For the next three minutes, list all the foods you can think of that are green.
Then list all the things you can think of that come in pairs. Examples: salt and pepper, burgers and fries. Again, take three minutes.
Now draw a picture of one side of a coin from memory. Buffalo nickel, Lincoln penny -- whatever you want.
If you can get a group of people to play along, these make perfect party games. But they also may serve a perfectly serious purpose in exercising your brain.
A new brain-exercise group for people diagnosed with early-stage Alzheimer's disease -- along with caregivers and family members -- relies on such fun-but-serious tasks. It's the brainchild of Alice Jacobs, who has a doctorate in health education and founded Brain Gain, a Sacramento, Calif., area business promoting "cognitive vitality" for everyone. She describes it as a no-pain, lots-to-gain proposition.
"Brain exercise should be fun," Jacobs says. "If it's too difficult, you're just stressing the brain."
Jacobs, 53, watched her grandfather suffer through the deterioration of memory-robbing Alzheimer's 30 years ago. That was part of what inspired her to work with older adults in the emerging area of brain exercise, or neurobics. For the past six years, she has been conducting Brain Gain courses for older adults in local community centers, senior centers and assisted-living facilities. Some participants have had Alzheimer's disease.
Her hope is that such brain exercise may slow the progression of the disease. This is an unproven and controversial notion, which Jacobs acknowledges."My focus is you are not your disease, so let's optimize what you have with the hope -- this is very speculative right now -- that this could be an intervention that slows the progression," Jacobs says.Dr. Charles DeCarli, a neurologist and director of the UC Davis Alzheimer's Disease Center, says it's hard to hold out such hope, given the lack of data to back it up."There's a fair bit of scientific literature, to which I have contributed, that does not show that there's any evidence that cognitive exercise helps the brain once you are diagnosed with Alzheimer's," DeCarli says.There is, nonetheless, a growing consensus that a use-it-or-lose-it approach to cognitive fitness may conserve brainpower among those who are healthy, and perhaps add some measure of prevention or delay in the onset of dementia, including Alzheimer's.The national Alzheimer's Association is promoting a Maintain Your Brain Program that supports the notion of protective cognitive fitness."I think cognitive health is really important, just like exercise and diet and healthy living in general is important," De Carli says. "That said, it's really important to point out that when people develop a disease, that's not normal aging."
Elizabeth Edgerly, a clinical psychologist with the Alzheimer's Association of Northern California/Northern Nevada and national spokeswoman for the Maintain Your Brain Program, says programs such as Jacobs' are still worthwhile."It helps people to identify strategies; but we're not kidding anyone that we're going to reverse it," Edgerly says. In lessening the risk of dementia, Edgerly says, the best single approach is to get physical exercise.For those with aging but healthy brains, there is a need to keep flexing one's fluid intelligence, the ability to use knowledge in novel and creative ways, according to Barbara Gillogly, a professor in the gerontology program at American River College.Changing your routine or learning new skills in ways large and small can keep your thinking sharp, from brushing your teeth with your nondominant hand or taking a new route home to taking a flower-arranging class.Doing brain-challenging things with others has an added benefit: "We know from the medical literature that social interaction has a benefit," Jacobs says.Jacobs' sessions also offer some plain old entertainment, according to those who have taken them, including Denise Davis, program director of the Sacramento office of the Alzheimer's Association, and Heather Wykoff, education coordinator for the Del Oro Caregiver Resource Center.
"She had a bunch of fun, interactive activities," Wykoff says."It was very engaging, and I felt it did help me with alertness and concentration," Davis says.For patients and caregivers dealing with the emotional fallout of Alzheimer's, the camaraderie and diversions of a class may offer a precious respite from isolation and worry.There are millions who could use such a break. An estimated 4.5 million Americans have Alzheimer's disease, more than double the number in 1980 ... The dread of dementia is even more widespread."There is tremendous fear, especially among boomers, about developing Alzheimer's," Jacobs says.The natural changes in brain function that come with age can spur that fear."There are normal changes in our brains as we get older,"Gillogly says. "You can't run for the bus as fast as you used to; why should you get upset when you can't remember as fast as you used to?"Her advice for those who suspect cognitive problems: Get a full diagnostic work-up. Sometimes, medication mismanagement or other medical conditions may cause dementia symptoms that easily can be cleared up.Meanwhile, you might as well work on that list of foods that are green, from avocado to zucchini. Give yourself bonus points for trying to hit every letter of the alphabet.More information about sleep and mattresses can be found at the Better Sleep Council Canada's website at www.bettersleep.ca.Source: The Sacramento Bee. Powered by Yellowbrix.
Source: Health & Wellness
