{"id":108116,"date":"2024-09-28T23:39:47","date_gmt":"2024-09-28T16:39:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=108116"},"modified":"2024-09-28T23:39:47","modified_gmt":"2024-09-28T16:39:47","slug":"what-youre-doing-to-quicken-cognitive-decline-and-memory-loss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=108116","title":{"rendered":"What you\u2019re doing to quicken cognitive decline and memory loss"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>                                    <!-- \n\n<h1 class=\"article__headline element\">What you&rsquo;re doing to quicken cognitive decline and memory loss<\/h1>\n\n --><\/p>\n<p>\n        Keep challenging your brain with things like reading, doing puzzles and traveling.<br \/>\n         <i>Getty Images\/iStockphoto<\/i>\n            <\/p>\n<p class=\"article__body\">Our brains undergo changes as we age, and there\u2019s nothing we can do about it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__body\">Certain parts of the brain shrink, including those important to learning and other complex mental activities. Neurotransmission \u2014 the connection among brain cells \u2014 may become less effective. Blood flow may decrease. Inflammation, which occurs when the body is fighting off an infection, may also have an impact. In fact, scientists are finding that inflammation may be complicit in many disorders.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__body\">Some of our lifestyle choices, however, have an impact on how quickly our brains age and we lose cognitive function, including memory.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__body\">Here are some ways we accelerate brain aging and its effects (memory loss, mild cognitive impairment, dementia and Alzheimer\u2019s, to name a few).<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__body\">Before we begin, though, I want to make two points.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__body\">First, many factors contribute to how a brain ages, including genetics, hormones and neurotransmitters. People with a parent or sibling with Alzheimer\u2019s have a higher risk of developing the disease than those who don&#8217;t.\u00a0However, not everyone with a family history of Alzheimer\u2019s will develop the disease, and not everyone who develops Alzheimer&#8217;s has a family history. Early life can also influence the outcome, such as low birth weight.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__body\">Second, aging also may bring with it positive cognitive changes. For example, older adults have larger vocabularies and greater knowledge of the depth of meaning of words than younger adults, according to research studies. We also have stored many years of accumulated knowledge and experience, which we can call on when needed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__body\">That said, there are things we choose to do that end up slowing cognitive function and accelerating memory loss and brain aging.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__body\"><strong id=\"strong-83d650be7e9df0f2bde6b6832385e111\">Be sedentary.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"article__body\">Age brings with it aches, pains and fatigue, and it\u2019s tempting to just kick back in the recliner to take a load off. Stay sedentary, and you will likely be accelerating memory loss and brain aging.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__body\">Although research indicates that physical activity boosts proteins and glucose metabolism and may even be associated with an increase in brain structure, go ahead and skip getting 30 to 45 minutes of activity a day if you don\u2019t want to be like the \u201csuper-agers\u201d in their 80s and 90s.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__body\"><strong id=\"strong-0ceaaae056c83c101c4f8197aada6994\">Keep drinking alcohol like you did 30 years ago.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"article__body\">When we\u2019re younger, our bodies are able to process alcohol more quickly and get it out of the body faster. This changes with age, as we lose muscle and it takes longer for our bodies to break down alcohol.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__body\">So if you\u2019re still having a few cocktails at 5 o\u2019clock as you once did, just keep that up if you want to shrink your brain. Not only will you find your hangovers are lasting longer, but you may start seeing signs of brain aging, such as memory loss, besides making it harder for your body to fight off infections, including pneumonia.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__body\"><strong id=\"strong-5cc59ccfc61928cff8754f7cb9a55747\">Don\u2019t challenge your brain.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"article__body\">Many older adults, when they retire, let their minds go on vacation, along with their physical selves.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__body\">If you want to shrink your brain faster, don\u2019t bother doing anything that challenges your brain\u2019s capacity for memory, logic and thinking. That includes opting out of traveling, volunteering, working a part-time job, learning a different language, picking up a new instrument, or playing games like Scrabble, Clue, crosswords, sudoku or chess.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__body\"><strong id=\"strong-acd9a5c83719321cc8fe1bb10b83292d\">Ignore your loss of hearing.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"article__body\">You can\u2019t hear the TV or follow conversations as you once did, but that\u2019s OK. Hearing loss is a part of aging and you can learn to live with it, even though it may shrink the part of your brain associated with speech and sound and lead to greater social isolation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__body\">Even though Medicare covers hearing tests, it doesn\u2019t cover hearing aids, so they\u2019re too expensive anyway. Don\u2019t bother shopping around, checking your Medicare Advantage plan for coverage, investigating direct-to-consumer models, or looking into payment plans and charities that might help.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__body\"><strong id=\"strong-4be8052bd5720d0f160ced674220b65f\">Don\u2019t watch what you eat.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"article__body\">There\u2019s no definitive link between specific foods and cognitive health, so eat whatever and however you want, even though obesity, diabetes and heart disease are associated with cognitive decline and a healthy diet may provide additional nutrients and antioxidants that your brain needs to stay strong.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__body\">So if you want to take that risk, don\u2019t worry about eating leafy greens, nuts, beans and fish and load up on red meat and sweets.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__body\">I hope by now you\u2019ve realized that I\u2019m employing a bit of reverse psychology to get you to consider how lifestyle choices may affect the quality of an aging brain, which directly impacts the quality of life. This is one column in which I <em id=\"emphasis\">don\u2019t<\/em> want you to take my advice!<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__body\"><em id=\"emphasis-26bd0e3c8e96288b2cb96751c1271f4f\">\u2022 Teri (Dreher) Frykenberg is a board-certified patient advocate. A critical care registered nurse for 30+ years, she is founder of NShore Patient Advocates (<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/northshorern.com\/\" id=\"link-3d61d624bcdfca7c2126b65503bac769\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em id=\"emphasis-c93bb853e63ee93fc207d433a49b9cae\">www.NorthShoreRN.com<\/em><\/a><em id=\"emphasis-145cdb8ce4702c1dcfa46c66b2d4cb84\">). Her book, \u201cHow to Be a Healthcare Advocate for Yourself &amp; Your Loved Ones,\u201d is available on Amazon. She is offering a free phone consultation to Daily Herald readers; email her at teri@northshorern.com.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><div data-type=\"_mgwidget\" data-widget-id=\"1660802\">\r\n<\/div>\r\n<script>(function(w,q){w[q]=w[q]||[];w[q].push([\"_mgc.load\"])})(window,\"_mgq\");\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailyherald.com\/20240926\/health-and-fitness\/what-youre-doing-to-quicken-cognitive-decline-and-memory-loss\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Keep challenging your brain with things like reading, doing puzzles and traveling. Getty Images\/iStockphoto Our brains undergo changes as we age, and there\u2019s nothing we can do about it. Certain &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=108116\" class=\"more-link\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-108116","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-health","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108116","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=108116"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108116\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=108116"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=108116"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=108116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}