It is clear that we have all pretty much bought into 'Physical Fitness' as a key ingredient to our mix. We are walking, doing yoga, watch what we eat etc.
Of course, this is not to be taken for granted, as the landscape is littered with failed new year resolutions - but there is no longer an argument that this is vital.
The new strategic issue for us to jump on, that I am proposing here, can be summarized by the following catchy phrase: "Check-up from the neck-up."
In other words, the very most important organ in our body is our brain and we don't much take care of it. I was in a meeting this week when I was listening to the head of research from Johnson and Johnson. Please don't ask me what I was doing in a room with that kind of intellectual horsepower (bankers get invited to odd places, izz-all-i'm-sayin'). He was saying that while almost all of our cells in our bodies regenerate and renew, that nerve cells, particularly brain cells do not. The conventional understanding is that we have certain number of brain cells that we are endowed with, and the name of the game for the rest of our lives is to preserve them. New research shows that brain cells do grow in certain areas, but these finding are very early and appear to be the beginning of new understanding of how the brain works.
As we know President Obama has started a new brain health initiative, which in my opinion is perhaps as important as sending humans to the moon in the 1960s.
As I have listened in on experts discuss and debate, I have recorded the following actions to keep our brains healthy.
The below is based on the 2 years worth of work I have been involved with on the topic of Alzheimer's Disease and Dementia, at work. This week I gave a presentation on this topic to our leading clients, as well as had a discussion with White House officials on the importance of including this topic on the agenda for the once-in-a-decade White House Conference On Aging (WHCOA). I believe the message was well received.
Please consider this list as a starter list that we can mull over and research as well.
Check-up from the neck-up
1. Physical exercise gets oxygen flowing to the brain. http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-living/fitness/in-depth/exercise/art-20048389
2. Sleep and let you mind rest without electronics interruptions (the brain performs important cleaning function of removing plaque in-between brain cells). There is an excellent NY Times article in this regard. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/12/opinion/sunday/goodnight-sleep-clean.html?_r=0
3. Although not completely proven as causal, several studies have correlated a mediterranean diet to having a positive impact related to the onset of Alzheimer's Disease. http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/alzheimers-disease/expert-answers/alzheimers-disease/faq-20058062
4. Routinely doing mental exercises (such as sudoku, scrabble).
5. Mixing up our mental routine - Avoiding falling into a mental rut (remembering that the brain is incredibly powerful, so it can easily 'routinize' anything we do).
6. Listening to people and messages we DO NOT agree with. Avoiding echo chambers. Talking to people who make you uncomfortable. If you are a theist, speak to an atheist. If you are a vegetarian, go to a restaurant with a non-vegetarian (even if you do not eat so).
7. Remembering to breathe deeply. Research shows that when we stare at screens and mobile devices, we take short breaths. Long breaths get more oxygen into the system and this is important for the brain. http://www.forbes.com/sites/daviddisalvo/2013/05/14/breathing-and-your-brain-five-reasons-to-grab-the-controls/
8. Practicing quiet and observation. Reserving x-minutes a day (10-15) to just be quiet. No distractions, no words, no reading - just quiet. No need to call it meditation or prayer or contemplation or anything. Just quiet.
9. Reading at least one book a year deeply. My friend has a good rule - 10 pages a day! For this purpose, avoiding reviews, summaries, headlines, excitement, suspense. Picking up a book one always wanted to read, and read it slowly and read it deeply.
10. Learning one new word at a frequency of our choice, in a language of your choice. By learning the word, I mean, hear it, understand it, use it. This means that it cannot be a fancy word. It has to be a new word that you can use. Here is an example: satisfice. This is quite a simple word. I had no idea what it meant! In fact, I even guessed wrong. What it means, is to settle for less. "He satisficed himself with the lower grade."
11. Seeking out Apps that test our mental acumen. These are getting more and more sophisticated by the day. Research does not indicate that this is effective (yet). But we all know that the rate at which technology and sophistication of app development, that this code is bound to be cracked. http://www.besthealthmag.ca/best-you/mental-health/top-5-apps-to-keep-your-brain-engaged
12. Reading regularly, or follow-on twitter, the latest research on Brain Health and findings. (i.e. making brain health as much a passion as physical health has now become).
Our national and global plan is to find a cure for Alzheimer's Disease by 2025. In the meantime, it is quite important that we focus on the types of things to keep the brain healthy, even as we focus on keeping our bodies physically fit as well.
Of course, this is not to be taken for granted, as the landscape is littered with failed new year resolutions - but there is no longer an argument that this is vital.
The new strategic issue for us to jump on, that I am proposing here, can be summarized by the following catchy phrase: "Check-up from the neck-up."
As we know President Obama has started a new brain health initiative, which in my opinion is perhaps as important as sending humans to the moon in the 1960s.
As I have listened in on experts discuss and debate, I have recorded the following actions to keep our brains healthy.
Please consider this list as a starter list that we can mull over and research as well.
Check-up from the neck-up
1. Physical exercise gets oxygen flowing to the brain. http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-living/fitness/in-depth/exercise/art-20048389
2. Sleep and let you mind rest without electronics interruptions (the brain performs important cleaning function of removing plaque in-between brain cells). There is an excellent NY Times article in this regard. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/12/opinion/sunday/goodnight-sleep-clean.html?_r=0
3. Although not completely proven as causal, several studies have correlated a mediterranean diet to having a positive impact related to the onset of Alzheimer's Disease. http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/alzheimers-disease/expert-answers/alzheimers-disease/faq-20058062
4. Routinely doing mental exercises (such as sudoku, scrabble).
5. Mixing up our mental routine - Avoiding falling into a mental rut (remembering that the brain is incredibly powerful, so it can easily 'routinize' anything we do).
6. Listening to people and messages we DO NOT agree with. Avoiding echo chambers. Talking to people who make you uncomfortable. If you are a theist, speak to an atheist. If you are a vegetarian, go to a restaurant with a non-vegetarian (even if you do not eat so).
7. Remembering to breathe deeply. Research shows that when we stare at screens and mobile devices, we take short breaths. Long breaths get more oxygen into the system and this is important for the brain. http://www.forbes.com/sites/daviddisalvo/2013/05/14/breathing-and-your-brain-five-reasons-to-grab-the-controls/
8. Practicing quiet and observation. Reserving x-minutes a day (10-15) to just be quiet. No distractions, no words, no reading - just quiet. No need to call it meditation or prayer or contemplation or anything. Just quiet.
9. Reading at least one book a year deeply. My friend has a good rule - 10 pages a day! For this purpose, avoiding reviews, summaries, headlines, excitement, suspense. Picking up a book one always wanted to read, and read it slowly and read it deeply.
10. Learning one new word at a frequency of our choice, in a language of your choice. By learning the word, I mean, hear it, understand it, use it. This means that it cannot be a fancy word. It has to be a new word that you can use. Here is an example: satisfice. This is quite a simple word. I had no idea what it meant! In fact, I even guessed wrong. What it means, is to settle for less. "He satisficed himself with the lower grade."
11. Seeking out Apps that test our mental acumen. These are getting more and more sophisticated by the day. Research does not indicate that this is effective (yet). But we all know that the rate at which technology and sophistication of app development, that this code is bound to be cracked. http://www.besthealthmag.ca/best-you/mental-health/top-5-apps-to-keep-your-brain-engaged
12. Reading regularly, or follow-on twitter, the latest research on Brain Health and findings. (i.e. making brain health as much a passion as physical health has now become).
Our national and global plan is to find a cure for Alzheimer's Disease by 2025. In the meantime, it is quite important that we focus on the types of things to keep the brain healthy, even as we focus on keeping our bodies physically fit as well.
9 comments:
nice -- nrp
Looks slowly but surely you can replace a neuro physician
Thanks for always sharing your blog posts! I always appreciate your words, and I really enjoyed reading this one
aAs chance would have it, the WSJ has featured the same story today: Our Amazingly Plastic Brains.
Which also seems to contradict your J&J guy (which I myself was surprised to read in your post), “He was saying that while almost all of our cells in our bodies regenerate and renew, nerve cells, particularly brain cells do not. We have certain number of brain cells that we are endowed with, and the name of the game for the rest of our lives is to preserve them.” I had thought this was one of the myths that’s been debunked. (along with the notion that we use only 10% of our brains).
But maybe I’m misunderstanding what’s being said about this (which supports my understanding that we’re constantly losing and gaining neuronal cells depending on usage & needs) in the WSJ article:
The mainstream view in neuroscience and medicine today is that the living brain is actually “neuroplastic”—meaning that its “circuits” are constantly changing in response to what we actually do out in the world. As we think, perceive, form memories or learn new skills, the connections between brain cells also change and strengthen. Far from being hard-wired, the brain has circuits that very rapidly form, unform and reform.
Earlier studies showed aerobic exercise increased the brain’s gray and white matter in the frontal lobes, areas involved in planning and goal-directed activity. How does this form of healing work? Exercise triggers the growth of new brain cells in the hippocampus. It also triggers the release of “neurotrophic growth factors”—a kind of brain fertilizer, helping the brain to grow, maintain new connections and stay healthy.
Frederick Gage of the Salk Institute, co-discoverer of stem cells in the brain, has suggested that new cells arise from long walks because, in an evolutionary sense, our bodies associate the exertion with moving from an existing territory, which had perhaps become depleted of food or too dangerous, to a new, unexplored territory whose details must be learned. In anticipation, the brain releases new cells and growth factors, which create a more plastic state and make possible new neural connections. This may be one of the mechanisms by which exercise helps to protect against diseases such as Alzheimer’s.
We still have a lot to learn about the brain and its powers of recovery, of course. But increasingly we have the evidence to conclude that we have been seeing our brains the wrong way for too long. Metaphors often conceal as much as they reveal. One day, we may well marvel at how odd it was that, for several centuries, we chose to view our ever-changing, activity-craving, animate brains as fixed, passive, inanimate
All good stuff you share Tim - we are in such early early stages of brain science. Bottom line of everything I was 'parroting' - we got to get serious about brain science and brain health ...
I most certainly agree with that!
After some thought process involving my job, its progression, my health, family, friends and hobby, this is what I decided for myself to follow as a general guideline for spending time on, as priorities for 50+.
- Keep aside 15 hours during weekdays for work and sleep with a combination of 8 hours (maximum) for work and 7 hours (minimum) for sleep.
- Spend the remaining time in a day and the weekends on 3Fs (Fitness, Family and Friends) in the same order of priorities for 50+
- Fitness (1st Priority): We need to stay fit and healthy as we age so that we continue to enjoy the multiple aspects of life. In my opinion, fitness takes the first priority for 50+. I suggest a minimum of 6 to 7 hours in a week for fitness.
- Family (2nd Priority): Spend more time with the family, especially with spouse and our parents as we get into 50+
- Friends (3rd Priority): Spend time with friends whenever there is opportunity and whenever possible to communicate, share, laugh and relax. This includes time spent on yahoo group and WhatsApp with virtual friends like you.
I believe, the 4th F, which is “Fun” will be the derivative of the above 3Fs. You will have more fun when you mix the 3Fs above, for example when you have a party with family and friends, and when you do a workout routine with friends, take a walk with the family, etc. This combination will help us to get more disposable time that can be used for hobbies like watching TV, sports, reading, music, movies, arts, etc. The hobbies can also be part of the 3Fs, and you can choose and combine your hobbies, with the above 3F priorities.
Those were valuable tips for good mental health. The write-ups from Ganesh and you pave the way for a 'Sound mind in a sound body'.
Considering the fact that mental illnesses are on the rise, such exercises should be practiced by people of all ages.
I like your tips (especially numbers 7 and 8). I plan to start them soon. Reading was my first hobby when I was a teenager, but somehow I am not able to manage time for doing this now. I also used to spend lot of time on sketching which I plan to re-start soon! I have a 8 year old son who takes most of my free time. I still play cricket, cards, scrabble and other games with him which makes me feel younger!!
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