Keeping Your Brain Healthy
KEEPING YOUR BRAIN HEALTHY
Recently I listened to a talk by Dr Daniel G. Amen and I was quite intrigued, he mentioned that 85 year olds have a 1 in 2 chance of dementia. He spoke about a book he had written “Memory rescue” and in his TV talk he spoke about various issues that affects our brain health.
GENETICS: genes increase your vulnerability e.g. children of alcoholics could be vulnerable to alcoholism. Also heart conditions can be a factor.
LIFE-STYLE: This is an important factor in cognitive degeneration. Looking at life-style there are various factors to consider: alcoholism,sports injuries - especially contact sport like rugby, diet is also an important factor, etc. The good news is that we can reverse the process. Our behaviour can increase or diminish our brain health.
PSYCOLOGICAL FACTORS: He mentions that depression is a symptom cluster and not a condition. Also, that bizarre behaviour can be symptomatic of a medical condition e.g. young man exhibiting bizarre behaviour; examination revealed a cyst in his left-brain lobe. Psychiatrist and doctors prescribing medication for mental health conditions that might be caused by physiological factors.
I have captured a little about this subject but Dr Amen has written a number of books if you would like to explore it more fully, they are:
The Daniel Plan
The Amen Solution
Change your brain every day
Healing ADHD
Magnificent mind at any age
The end of mental illness
