Click Here!Archive for June, 2009
Keeping Your Mind
Author: John
One of the many aspects of good holistic wellness and health is our mental well being. As we get older, we become slower mentally and more forgetful. We become more depressed when we worry if this forgetfulness is part of some disease. Sometimes it feels we are losing our minds. Cognitive degenerative diseases initially show up as signs of simple aging. Scientists are unsure what the various causes of these diseases are. They have many theories about the different causes but nothing really substantial that they can say “this is the cause”. Therefore, research carries on.
There seems to be two major branches of causation that are being pursued; genetic and environmental/life style. Genetic research of these diseases is still a process of matching similar gene mutations and separating of aspects of these diseases. Once the particular gene or genes is determined then animal testing is required to determine if manipulating the genes has any effect or not. Each year a new anomaly is noted, a theory is developed and testing started. The various causations of the multiple forms of dementia make it unlikely a full solution will be forthcoming in even the distant future.
A much more promising solution to these problems, at least in the short term, seems to involve changes in life style. These changes are further divided into physical or mental changes. The things we can change physically are exercise and diet. Exercise, despite all its benefits, brings up negative connotations to people. Possibly because they feel they have had exercise crammed down their throats. Their parents and grandparents never exercised, so why should they. What people don’t realize is that their parents and grandparents lives were much more active than we are today. Technology which attempts to make our lives easier has also made us softer. Starting with the mass manufacturing of the automobile in the beginning of the last century, we now move and walk less and sit more. Next, through tv, video games and computers, we have let ourselves become soft and out of shape. Fortunately, this can be easily reversed by simply having a brisk walk for 50 minutes 3 times a week. Just that amount of exercise every week has been shown in studies to increase speed and sharpness of thought and the volume of brain tissue. An additional benefit of exercise, along with diet, is to reduce the risk of cognitive decline and risk of dementia in older people. Exercise can help lower blood pressure, lower cholesterol levels and control weight.
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Tags: health and wellness, holistic health, holistic wellness | 
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