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- Natural Mind Boosters. Everyone experiences minimal memory loss and we all make a joke about it and relate it to age. However in some cases it can be more serious and be related to dementia or Alzheimer’s. The background to these illnesses would take too long to include here, however, it would be true to say that even now they are not fully understood and in most cases medication is used to try to control it. At the same time it is known that it cannot be cured as once the brain cells have died they cannot be brought back. Just how marginal the benefits are was revealed in a five year trial of one medication and reported in The Lancet in 2004. Basically, despite the dose given, it found no difference in ‘worthwhile improvements’ in a range of categories: rates of disease progression, the rate at which patients were placed in nursing homes, care-giver time, or how fast behaviour deteriorated. One benefit showed in the first two years of the study when looking at this medication, where patients did slightly better in tests related to thinking and functional ability.The study’s lead researcher, Richard Gray, admitted that realistically patients are unlikely to derive much benefit from this drug, at best 10% improvement in memory for up to two years. They then decline rapidly to the same place they would have been without the drug.
I did some research and found advocates who said that the real solution to dementia and Alzheimer’s lies in prevention. Jerome Burne, an award winning medical journalist states that there are two myths about Alzheimer’s that need dispensing with. One is that it is caused by ageing; the other is that it is in your genes. There is no doubt it is aged related, in that the older you get the more likely you are to get it, but that doesn’t mean that ageing causes it. A good parallel is that heart attacks tend to affect older people, but again age doesn’t cause them. In general it is lifestyle. Interestingly, in rural China there is an amazingly small amount of Alzheimer’s among 90 year olds. Burne and Holford’s research has shown that the causes are a combination of risk factors of which diet is probably the single most important. Some of the other risk factors, all at differing levels are low physical activity, low social activity, low education, smoking, obesity, cholesterol, high blood pressure, head injury lack of omega 3, lack of antioxidants, lack of homocysteine (all of which are diet/nutritional factors) and many others. There is no one single cause but all these have been identified as risk factors. A variety of researches have combined to give these risk factors and made people think that prevention may be possible if preventative measures are started early enough in one’s lifestyle.
There is a doctor in Wales, UK, who specializes in the nutritional approach to Alzheimer’s rather than a medication approach. He measures homocysteine levels, gives memory tests, checks lifestyles and after his assessment gives a personalized level of supplementation. A retired teacher of 71 who had visited this doctor specifically with memory problems put his care in the hands of Dr McCaddon. Within two weeks of his treatment he had begun to see a difference, the teacher described himself as feeling much better, with a sharper memory and more energetic. After six months his levels were tested again and showed an improvement and his memory test score had also improved. Three years later his memory has stopped declining and his life has improved tremendously. It seems the supplementation produced a reduction in the symptoms and had the potential to halt the progress of the disease. This case has not been proved in double blind studies; however, case studies in this type of treatment have definitely shown an improvement.
In addition, further studies in the USA have shown that keeping the mind and body active will help prevent a decline in the mental function. The research found that reading, playing cards and board games, doing crosswords, playing an instrument and dancing were all associated with a reduced risk of dementia, memory loss and Alzheimer’s. Overall those taking part in the study who carried out these pursuits at least four times a week, were less likely to get Alzheimer’s compared to those doing them once a week.
So once again we see a possible benefit to looking at diet, lifestyle and physical activity against the easy way out of taking medication. Once again the answer is in our hands and up to us to action rather than relying on a pill. I have added a short questionnaire to check your memory and concentration, why not try it and make the changes in your lifestyle now.
Is your memory deteriorating?
Do you find it hard to concentrate or easily get confused?
Do you often see someone you know well and can’t remember their name?
Do you find you can remember events from the past but can’t remember what you did yesterday?
Do you forget what day of the week it is?
Do you go to look for something and forget what you are looking for?
Do your family/friends say you are becoming more forgetful?
Do you find it hard to add up numbers without writing them down?
Do you often experience mental tiredness?
Do you find it hard to concentrate for more than an hour?
Do you often misplace your keys?
Do you often repeat yourself?
Do you sometimes forget the point you are trying to make?
Does it take you longer to learn things that it used to do?
Score one point for every yes answer.
Below 5: no major problem with memory, but checking your lifestyle will help for the future.
5-10: memory needs a boost; you’re suffering some loss, look at diet and lifestyle.
More than 10: you are experiencing significant memory decline and need to do something about it. Make massive changes to your diet, lifestyle and get advice re supplements.
- Sport can help Antisocial bahaviour. Anti-social behaviour is increasing in the Western world, in particular amongst young boys, and in some cases young girls. There have been many reports and discussions as to why this serious aggression has become so common, even in children as young as five. There is no doubt that food has something to do with it, as hyperactivity can be controlled by avoiding foods which contain preservatives and other elements which fuel this type of behaviour. This has been proved by the many experiments which have taken place in schools and had a great effect on the products sold in tuck shops and the meals served to children in the UK – Jamie Oliver can claim some of this fame for his work on school meals in the UK.
However a new report from researchers at Oxford University has concluded that the UK Government’s aim, of pupils taking part in at least two hours of physical education each week, is totally inadequate. They feel that a ‘yob culture’ is being fuelled by a failure to promote sport in schools. Depriving boys of regular involvement in games such as rugby and football increases their risk of under-achieving in class and drifting into crime or serious aggression.
Competitive sports are particularly important for boys who regularly under-achieve academically compared to girls, the report has concluded. In addition, excelling on the playing field can boost the status of less academic boys and motivates them in class. Professor Ann Buchanan said that sport should be a daily activity in schools, both in Government run, and private schools alike. The Professor went on to confirm what we all know that sport is good for the brain and a positive way of gaining status, as well as using energy. Her report is called ‘Barriers to Boys’ Attainment’.
Some Governments in various countries around the world have downgraded sports. Some of this is due to a ‘politically correct’ belief that all games should have prizes, in other words it isn’t good to have a ‘winner’ above all others. This belief has made competitive sports less politically correct for the first time in hundreds of years. Why this should be the case I am at a loss to understand, because we have been competing against each other since time began, even in the Stone Age, so why, suddenly, it should be politically incorrect beats me. Life is full of winners and losers and if you don’t learn to cope with that fact at an early age you will have great difficulty getting through life. So what better place to learn how to win, how to achieve, and how to lose, than at school?
Another factor brought into the report by Professor Buchanan was absent fathers. There are an increasing number of one parent families, after separations and divorces, where the children live with the mother. As such they do not have a regular father figure in their lives; he is the one who usually involves them in some kind of sport. Another comment made by the Bishop of Rochester, at a recent seminar on this subject was that boys have a natural energy which has to be channeled somewhere. He feels that it is important to ensure that there are enough physical activities available, into which to channel this energy, especially in schools where the activities can be controlled and developed. He added that there is a growing concern that risk-taking and adventure is being removed from childhood, mainly because of the health and safety culture and the fear of being sued. It is a common thought that boys would benefit from more male teachers, especially where there is the absence of a father figure at home. The UK Government’s response to this report was that there was a lot of money being spent on helping under-achievers and that there is a plan to have sport increased to four hours a week by 2010.
Consider this situation, we tell adults in our health and fitness messages to take part in daily physical activity, at least 30 minutes a day. Then, in a contrary message, schools are cutting, or have cut, the amount of class time given to children for physical activity. To ensure a more healthy life for children in the future, some form of exercise, preferably a sport, is essential. It will help them academically, it will help any childhood stress and it will set them on the right road for the future, when a sporting child will become a sporting adult. The result of this early foundation laying will be a healthier population and in many cases a less aggressive and crime filled one. In the distant past this was not such a big issue because boys were being sent away to join the military, either to serve in a war or because of something called National Service which was the norm in many countries. The exercise and discipline experienced in this lifestyle gave boys, especially, little time to think about crime. Now, with a complete lifestyle change, boys are more interested in computer games, television and sedentary pastimes. Coupled with junk food and a generally bad diet this leads to a high level of petty crimes and an unhealthy growing population.
There is no doubt that sport should be a central part of any child’s life, whether it is introduced by parents or schools we have a responsibility to create a lifestyle which will help our children become better adults and healthier adults in the future.
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- Laugh when you are stressed. Over ten years ago a Swedish study of humour group found that the psychological well-being of the group increased and symptoms reduced when laughter was introduced into the daily life.
- Laughter improves digestion. It also improves circulation, increases the use of oxygen, the heart rate and gives some muscles a work out.
- Exercise is vital for those suffering from depression. A study showed that 30 minutes of treadmill exercise per day helps reduce ‘major depressive episodes’ in 100% of patients.
- Sugar can have various effects on the body, it depends whether the sugar is processed or natural. Chocolate, for example, gives an immediate high resulting in a sugar level drop even lower than it was before. On the other hand, bananas give a slow release sugar which avoids the sugar high, keeping the body in balance, while consuming a healthy, natural sugar.
- Losing weight starts in the mind. Stop looking at yourself as a victim and decide you are a volunteer. Anything is possible if you believe it, so stop weighing food and listen to what you body tells you.
- One size fits all diets don’t work. If they did there would be no weight management problems. Everyone could go on the same diet and get a result. However, people are different with different exercise needs and different nutritional needs. The tip is to do what is right for your body.
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