UpBeat Living: Brain Facts

By Kebba Buckley, M.S.

This column is devoted to helping you live the happiest, healthiest lifestyle you can. Factors in truly "UpBeat Living" always include physical health (life sciences) as well as life skills (social sciences), and understanding the interactions between emotions and physical health.

Everyone has a sense that their mind affects their well-being. This is never more clear than when the mind isn't-clear, that is. People in middle age sometimes notice their memories seem not as effective as in the past. Sometimes numbers are harder to manipulate, words are harder to recall, or a person picks up the wrong object. Sometimes we arrive in a room and wonder what we came in there for. Most of the time, these slips of mental clarity are transient and unimportant. Sometimes, these moments build into annoyances and may signal the beginning of a clinical condition.

The first remedies for slight memory impairment are inexpensive and simple. Try these before expensive solutions:

• Get enough sleep. Do you??
• Drink more water, since the brain needs to be well hydrated for proper electrical conductivity.
• Get some exercise, like walking 20 minutes. The boost to the circulation system may be all you needed.
• Eat lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, since the enzymes and other nutritional factors may fill in gaps in your brain's neurochemistry.
• Drink less alcohol. Any alcohol consumption reduces memory function, according to Dr. Stephen Flitman, Director of the Cognitive Neurology Section, Barrow Neurological Institute, Phoenix. In the long term, alcohol abuse leads to brain dehydration and shrinkage. You can always try a no-alcohol regime for 2 weeks and just see if your mind is clearer.
• If the first five steps don't clear your mind enough, you may want to try some of the nutritional brain function enhancers offerred in health food stores. Amino acid combinations and herbal preparations have provided increased mental acuity for some people. Try these products one at a time, please! Also, first check with your physician or pharmacist, in case new supplements or foods may aggravate a condition you have or negate a medication you are taking. Did you know, for example, that grapefruit juice may block the action of some blood pressure medications?

If you have tried all of the above and still have annoying mental impairment, it's time to see your doctor for information and testing. You may have an allergy, Vitamin B deficiency, or clinical depression. A simple thyroid imbalance or infection factors can imitate or cause the beginning of a dementia condition.

Some of you are wondering, or joking about, whether this could be the beginning of Alzheimer's Disease. Yes, according to Dr. Flitman, fully two-thirds of dementia cases are, in fact, caused by Alzheimer's. Today, more is known than ever before about the diagnosis and treatment of brain conditions. In the last decade, there have been remarkable advances in neuroscience, and the brain's functions and disfunctions are known in astonishing detail.

Alzheimer's disease is now easily diagnosed, with 90% certainty, using one or two tests, depending on your age and family history. For example, a CT ("CaT") scan may easily reveal the characteristic plaques formed by excessive amyloid-beta-42 deposits. These plaques and associated neurofiber tangles are the primary destructive mechanisms by which Alzheimer's Disease deteriorates the brain. If you do have Alzheimer's, there are more treatments available than ever before. It is not normal to lose brain cells with aging, only with disease. And remember that rumor about aluminum causing Alzheimer's Disease? That's false, and it came from experimental error.

Whatever the extent and cause of your brain lag, do research it right now. Invest in your future mind. You may find complete relief and a whole new level of UpBeat Living. Enjoy!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kebba Buckley offers stress- and pain- management training and individual sessions, nationally and locally.Her book, "How to Unstress NOW, the Manual" has helped many worn and weary professionals. You can e-mail Kebba at Kebba@Primenet.Com.