Stress is a huge enemy of memory
October 8th 2011 12:30
Let’s settle down, get comfortable and listen to what my friend has to say about memory loss.
Poor memory reared its ugly head at me a few weeks ago. I happen to enjoy a very full life, so I’m on the go most of the time. On this particular day, I pulled out of the garage, started down the street, and boom. I forgot where I was going. In a couple of seconds, I remembered. I was on my way to meet a friend, the friend who will be our guest writer today.
While this experience certainly grabbed my attention, I was soon feeling much better. As it happened, I was meeting this particular friend for lunch and couldn’t wait to ask her if I was heading for trouble.
My friend, Kristin Einberger, has spent her adult life empowering people concerned about memory loss to become proactive and to help themselves. Kristin said that cognitive stimulation can make a huge difference in our lives.
Some of you will remember Kristin from her work with Napa Valley Adult Education in the Older Adults Department. During her 20 years she created an Alzheimer’s program called Garden Haven. In time, she and the program moved under the auspices of Adult Day Services of Napa Valley, where she continued as the Alzheimer’s Day Care Resource Center’s program manager.
In addition, after leaving this program, she wrote five books on early memory loss, plus continuing to help people concerned about their memories in the city of Vacaville.
If you have followed this column for a few years, you will remember meeting Kristin once before. I was thrilled when she agreed to give us a few pointers on what to look for and to relieve our fears.
We were barely seated in the restaurant when I started bombarding her with questions. These are the questions she asked me:
“Do you worry when you can’t find your keys? Are you concerned when you go from your kitchen to your bedroom and you can’t remember why you were going there? Does panic appear as you’re approaching a friend whose name you cannot remember? Does anxiety rear its ugly head when someone asks you who starred in the movie you saw last night and you just can’t come up with the name instantly? Do you ask yourself if it could be Alzheimer’s disease or another form of dementia?”
If you answered yes to any or all of these questions, you are just like millions of others, especially those over the age of 60. More than likely these memory lapses have to do with a number of things such as losing your ability to multi-task as well as you once did, taking a longer time to react to things, or perhaps that age old frustration of tip of the tongue “syndrome.” All of these are normal parts of aging — things that affect nearly all of us as we grow older.
These things, coupled with others, such as not paying attention as well as we might, can all wreak havoc with our memory. Though many factors can normally affect our memory, there are a variety of techniques and activities, some pharmaceutical but most not, that we can involve ourselves with in order to minimize the effect.
Below I’ve listed some of these, though there are many more – with more being discovered regularly.
Physical exercise
Regular exercise, such as walking 30 minutes five times a week can perhaps do more for our memory than any other thing we can do. Studies are showing that even if a person has already been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of dementia, exercise can have a profoundly positive effect.
Socializing with others
Oftentimes as we grow older we tend to keep to ourselves more and more. This isolation can hurt our memory. It is important to get out and be with others. Join a social group. Go to church. Walk in your neighborhood and meet some new neighbors. Join a memory enhancement group!
Maintain an optimistic attitude
It has been proven that if you truly believe you can do something, you are much more likely to be able to do just that. In addition, limit the time you spend with those who are negative. They can drag you down with them.
Eat nutritious food
Hardly a day goes by without some study listing the benefits of a certain food for memory. Use caution when reading these articles though. Know that there is NO magic bullet for memory — in any form. Eat foods high in anti-oxidants — fruits and vegetables that are bright and/or dark in color. Limit your intake of sugar and alcohol. Basically, follow a heart-healthy diet and you’ll be eating a brain healthy diet.
Reduce your stress
Some stress is necessary in order to get things done but most of us have entirely too much stress in our lives. Stress is a huge enemy of memory. Learn ways to deal with yours, whether it be meditation, exercise, prayer, talking or a variety of other methods.
Keep your brain engaged
One just has to visit the local book store to check out the growing number of books on keeping your brain engaged — whether it be Sudoku, trivia, word searches, crossword puzzles, memory enhancement techniques and a wide variety of other things. Newspapers and magazines are also good sources of brain games. Though more research needs to be done, it appears that cognitive exercise can enhance and possibly improve even those with early memory loss. In this vein, I created a subscription computer site — brain-boosters.com — to which one can subscribe on either a monthly or annual basis. The site offers 20 downloadable activities each month on a variety of subjects using multiple learning modalities. The activities can be done individually or in groups and are aimed at boosting your brain.
For more information on the site or on other activity books written by Kristin, contact her at keinberger81@gmail.com or 707 287-4353.
I feel oh so much better. I’m stocking up on Sudoku … not a problem, as I really enjoy it. Also, I’m very interested in starting your Subscription computer site.
Thank you all for reading. See you in two weeks. bettyrrhodes@sbcglobal.net.
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