the brain—the region that helps regulate mood—is smaller. Exercise supports nerve cell growth in the hippocampus, improving nerve cell connections, which helps relieve depression,” explains Dr. Miller.

The challenge of getting started

Depression manifests physically by causing disturbed sleep, reduced energy, appetite changes, body aches, and increased pain perception, all of which can result in less motivation to exercise. It’s a hard cycle to break, but Dr. Miller says getting up and moving just a little bit will help. “Start with five minutes a day of walking or any activity you enjoy. Soon, five minutes of activity will become 10, and 10 will become 15.”

What you can do

It’s unclear how long you need to exercise, or how intensely, before nerve cell improvement begins alleviating depression symptoms. You should begin to feel better a few weeks after you begin exercising. But this is a long-term treatment, not a onetime fix. “Pick something you can sustain over time,” advises Dr. Miller. “The key is to make it something you like and something that you’ll want to keep doing.”

Exercise is an all-natural treatment to fight depression Read More »

Fall Prevention: Balance and Strength Exercises for Older Adults

From John Hopkins Medicine; Reviewed by Lora Stutzman, PT

Falls can have very serious consequences as we age. Each year, more than 25 percent of adults 65 or older have a fall, and 3 million are treated in emergency departments for fall injuries, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Fall Risks

The risk of falling in older adults is usually related to combination of factors, including:

Balance and/or walking problems. Balance can be affected by vision changes, vestibular problems and altered sensation in the feet.
The use of multiple medications. Studies indicate that when individuals take five or more medicines, the risk of falls increases.
Home hazards (including dim lighting and trip hazards)
Positional low blood pressure (such as orthostatic hypotension, when blood pressure drops upon standing.
Feet and footwear issues

Falls often occur in the bathroom when sitting or standing from the toilet or shower, or at night in a dark bedroom when getting up quickly and tripping on the way to the bathroom.

Exercises to Prevent Falls

While it’s not possible to completely prevent a fall, exercises that focus on balance and strength training can reduce the risk of falling. “We treat elderly adults for injuries sustained from falls, and other patients who feel unsteady while walking or standing and are fearful of falling,” says Lora Stutzman, a physical therapist with the Johns Hopkins Rehabilitation Network. “These exercises can help improve balance and build strength to help prevent future falls.”

For older adults, activities such as squatting, standing up from a chair and walking may be difficult or cause them to feel unsteady, which increases their risk of falling. The following exercises are intended for those who have a low risk of fall and are able to stand on their own without support from others. Always talk to your doctor or physical therapist first before starting new exercises, especially if you have weak balance.

Stutzman demonstrates two exercises below.

Sit-to-Stand Exercise

The sit-to-stand exercise builds leg strength and improves body mechanics and balance, which are all important in reducing falls.

1. Start by sitting on a sturdy chair of standard height, and make sure that it won’t slide or roll. You should be able to sit comfortably with your feet flat on the ground. Have a sturdy support surface in front of you, such as a countertop, so that you can reach to it for support if you start to feel unsteady when standing. Scoot forward so your buttocks is positioned at the front of the seat.

2. Lean your chest forward over your toes, shifting your body weight forward. Squeeze your gluteal muscles and slowly rise to a stable standing position.

3. Slowly sit back down to the starting position and repeat 10 times.

4. If necessary, place your hands on the arms or seat of the chair and push through your hands to help stand and sit. The goal is to not use your hands at all.

Perform 10 repetitions, twice a day. For an advanced version, hold hand weights to add resistance.

If you have pain in your knees, back or hips, discontinue and talk to your doctor or physical therapist.

Balance Exercise

This series of exercises helps if your balance is unsteady. Make sure you have someone with you in case you lose balance.

To begin, stand in a corner or have a kitchen counter in front of you to reach out to in case you start losing balance.

1. Feet apart: Stand with feet about shoulder-width apart, eyes open, and hold steady for 10 seconds, working your way up to 30 seconds.

If you find yourself swaying or reaching for the wall or counter frequently, just keep working on this exercise until you can do it with minimal swaying or support. Once you can hold this position firmly for 30 seconds, move on to the next exercise.

2. Feet together: Stand with feet together, eyes open, and hold steady 10 seconds, working your way up to 30 seconds.

Once you can do this exercise for 30 seconds with minimal swaying or support, move on to the next one.

3. One foot: Stand on one foot, eyes open, and hold steady 10 seconds, working up to 30 seconds. Switch to the other foot.

4. Eyes closed: If you can perform the first three exercises safely and with little support, try to do each one with your eyes closed. Hold for 10 seconds, working up to 30 seconds.

The goal for each exercise is to hold the position for 10 seconds and progress to 30 seconds, five repetitions (including five per leg on the one-foot exercise), two times a day.

Additional Steps to Prevent Falls

Remember, it’s important to talk to your doctor or physical therapist about fall prevention.

Discuss medications and changes in your exercise routine.
Tell your doctor if you fall.
Ask a friend or family member to help check your home for trip hazards.

“Keep in mind,” adds Stutzman, “it is always best to have company at home with you while exercising for safety and supervision and in case you need help.”

Fall Prevention: Balance and Strength Exercises for Older Adults Read More »

𝐁𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡

Staying physically active isn’t just good for your body, it’s one of the most powerful things you can do for your mental and emotional health, too.

Here’s something that surprises many people: if you have a Medicare Advantage plan, it may already include a fitness membership benefit – meaning you could have access to gym classes, fitness programs, or even home workout kits at little or no extra cost. And if you’re ever injured from a fall or accident, a hospital indemnity plan can help cover out-of-pocket costs that your primary coverage doesn’t fully pay for. It’s a layer of protection many people wish they’d known about sooner. If you’re interested in learning more or have questions about your coverage, we are here to help!

𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐌𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐀𝐝𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞: Your plan may include fitness benefits like SilverSneakers, Silver&Fit, or Renew Active – giving you access to gyms and fitness classes at no extra cost.

𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐎𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐌𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐌𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭: You’re covered for an Annual Wellness Visit, which includes a fall risk assessment and a personalized prevention plan at no cost. Have you scheduled yours this year?

𝐀𝐬𝐤 𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐬: If a fall or injury leads to a hospital stay, a hospital indemnity plan can provide a daily cash benefit to help cover the costs Medicare doesn’t fully pay. It’s an affordable way to protect yourself.

𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐞!