Worried about Your Memory?

Worried about your memory?  Here’s a quick read that may help.  The Alzheimer’s Society of the United Kingdom has just published a booklet that offers help for people who are concerned about losing their memory.  Included in the eight pages are tips to help sufferers differentiate between normal memory glitches and failures that indicate something more serious.

Also included are a few high-level tips for protecting your memory and preventing dementia.  The Society recommends that you:

• Skip the salt (to reduce blood pressure);
• Eat a healthy diet with plenty of fruits and veggies;
• Exercise at least 30 minutes a day five days a week;
• Keep blood pressure and cholesterol within normal limits; and,
• Maintain a healthy weight.

Although these tips are no more than traditional health advice, they do indicate that traditional organizations are beginning to acknowledge that dementia is a preventable condition.  And, because most dementias are presently incurable, prevention trumps waiting for a cure that may never come.

Start now, no matter how old you are, to defend your brain and maintain your memory.

Fix the Foundation Before You Spruce Up the Outside

Waxahachie, Texas, where I now live, could best be described as a town of antiques, antique furniture, antique cars, and antique houses.  People enjoy restoring antiques to their former beauty, but, in some cases, it appears that decay has advanced to the point that restoration is no longer possible.

Such was the case with the house not far from mine.

One evening, I was in desperate need of a break, so I jumped in my car for a ride. Heading off into the historic district of town, I noticed that an antique house I’d been itching to explore was open.

It's beautiful now, but six months ago this house was headed for the wrecking ball.

“Can I take a look inside?” I asked the woman on the porch who was clearly cleaning up after our annual Gingerbread Trail.

“Sure, just take off your shoes. The floors, you know.”

The house, newly restored, was a 1920 Craftsman style home. Six months before, I’d been certain it was headed for the wrecking ball. A broken foundation had worsened to the point that the house sagged several feet from side to side and right down the middle. Walking inside must have required railings. Eaves pointed toward the clouds. Nevertheless, some visionary saw past the bags and sags and tilts to the beautiful structure hidden beneath.

Now it glowed. New paint showed off beautiful architectural details, modern appliances gleamed in the kitchen, and the house’s foundation was, for the first time in my memory, level. Light streamed through banks of windows, filtered by the leaves of huge pecan trees. It was a house you could dream of coming home to.

“Better than new,” I thought.

The woman and I introduced ourselves and began to chat about the house’s rebirth. I mentioned that I was taking a break from caring for an Alzheimer’s parent and appreciated the respite that touring the house gave me.

“I understand how tiring it can be to take care of an Alzheimer’s patient,” she said. “I hope I can avoid getting it. But I don’t know what I can do. Eat a good diet, I guess. And hope they come up with a cure soon.”

I hope so too. But better than hoping for a cure is preventing dementia in the first place. The old house that gleamed in the background provides important clues:

• The foundation comes first. Without fixing the foundation, no cosmetic changes will be lasting.
• Focus on restoring original beauty rather than attempting to make an old house into a new one. The house was a brilliant example of the Craftsman era of the early 20th century. To attempt to make it into a 21st century home would be ridiculous.
• Find the beauty points, and focus attention on them. Ignore or diminish attention to less beautiful areas. No house, no person, is perfect or ever was.  Learn to be a visual magician.

When you feel good, you look good, so you can expect your efforts at improving the foundation to pay off in good looks as well as good health.

The Better Brain Book by Dr. David Perlmutter

If I were diagnosed with early stage Alzheimer’s, I’d head straight to the Perlmutter Health Center in Naples, Florida. But if that were the case, it might be because I had neither read nor followed the instructions found in this excellent book.

Packed with tips to help you prevent aging of the brain, this is information you probably won’t hear from your doctor: How diet, supplements, exercise and more will influence and can decrease your risk for Alzheimer’s and other major diseases of the brain; what side effects the drugs widely used for symptomatic relief may create in other areas of the body.

Research from medical journals published in 2005 and 2006 confirms much of what Dr. Perlmutter discusses here. The latest research adds credibility to his methods but denies none of them.

If you care about keeping your brain sharp, this book is a “must read.” Get it (Amazon.com has a number of used copies for less than $5.00), study it, and start using the information for your good health!