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| A Brain Cell |
Here is how it starts. The other day I opened the freezer to get my frozen lunch entrée for work and found a box of pasta. Penne Pasta to be exact. The kind that does not require freezing.
Almost everyday as I am driving to work I think, did I turn off the rollers? Did I remember to leave the back door open for Toshi? Wait…where did I leave Toshi? At least once a month I get down the street and have to turn around, come home and get my phone, my Bluetooth, my purse, my lunch… my marbles.
Those brain cells are racing to the finish line.
I have a great memory- usually. I don’t use Post It’s and I don’t have a calendar hanging on my wall. I keep appointments in my head- occasionally forgetting only something I didn’t want to do in the first place. Last year I forgot a breakfast date with my two good friends. That was unusual, but I was extremely tired and somewhat stressed out so in retrospect I’m not really surprised. I needed rest and my brain took it.
It’s hard to tell though where stress forgetfulness leaves off and dementia picks up.
At the height of my menopause (mental pause) ten years ago, my memory was so bad I thought I must have had a brain tumor. I frequently forgot words, my own address and I don’t think I ever remembered my phone number. It scared me to death because I have always prided myself on my total recall memory. I took a battery of tests, three hours worth and was informed that my memory was excellent- better than average. But it still felt off to me.
Dementia is not something I worry about too much. I have friends who have had family members with Alzheimer’s and they spend so much time worrying about ending up in the same situation they exacerbate their problem. I think if you have a family history then you should probably do everything in your power to slow the process down. No booze, no paint sniffing, no drugs and no junk food. Get plenty of sleep and find a way to de-stress daily. I say hedge that bet.
There is a stress hormone called cortisol; produced when stress levels are out of normal range. Cortisol is a killer. It’s extremely difficult to leave stress out of our lives, many of us don’t go looking for stress- yet it finds us anyway. Mediation, yoga or simply taking a daily walk will help keep your cortisol levels in check.
The list of things that will kill brain cells is long. I read several articles while researching to write this and found this link interesting.
From air pollution- to welding fumes, the aforementioned article probably goes beyond what I would deem dangerous. Certainly though- alcohol, cocaine, illicit drugs and many legal drugs will kill your brain cells.
In a normal, healthy person, thousands of brain cells die every day – some will regenerate and some will never be replaced. Most of us don’t do what we need to do to lessen the rate of loss and most of us make it worse. We drink, smoke cigarettes (or pot) don’t get enough exercise and don’t eat the right foods.
I’ve been doing some online brain exercises that I hope will improve or at least slow down the death of my aging brain cells. Take a look at this site and give it a try.
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| Ocean Beach |
Have you ever noticed how great you feel when you go out to the beach or for a mountain hike on a warm (not too hot) only slight breezy day? You feel refreshed and your brain feels clear. Perhaps it’s the additional oxygen or maybe it’s just walking away from the stress for a few hours. Either way- we should do it more often.
I’m going to make an effort to de-stress daily. I think that is my worst enemy and my personal brain cell killer. I figure I need this brain to last me a couple of more decades. I think I’ll start taking better care of it.
