#1 Thing To Do For Your Mental & Physical Health

The absolute number one thing anyone can do for their mental and physical well-being is learn how to manage stress on a daily basis.

Daily stressors have always been a part of life, but it’s even more prevalent since the pandemic. Be sure to take a pro-active approach to reviewing what exactly causes the most stress in your life.

Then, think about what you can do differently that will alleviate that stress.

For example, if driving to work or appointments has you stuck in traffic and it causes stress –make a point of leaving extra early to allow for anticipated traffic.

If back-to-back Zoom calls, Video Conferences or Podcasting are causing you stress, make sure to spread them out, giving yourself enough time to get up from the computer and take a 20-minute walk.

In fact, if you are working remotely or in an office sitting at a computer, you should get up, stretch and walk around for every 20-minutes. Your eyes need the break too. Do that 3 times at you’re at 60-minutes, the ideal for optimum health.

Make walking 1 hour a daily habit. There is a significant association between daily walking and pneumonia-related mortality and cardiovascular disease mortality among older people who walked 1 hour a day, even if they lacked other exercise habits. Kids and adults can benefit from this. There are so many health benefits tied to it. It will improve heart health, oxygen to your brain, how you feel and your energy levels.

If you can get out in nature, even better. But you don’t need a gym or any fancy equipment to do this. You can do it anywhere.

If you find being in crowds or with certain people cause you stress, you know what to do. Set boundaries.

Everyone feels anxious from time to time. You may be worried about finding employment, finances, an upcoming exam –whatever it is –when you get that feeling of worry know that it will feel like it will last forever, but it will not.

What you need to do is distract yourself. 1. Take a shower 2. Call a friend and talk it through 3. Make a cup of tea 4. Go for a walk 5. Put on some music you enjoy 6. Splash cold water on your face 7. Take slow, deep breaths -8. Get out in nature and sunshine 9. Stretch and move your body -anything that interrupts that feeling and brings you back to the PRESENT moment. 10. If you watch a lot of TV, turn it off and get outside.

When the moment passes, write down what has you worried. Then, write down possible solutions. Think out of the box. Think about times in the past when you thought things were hopeless and you got through it.

You will get through this too. When you feel overwhelmed, tell someone. Allow people to help, even if it’s just through listening.

Even happy events can cause stress, like planning a vacation or wedding. Knowing when to take a break is crucial.

Know your Happy Place and what healthy activities make you feel better. Make a point of making Rest and Recovery a part of your everyday life. Your body needs it. Your brain needs it.

Even people who are adamant about working out at a gym take one day to do nothing. It’s when their body gets to recover and it’s how muscle gets built.

Getting at least 9 hours of sleep each night is crucial as well. It needs to be consistent, so prioritize this. Sleep experts recommend darkening your room, shutting down all electronics and keeping your bedroom on the chilly side one hour before you go to sleep.

Weighted blankets have also gotten a lot of favorable feedback about helping people sleep better. A warm bubble bath with the smell of lavender also gets favorable reviews from people.

Nightshades and ear plugs can help too if you live in a city with bright lights and lots of external noise.

There’s also a sleep hoodie that comes with built-in eyeshades made of fabric that cools your body as you sleep created by DepSlepWear that’s great for use at home or while traveling on an airplane.

Note there are also sleep positions that are recommended for your back. It’s either on your side with a pillow between your legs or on your back with a pillow under your knees. This provides proper alignment, so you don’t wake up with aches.

Before bed, make a list of the 3 most important things you need to do the next day.

It’s not easy to turn off all electronics (this includes your phone) with a 24/7 news cycle and social media, but it’s vital for your mental and physical health.

Avoid caffeine, spicy foods and alcohol before bed too. If you drink coffee, try to drink it earlier in the day and limit it to two cups.

There is a prior blog I wrote on foods that help you sleep. I will find it and insert the link below, as a lot of people do get hungry at night. It’s best to stock up on the PM foods in case that happens.

If you wake up mid-sleep, reading is recommended until you fall back asleep.

When you finally do get a good night’s rest don’t immediately jump out of bed. Take those deep breaths again, sit up, close your eyes and be in an intentional state of gratitude. Give thanks to be alive.

Remind yourself it will be a great day, everything will be okay and that you can and will handle anything that comes your way. Then, stretch and breathe deeply again.

Hydrate with water. If you’re a breakfast person, make sure it doesn’t contain sugar, so you’re not crashing by noon. Two eggs are always a great choice. I dash a bit of sea salt on them. You can boil them ahead of time if you know you’ll be in a rush. If you have more time, have fun making a veggie omelet.

The American Heart Association (AHA) actually recommends up to two eggs a day for older people with normal cholesterol and who eat a healthy diet.

If you’re not in that category, they recommend only one egg a day, and fewer if you have high blood cholesterol, diabetes or are at risk for heart failure.


When you do start work, review your Top 3 Priority items on your list. Get those things out of the way. You will feel a sense of accomplishment the rest of the day from meeting your commitments before any distractions can kick in. Speaking of, be aware of your distractions.

If checking out one thing on Facebook or Twitter ends up using up hours and hours of your time, be aware of that and place a limit on social media time. Be aware if you keep your TV on 24/7 or too many hours. Limit time watching it. Read instead. Nature is free to everyone. Go for a walk or hike in a local park.

Remember that how you spend your time, what you eat, drink and how much you exercise will affect the way you feel each day, so make healthy choices. If you’re stressed, something in your environment contributes to it. Be aware of your environment. Is your home cluttered? Get it organized and create more open space. Toss away or donate what you don’t use. Make sure your home and work space is calming.

If you need help with any of those things, reach out to someone who you think may be more productive with their time as they can offer tips–for healthy food choices, see a Nutritionist or do a Google search.

I’ve also blogged a lot in the past about healthy foods for your body and brain. There are also a lot of great books out there. You want to avoid the diet books, and opt for ones that are about long-term nutrition.

A few people I recommend following about Nutrition are:

Dr. Mark Hyman from The Cleveland Clinic

Dr. Daniel Amen from Amen Clinics

Seamus Mullen has a lot of great books on Anti-Inflammatory Foods

“How Not To Die” by Dr. Gregor

If you want a real education on how and why the foods we eat have changed over the decades for the worse read, “Formerly Known As Food” by Kristen Lawless.

Remember, your Mind, Body and Spirit have always been connected. You need to take care of both daily. If that means saying no more, then do it. Allow yourself that time to Rest and Recover.

Daily exercise is proven to grow new brain cells and improve your heart health. Make daily exercise, even if it’s a daily walk a habit. Then, allow yourself at least an hour a day where you schedule nothing.

Even your car will run out of gas if you keeping going without stopping.

Human beings are no different. Every day, stop and fill up your tank with good things, which also includes helping other people. It’s one of the best ways to get out of your head. Ask yourself who could use a helping hand, a kind word, encouragement or find something you no longer use and donate it. Make someone else’s day better.

Remember, there is something that comes easy to you that someone else finds difficult. It can be writing, reading, playing an instrument, dancing, swimming, playing a certain sport, organizing, decorating, cooking, drawing, speaking a different language, writing a cover letter or resume, networking, shopping, using computers, blogging, writing a book, acting, exercising, finding a job –something.

Offer to help someone with that.

A funny thing happens when you do that –you will end up feeling better yourself.

And don’t underestimate the power of love. Since in-person interactions are limited, you can still be old-school and tell someone you love them or mail them a card or gift or call them.

There is a lot more to health and well-being than masking up these day. You need to be pro-active daily and feed your mind, body and soul good things.

Developing life-long habits is a choice. It feels difficult at first, but once once you realize the better choices you make are having a positive difference in how you feel –you will do it the next day, and the next…

Be patient and kind to yourself and fill yourself with so much good that it can’t help but overflow to others. As they say, you can’t pour from an empty cup.

The #1 thing you can do for your overall well-being is learn how to manage stress. Everyone in the world needs to do this, because no one is immune from something unpredictable happening to them or to someone you love.

So, carve out time each day to take care of you. When you can’t change what’s going on externally, the only thing you can master is how to change what’s taking place inside. These changes are cumulative and add up over time. Be patient and take notice of when you feel most centered and calm.

I once wrote something that got widely picked up on Quote websites. It was: “Anxiety is who people want you to be. Calm is who you are.”

Find your calm.

If’s worth noting everyone needs to do this. Almost half of physicians themselves suffer from burnout.

Most recently, Olympic athletes have been more vocal about it. No one is immune to it No one. Only arrogance would tell someone they are and a good read for them is Robin Sharma’s book, “The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari.”

There are a lot of books about how stress caught up to otherwise extremely successful people. It happens to the best. If you can’t or don’t do so –you will one day be forced to.

There’s an old adage about how if you don’t take time for health today, you will be forced to take time for sickness later. So, I repeat everyone from the Chairman to the CEO to the receptionist to the janitor needs to find calm if you don’t want yourself, your team or productivity and the bottom line to suffer in the end.

Each individual’s health matters. Health = Mind + Body. Norman Vincent Peale wrote “The Power of Positive Thinking” decades ago and the pillars of health he talked about in it are still prevalent today. If you’ve never read it, you can listen to it on audio on YouTube. There’s a reason it sold millions of copies around the world.

Every generation should read it. If this all seems sanguine, know that your mind, body, wellness, relationships, health and longevity will benefit from these things in the long-run.

The future relies on what you do today, so focus on making the right healthy choices one day at a time.

Take time to de-stress your mind and body daily.


Stay healthy.
Maria Dorfner

Email: maria.dorfner@mariadorfner |
On Twitter: @Maria_Dorfner
Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariadorfner

RELATED BLOGS:

Link to prior blog on Foods That Help You Sleep: https://mariadorfner.wordpress.com/?s=foods+to+help+you+sleep

Link to prior blog on Nutritional Tips: https://wordpress.com/post/mariadorfner.wordpress.com/87

DISCLAIMER: If you’re in a place where you can’t even think about doing any of the things mentioned here schedule an appointment with your physician.

BRAIN HEALTH:

Foods To Boost Your Brain Power
https://mariadorfner.wordpress.com/2019/04/09/5-foods-boost-your-brainpower/

Things That Can Cause Brain Fog
https://mariadorfner.wordpress.com/2021/03/24/27-things-that-can-cause-brain-fog/

Find Out What Ages Your Brain Prematurely
https://mariadorfner.wordpress.com/2019/09/12/find-out-what-ages-your-brain-prematurely/

Brain Power and Exercise
https://mariadorfner.wordpress.com/2017/04/26/brain-power-linked-to-45-minutes-of-resistance-training/

Things That Can Kill Brain Cells
https://mariadorfner.wordpress.com/2012/03/05/50-situations-that-can-kill-brain-cells/

6 Nutrients for Brain Health
https://wordpress.com/post/mariadorfner.wordpress.com/5659

Easy Breakfast Recipes from Eat Well To Boost Brain Power
https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/19-easy-breakfast-recipes-help-220549477.html

82-Year-Old Woman Reverses Dementia

Sylvia reversed her dementia by changing the foods she eats and making other changes

This is a story worth repeating because these statistics are alarming.

An estimated 5.7 million Americans of all ages are living with Alzheimer’s disease in 2019

Last year, an 82-year-old woman who suffered from dementia, who couldn’t recognize her own son, miraculously got her memory back after changing her diet.

Photo by Buenosia Carol on Pexels.com

This is exactly what Dr. Daniel Amen recently talked about on a recent episode of Late Night Health with Mark Alyn. Your brain needs nourishment with good food, beverages, sleep and exercise to function at its best today, tomorrow and in the future.

Dementia is not a natural part of aging, nor is Alzheimer’s. And it can be reversed.

Dr. Dean Ornish and his wife Anne also talked to Oprah on Soul Sunday about how what foods you eat and lifestyle changes can reverse chronic disease like heart disease. His book, “UnDo It!” talks about how simple lifestyle changes can reverse most chronic diseases.

This 82-year-old woman reversed her dementia by changing her food and lifestyle.

When his mother’s condition became so severe  for her own safety she had to be kept in the hospital, Mark Hatzer almost came to terms with losing another parent.

Sylvia had lost her memory and parts of her mind, she had even phoned the police once accusing the nurse who were caring for her of kidnap.

A change in diet, which was comprised of high amounts of blueberries and walnuts, has proven to have had a strong impact on Sylvia’s condition that her recipes are now being shared by the Alzheimer’s Society.

Sylvia also began incorporating other health foods, including broccoli, kale, spinach, sunflower seeds, green tea, oats, sweet potatoes and even dark chocolate with a high percentage of cacao. All of these foods are known to be beneficial for brain health.

Photo by Mircea Iancu on Pexels.com

Mark and Sylvia devised to diet together after deciding that the medication on its own was not enough, they looked into the research showing that rates of dementia are much lower in Mediterranean countries and copied a lot of their eating habits.

Photo by freestocks.org on Pexels.com

Photo by Nick Collins on Pexels.com

According to Mirror.co.uk“

Mark, whose brother Brent also died in 1977, said: “When my mum was in hospital she thought it was a hotel – but the worst one she had ever been in.

“She didn’t recognise me and phoned the police as she thought she’d been kidnapped.

“Since my dad and brother died we have always been a very close little family unit, just me and my mum, so for her to not know who I was was devastating.

“We were a double act that went everywhere together. I despaired and never felt so alone as I had no other family to turn to.

“Overnight we went from a happy family to one in crisis.

“When she left hospital, instead of prescribed medication we thought we’d perhaps try alternative treatment.

“In certain countries Alzheimer’s is virtually unheard of because of their diet.

“Everyone knows about fish but there is also blueberries, strawberries, Brazil nuts and walnuts – these are apparently shaped like a brain to give us a sign that they are good for the brain.”

Photo by Suzy Hazelwood on Pexels.com

There were also some cognitive exercises that Mark and his mother would do together like jigsaw puzzles crosswords and meeting people in social situations, Sylvia would also exercise by using a pedaling device outfitted for her chair.

Mark said, “It wasn’t an overnight miracle, but after a couple of months she began remembering things like birthdays and was becoming her old self again, more alert, more engaged..

“People think that once you get a diagnosis your life is at an end. You will have good and bad days, but it doesn’t have to be the end. For an 82-year-old she does very well, she looks 10 years younger and if you met her you would not know she had gone through all of this.

“She had to have help with all sorts of things, now she is turning it around. We are living to the older age in this country, but we are not necessarily living healthier.”

The Body’s Ability To Heal Is Greater Than Anyone Has Permitted You To Believe

This story just goes to show how resilient our bodies really are if given the right environment. Most of these types of diseases are often related to diet in the first place so that means that they can indeed be reversed with a proper diet.

Sure, some of them are genetic and you might be a carrier of the gene, but that is not a guarantee that it will become active, there are things you can do to minimize the risk.

Our health is our greatest wealth. We have to realize that we do have a say in our lives and what our fate is.

“We now show that some of the highest levels of aluminium ever measured in human brain tissue are found in individuals who have died with a diagnosis of familial Alzheimer’s disease.” -Professor Exley

Please share this article with anyone you know who knows someone who is suffering from dementia or Alzheimer’s.

For more visit: https://www.collective-evolution.com

Alzheimer’s-like symptoms reversed in mice thanks to special diet of green tea and carrots that restored working memory

By MARY KEKATOS HEALTH REPORTER FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

PUBLISHED: 12:13 EDT, 7 March 2019 | UPDATED: 14:29 EDT, 7 March 2019

• Researchers fed some mice genetically programmed to develop Alzheimer’s a diet with EGCG, found in green tea, and FA, found in carrots
  
  

• EGCG is an antioxidant that prevents free radicals from forming and FA is best known for its benefits for the skin
  
  

• After three months, mice fed this diet had memory and visual-spatial skills restored and could find their way out of a maze as well as healthy mice
  
  

• Scientists say it seems the compounds help prevent proteins from forming clumps on the brain and causing cognitive decline

A diet with compounds found in green tea and carrots reversed Alzheimer’s-like symptoms in new experiments, a new study suggests.

Researchers say that mice genetically programmed to develop the disease had memory and visual-spatial skills restored and could find their way out of a maze just as well as healthy mice.

The team, from the University of Southern California, note that it’s possible the discoveries made in the rodents may not be able to be replicated in humans.

However, they add that the findings could lead to plant-based supplements being used in combination with drugs to prevent or slow down dementia symptoms.

 

Please check prior blog for safe tea brands that do not contain plastic.

 

An estimated 5.7 million Americans of all ages are living with Alzheimer’s disease in 2019

 

 

• A daily brisk walk doubles 70-year-olds’ chances of living…
• Footballers are FIVE times more likely to develop the same…

 

Stay healthy!

     blog contact: maria.dorfner@yahoo.com

 

 

Find Out What Ages Your Brain Prematurely

Late Night Health interviews Dr. Daniel Amen

BRAIN HEALTH

Named the most popular psychiatrist in America by the Washington Post

Find out what helps and hurts brains and what causes your brain to prematurely age. The good news is even if you haven’t taken care of your brain up to now, you can still reverse the damage.

Dr. Amen tells you what you need to do FIRST.

Since 50% of people age 85+ will be diagnosed with some form of dementia, this is a topic EVERYONE needs to care about, including teenagers.

According to the CDC, suicide is the second leading cause of death among teenagers. Find out why it’s critical to pay attention to brains first.

Dr. Amen talks to Mark Alyn about what has a negative impact on your kid’s brain AND adult brains, and what has a positive impact.

Teenage boy (16-17) using laptop, sitting on bed

Children and teens are vulnerable because they’re experiencing increased stress  when their brains aren’t fully developed and won’t be until their mid-to-late 20s. Find out the number one thing kids can do to improve their brain’s health.

Dr. Amen says ignoring environment, nutrition, physical, spiritual and mental health can result in behavior problems, depression and anxiety.

Dr. Amen also answers questions about playing football and your brain, the use of marijuana or CBD and your brain.

We’ve heard a lot of opinions on this topic. Find out what the brain expert says based on hundreds of thousands of brain scans. He has seen first-hand what helps or harms your brain.

Dr. Amen has scanned over 160,000 brains and what he’s learned is something everyone needs to know, especially kids, who currently face increased on and offline pressure.

And test performance requirements, and competitiveness to get accepted into colleges.

Mark Alyn, Host of Late Night Health  talks to Dr. Amen about how to boost your brain power and prevent it from aging faster than you do.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Listen to Interview here:

Change Your Brain – Change Your Grades – Brain Health For All Ages!

ABOUT DR. DANIEL AMEN:

Dr. Daniel Amen co-authored more than 70 professional articles, 7 scientific book chapters and 40-plus books, including the No. 1 New York Times bestsellers, “The Daniel Plan” and “Change Your Brain, Change Your Life.”

“Change Your Brain, Change Your Grades,” includes editorial contributions from his teenage daughter, Chloe Amen, and niece, Alizé Castellanos.

Late Night Health host, Mark Alyn and Dr. Amen share funny stories about raising daughters and what it’s like to have a psychiatrist Dad.

Known for his work in treating the most complex psychiatric issues through eight Amen Clinics around the country that hold the world’s largest database of functional brain scans on behavior.

With the release of his 40th book, “Change Your Brain, Change Your Grades,” Dr. Daniel Amen provides students, parents and teachers simple steps to improve brain health for better performance in school and in life

 

Try Dr. Amen’s Free Brain Health Assessment Quiz: https://brainhealthassessment.com/

 

blog contact: maria.dorfner@yahoo.com

Maria Shriver Creates 1st Coloring Book for Alzheimer’s Patients

Maria has created the first coloring book for Alzheimer’s patients and their caregivers.  And we’re excited about it.  I’ve known Maria Shriver since the ’80s and even had an opportunity to fill-in for her during technical rehearsals on an NBC show called Main Street. She and Bryant Gumbel hosted it.  She’s an incredibly intelligent, affable and warm person. So, I’m delighted to share this news with you.

 

Maria with her dad, Sargent Shriver, diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2003

[Photo Credit:  Laurence L. Levin]

The project was inspired by Shriver’s quest to find ways to be close to her father, Sargent Shriver, diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2003.  He passed away in 2011.

“When I would go to visit my dad as his disease progressed, I had fewer and fewer things that I could do with him,” Shriver told NBC’s TODAY.

“I could take a walk with him, but a lot of times he didn’t want to walk. I played puzzles with him and sometimes drew on a piece of paper.”

Images in Maria Shriver’s book were developed through visits to the nursing home.  They include upbeat, positive, fun, hopeful images for stress-relief.

It also includes tips for caregivers culled from conversations with doctors and families.

Dr. Richard Isaacson, director of the Alzheimer’s Prevention Clinic at Weill Cornell Medicine/NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital says the coloring book can help start a conversation and help families do an activity together.

Isaacson tells TODAY, “The person with Alzheimer’s may not be able to communicate his or her thoughts as well as they used to or may not remember what happened to the conversation 10 minutes ago, but they’re able to express themselves through art — through drawing.”

Dr. Isaacson continues, “Some patients with Alzheimer’s like to move and can’t sit still… coloring is a great way to refocus negative energy and do something more calm.”

June is Alzheimer’s and Brain Awareness Month. More than 5M Americans live with it–one in 8 people age 65 and older, according to the Alzheimer’s Association.

Maria Shriver says this coloring book is a labor of love, “I’m really hopeful this is filling a void and a need and will change people’s lives,” she says, noting she would have liked to have shared it with her dad.

“I think it would have brought laughter. It would have enabled us to do something together.”

We think so too.  Thank you, Maria Shriver.

Visit NBC TODAY for more on Maria Shriver’s story:

http://www.today.com/health/alzheimer-s-disease-coloring-book-created-maria-shriver-t112805

Links to Purchase Maria’s book at end of article.

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Consequently, a year ago, I was interviewed by Cable Neuhaus in the Saturday Evening Post about the health benefits of adults coloring. He saw my positive FB posts about it.

I told Neuhaus I never stopped coloring, but thought it was an oddball habit of mine.

Years ago, while working at The Crayola Experience in Easton, PA I observed parents enjoy coloring as much as kids and posted about it on FB. They looked so relaxed.

I thought they’re in the moment –essentially what meditation is all about. Makes sense.

Shortly thereafter, adult coloring books began to appear.

Coloring Books for Grown-ups

By: Cable Neuhaus

In Issue: March/April 2016

[Image: Shutterstock]

If, as some say, you can judge an entire society by the way it treats its most vulnerable, then I’d argue it is equally fair to measure a nation by the way its citizens fritter away their spare time.

Lately, Americans are frittering like mad in a couple of surprising ways: on outdoor courts playing a game called pickleball, and in coloring books.

Let’s begin with the coloring books, which are meant for adults. The craze began more than a year ago. Color me skeptical, even now, but the wild enthusiasm for this hobby shows no signs of fading. Several of the books sit atop our national best-seller lists. (Johanna Basford’s Secret Garden was the first of the blockbusters, but dozens have followed.) Who, exactly, is buying these — and why?

An admission: When I heard about this fad, my initial thought was unashamedly elitist. What kind of latte-fueled exurbanite would exchange nightly yoga classes for the joylessness of coloring? Maybe someone with no life to speak of? Okay, big mistake. Huge. Turns out that adult coloring books are a raging success across nearly every shade and stratum of the American landscape, from pastures to plains to the towers of Manhattan.

Take, as an example, Maria Dorfner, a native New Yorker who freelance produces at networks. “It calms and centers my mind,” Dorfner, an avid colorer, told me. “Adults need to learn to be more in the moment, like kids with crayons.”

Asked about a Psychology Today story that contended coloring cannot possibly constitute a spiritual experience, despite claims to the contrary by the hobby’s millions of evangelists, Dorfner says, “They’re just wrong about that.” Backing her up is a widely shared perception that coloring does indeed both soothe and heal the mind. (And let’s please agree that the illustrators of these exquisitely drawn books are artists; the color-inners are not.)

“Adults need to learn to be more in the moment, like kids with crayons,” one avid colorer says.

So, what we have here in our go-go digital age is an analog diversion for stressed-out grown-ups. One sits and colors and dreams, and the day’s tiny troubles appear to vanish.

At the other end of the spectrum is a (slightly) more physically demanding pastime, the game of pickleball. Imagine tennis played with wiffle balls and paddles on a diminutive court — Ping-Pong on a grander scale. The sport has rapidly attracted participants coast to coast, mainly among oldsters: The thrill of victory never flags, but the viability of older knees often does, alas.

This helps explain why pickleball, which has been around for a while, exploded in popularity only recently, as our aging population surged. The USA Pickleball Association reports it witnessed an 84 percent membership increase in the last two years alone and now boasts more than 400,000 active players. An Oregon documentarian is developing a movie about its rise.

Steve Brodsky, a 61-year-old Floridian, captured the excitement perfectly: “Pickleball is for older folks who’ve got the fire in the belly,” he told me. “Guys like me can feel, ‘Wow, I’ve still got it!’”

Hot on pickleball’s heels is a variation on that game called POP Tennis, a rebranded version of what we once knew as paddle tennis. Backed by a fresh infusion of cash from Hollywood agent Ken Lindner (Matt Lauer and Lester Holt are among his clients), the U.S. POP Tennis Association is currently rolling out a national tour. It’s aimed at picking up where pickleball leaves off. The appeal of POP Tennis, Lindner told me, is that “anyone can play, young or old. If you can walk, you can hit the ball immediately.”

What conclusions can be drawn from these trends? Well, whether we choose a pencil or a paddle, and whatever our age, Americans seldom let time go to waste. It’s in our character to be restless; it’s a trait that’s long served us well.

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Don’t forget to pick up a copy of Maria Shriver’s book. Links to purchasing it here:

Barnes and Noble:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/color-your-mind-maria-shriver/1126249685

Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Color-Your-Mind-Coloring-Alzheimers/dp/1944515488

If you’re an Alzheimer’s caregiver and you pick up the book, please let me know if and how it’s helped. I’d love to hear and share your story.  Email: maria.dorfner@yahoo.com
Subject line:  Caregiver Story: Color Your Mind book

 

Thank you Maria Shriver for helping Alzheimer’s patients and caregivers!

   Maria Dorfner is the founder NewsMD Communications and Healthy Within Network.  This is her blog.   Contact: maria.dorfner@yahoo.com

Brain Power Linked To 45 Minutes of Resistance Training

 

I read an article about “experts” wondering how much exercise you need to keep your brain sharp. The experts answer it is unknown.

Not true!  I once again felt like a kid raising my hand again in school, only to be told, “Let someone else answer, Maria.”   Finally, when no one else does, I get to answer.

45 minutes!

A new study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine by Joseph Northey, University of Canberra in Australia is the first to identify the key role played by resistance training, such as weights or core strength activity, in boosting brain function. 

 

And 45 minutes is how much you need to keep your brain sharp. I can’t say this is the first study because Super Body, Super Brain is all about how resistance training combined with aerobics is what fosters neurogenesis (new brain cell growth).

They say until now, research focused on aerobic exercises like swimming, cycling, fast walking or jogging, as being good for the brain.

They now believe, however, that resistance training benefits the brain in different ways, stimulating additional areas of growth.

Study confirms it’s 45 minutes of resistance training for people in fifties or over.

The 45 minute mark of any activity is when you feel most alert and decisive.

Other brain benefits include slowing down cognitive decline.

Joseph Northey, who led the research at the University of Canberra, says doctors should be proactively prescribing exercise as a form of preventative medicine.

“Even exercising on one or two days of the week seemed to be effective, but the most important thing we found was the intensity of the exercise,” he said.

“It should be moderate, but aiming to get some vigorous intensity in there as well.”

In the April 2017 meta-analysis, University of Canberra researchers analyzed results of 39 previous studies on exercise and cognitive function in adults age 50 and older.

Although the studies look at different types of exercise, they all came to similar conclusions when compared side-by-side:

Getting up and moving at a moderate intensity for at least 45 minutes at a time was linked to improved cognition (memory and overall brain function included) — and the more days a week that person squeezed in those 45-minute sessions, the greater cognitive benefits they reaped!

Researchers also found aerobic exercise helps with learning, reasoning, reading, thinking.  Resistance training helps with organizing, planning and memory.

They recommend  mixing aerobic exercise and resistance training for best results.

Your 45 minutes can include walking, cleaning, bike riding, gardening, swimming, golf, tennis, dancing, bowling, shopping or anything else that gets you moving.

 

People work out for their body, but having a sharp mind is even more attractive.

 

It looks like my friend’s books are ahead of their time.

 

Michael Gonzalez-Wallace, author of Super Body, Super Brain already stated resistance training causes neurogenesis (new brain cells grow) and backed it up with scientific research. Dr. Gregory Lombardo from Columbia University, who serves on the board of Super Body, Super Brain with me, recommends it to patients.

I highly recommend reading:

Super Body, Super Brain by Michael Gonzalez-Wallace

The Brain Mechanic by Spencer Lord

Sleep Habits of Geniuses

 

 

Tesla reportedly curled his toes 100 times on each foot before sleep, believing that stimulated brain cells.   Funny, I do that to warm up my Flintstone feet.

Charles Dickens carried a navigational compass with him at all times to ensure that he was always facing north while he slept. He believed that this practice improved his creativity and writing (and perhaps his ability to always know what direction he was facing at any given time).  [source: Ashlee Christian, FreelancersUnion]

Salvador Dalí thought sleep was for the birds, or you know for all the other organisms that actually need to sleep for more than one second at a time. He would nap in a chair with a key in his hand above a plate, and the second he fell asleep the key would fall, hit the plate, and wake him up. Similar to the Uberman cycle, it is a form of hypnagogic sleep that Dalí felt enhanced his creativity. [source: Ashlee Christian, FreelancersUnion]

 

Thank you Ashlee Christian for adding two women to the list. I’ll find more and add to the end. Actually, my siblings are going to have a laugh at this one.

Emily Brontë was plagued by insomnia and would walk circles around her dining room table until she fell asleep (presumably in a bed and not under the table, but who knows).

Flannery O’Connor slept from 9pm to 6am every day.  That’s a regular nine hours.

Photo by: Cmacauley

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Charles Dickens carried a navigational compass with him at all times to ensure that he was always facing north while he slept. He believed that this practice improved his creativity and writing (and perhaps his ability to always know what direction he was facing at any given time).Salvador Dalí thought sleep was for the birds, or you know for all the other organisms that actually need to sleep for more than one second at a time.He would nap in a chair with a key in his hand above a plate, and the second he fell asleep the key would fall, hit the plate, and wake him up. Similar to the Uberman cycle, it is a form of hypnagogic sleep that Dalí felt enhanced his creativity.

It’s important to know how much sleep you need to be at your best and most productive.  For me, it’s 10 hours. People think I don’t sleep at all, when it’s actually the opposite.

I get ten hours, but it may be at odd times. For instance, if I’m working at a network from midnight to 8 a.m. I sleep from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. and get on a bus at 8 p.m. to arrive 10 p.m.

If I’m dayside, I adjust time. If I’m on my own, as long as I get 10 hrs. in there somewhere, I’m good. If sleep is interrupted, multiple power naps come in handy, but they’re never a replacement for a good night’s sleep.

A lot of writers in history like Fran Kafka wrote from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. and slept around that schedule.  Basically, if you work from home you can find when you’re most productive and be up then, but you have to make sure you work in 9 hours of sleep around it.

Today is National Nap Day.

These days are created to raise awareness, which begs the question about a lot of stupid ones out there.  I digress.  It’s today because you lost an hour of sleep yesterday when the clocks jumped forward, so you may feel sluggish today. Hence, National Nap Day to let you know it’s okay to close your door and take a nap today.

Good luck with that in open work environments. One sneeze and the whole team get sick.  Seriously, who came up with open work environments?  Collaborative?  That’s 2 or 3 people in one office, not an open zoo hearing everyone’s conversations or chewing gum, smelling cologne, perfume or food –the list can go on about how these people pretend to work and secretly can’t wait to get the heck out of there.

I can walk into any company and know if it’s a healthy office or team. The irony is some of them profess to be about health when they’re the Canal Street of Madison Avenue.  You can buy a fake watch, but as genius Steve Jobs learned, you can’t buy into anything fake when it comes to health.  I don’t know how many hour Jobs slept a night, but he was known to call designers up at 3 a.m.  My guess is he probably could have used someone with his best interests at heart advising him on healthy habits.  It’s so dangerous to get yes men or women or those trying to sell something around you when you’re successful or worse, those giving you misinformation.

I promised earlier I would find more women. OPRAH!  I already said I know she loves power naps, but I am curious how many hours of sleep she gets a night.  She reports she is at her best at 5 and a half hours of sleep each night. Oh no.  There you have it. That’s why she has had weight issues her whole life. Why hasn’t any expert told her this??  At that amount of sleep her body is releasing something called cortisol and it keeps the hunger gremlins turned ON, ON,  ON  all the time while causing inflammation in the body. Why didn’t Dr. Oz catch this?  Rest is critical to the body.  If she changed this ONE habit she will be amazed at the results.

The world needs people to rest. Less illness. People think when you have a million or a billion dollars you should sleep like a baby. NO!  Not true. Remember when you were a kid and you couldn’t sleep the night before Christmas because you were too excited?!  Well, having a billion dollars is initially like that. Then, stressors appear like competition, relationships, fake people suddenly inviting you to be a part of this or that event, dinner or organization just because you have money. You’ll wonder where these people were when you had no money. They are not your friends. When you realize the fakeness in all the fundraising and pay to play things out there you realize some things can not be bought. Everything real can not. True friendship.  True love.  True health. True happiness. Another thing happens when you have money. Friends without money can’t do everything you want to do because they don’t have money or free time. That’s where it’s lonely at the top come from. So, there is stress.  If a wealthy person or a poor person do not sleep enough the results are the same. They will both experience a rise in cortisol, the fear hormone which causes inflammation inside your body. Too many yes men or women or ill informed people around you really can cause you to be sick. Make sure you have a healthy reference group in your circle.

Let’s look at some other sleeping habits. Marissa Mayer reports 4 to 6 hours. Again, not good. Lordy, Martha Stewart reports 4 hours.

President Obama reports sleeping from 1 a.m. to 7 a.m.  That’s only 6 hours a night.

It’s so important the President be well-rested.  I bet whoever they put on the White House team for health writes prescriptions when someone can’t sleep instead of really caring and or knowing about health.

The world needs people who brag about getting a good night’s rest. The funny thing is it shows on their faces and bodies and ability to make good decisions.  I forgot to mention that the release of cortisol in your body also ages you faster. I know so much about cortisol, but this blog is about NAPPING and the sleeping habits of Geniuses, so will save that for another time.  Until then,  hope you’ve learned something that makes you healthier. It’s never too late to change a habit for the better.

When your basic daily habits are healthy you should only need to see your physician once a year to get a compete physical, and for recommended screenings for your age group. That’s when your doctor says, “Everything looks great. Keep doing whatever it is you’re doing.”

Happy National Power Napping! -Maria Dorfner

 

Genius inspiration favors the well-rested mind.

 

 

In honour of National Napping Day, Mark Molloy of UK Telegraph takes a look at some of the apparent benefits of taking some time out of your busy schedule to catch up on your sleep.

It could save your life

Napping could reduce blood pressure and stave off heart attacks, according to Greek researchers.

They found that those who had a nap at noon later had lower blood pressure than those who stayed awake through the day in a study involving almost 400 middle-aged men and women.

“Midday naps seem to lower blood pressure levels and may probably also decrease the number of required antihypertensive medic [drugs],” said Dr Manolis Kallistratos, the lead researcher.

Keeps you focused

Margaret Thatcher: enjoyed a nap  Photo: PA

Both Margaret Thatcher and Sir Winston Churchill knew about the benefits of having power naps to stay focused for longer at work.

Baroness Thatcher famously slept for just four hours a night during the week, though she took regular daytime naps.

Sir Winston Churchill managed on just four hours sleep a night during World War Two – but insisted on a two hour nap in the afternoon.

Scientist Albert Einstein reportedly slept for 10 hours a night, plus daytime naps.

Helps you feel more refreshed

Post-lunch power naps can be as refreshing as a good night’s sleep, according to a study.

Scientists have shown that a 60- to 90-minute siesta can charge up the brain’s batteries as much as eight hours tucked up in bed.

Boosts productivity

Research suggests you should make time for naps  Photo: PA

Bosses should let their staff take naps at work as sleeping for 30 to 90 minutes in the afternoon can improve creativity, a leading brain researcher claims.

“It’s best to give your brain downtime. I have a nap every afternoon,” explains Vincent Walsh, professor of human brain research at University College London.

“It’s only since the industrial revolution we have been obsessed with squeezing all our sleep into the night rather than having one or two sleeps through the day.”

Improves your mood

Toddlers who are denied regular afternoon naps grow up into grumpier and moodier adults, a study indicates.

US researchers found that toddlers who miss just one daytime nap become more anxious and less interested in the world around them.

Reduces stress

Spanish scientists believed they have proved a siesta is good for you and issued guidelines for the perfect nap.

A short sleep after lunch can reduce stress, help cardiovascular functions, and improve alertness and memory, according to the Spanish Society of Primary Care Physicians (SEMERGEN).

They suggest a siesta should be no longer than half an hour, others suggest it should not be longer than 15 minutes.

Reduces mistakes

Naps can restore alertness, enhance performance, and reduce mistakes and accidents, according to the National Sleep Foundation (NSA).

A study at NASA on sleepy military pilots and astronauts found that a 40-minute nap improved performance by 34 per cent and alertness 100 per cent, the NSA reports.

Meanwhile, this simple 10-3-2-1-0 formula could make your days more productive.

Sleep habits of those at the top

• As Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher famously slept for just four hours a night during the week, though she took regular daytime naps.
• When asked how many hours sleep people need, Napoleon Bonaparte is said to have replied: “Six for a man, seven for a woman, eight for a fool.”
• US President Barack Obama is understood to only sleep for six hours
  
• Business magnate Donald Trump boasts just three to four hours sleep nightly.
• Sir Winston Churchill managed on just four hours sleep a night during World War Two – but insisted on a two hour nap in the afternoon.
• Scientist Albert Einstein reportedly slept for 10 hours a night, plus daytime naps.
• Bill Gates, former chief executive of Microsoft, says he needs seven hours of sleep to “stay sharp”.

 

 

Maria Dorfner

Disneyland. Healthy Families. Sis is missing.

 

Maria Dorfner is the founder of NewsMD and Healthy Within Network.  This is her blog. Follow her on Twitter @Maria_Dorfner.  She can be reached at maria.dorfner@yahoo.com

 

“The people you spend time with determine your longevity.” -Daniel Amen, psychiatrist

 

 

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THE IMPORTANCE OF PALLIATIVE CARE  by Maria Dorfner

 

In 2000, I practically lived at the Cleveland Clinic.  In fact, they wanted to put me up at a hotel, but I preferred to be closer to the patients I was writing stories about. One of those patients was dying from AIDS.  He was in the Palliative Care Unit. I spent time speaking to him, his partner, his family and his caretakers.

I’d been a professional health journalist since 1993, after working in media as a researcher, producer and writer for 10 years. I love covering health, studied it since I was a kid and covered it on college newspapers. I couldn’t afford to go to medical school, but think journalism ranks up there as one of the most important callings in the world.  We filmed a documentary on Palliative Care and it was an extremely touching story.

He was an in-patient, but his room was beautiful and he shared how comfortable he was knowing he had the best physicians around him and that family could visit any time.  We talked so comfortably about everything not even minding the camera in the room.  One day prior to it being released I got a call. The patient died.  His partner was devastated.  His partner thanked me for creating the most beautiful keepsake he had –the video.  Through his tears, he asked if I would refrain from airing it. It was something he and the patient had talked about prior to his passing away –that they would only want it to air if they could watch it together.  They knew the possibility existed that it would not happen.

I honored their wish.

The need for a healing touch continues even after a cure is no longer possible.

What is Palliative Medicine?

Palliative medicine is comprehensive medical care for patients with life threatening disease that focuses on control of cancer symptoms, management of complications, and quality of life. It cares for patients and their families and treats the cancer symptoms of body, mind and spirit. It is most successful when done with a multidisciplinary team approach to treating the cancer symptoms.

What are the goals of Palliative Medicine?

• To provide excellent care of patients and their families dealing with advanced disease throughout the illness and during bereavement
• To advocate effectively for patient comfort, dignity and choice

Who needs Palliative Medicine?

• People experiencing pain or other cancer symptoms
• People with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease), AIDS, heart failure, chronic lung disease or other serious illness experiencing symptoms or repeated hospitalizations
• Patients or families dealing with the stress of a life threatening illness and cancer symptoms

What does a Palliative Medicine team do for my family and me?

We strive to help people live as well as they can despite their illness and to cope with cancer symptoms. We focus on controlling any cancer symptoms that may be interfering in the quality of life, defining goals for any subsequent treatment, and maintaining the best physical and emotional well-being possible despite complex problems. The medical specialist functions as the quarterback of a team, including the patient and the family in what can be difficult decisions. Family conferences are routinely held to ensure that everyone involved is aware of and involved in the plan of care.

Who is on the team?

• The patient and the family
• The referring physician
• The palliative medicine physician
• Registered nurses
• Physician assistants
• Dietitians
• Social workers
• Chaplains
• Music and art therapist
• Home health aides
• Trained volunteers

What services are provided?

Cancer Symptom Control: There is no need for anyone to suffer from uncontrolled pain, nausea or dyspnea (shortness of breath). Medical science knows how to effectively control these cancer symptoms most of the time. Making sure this happens is one of the primary goals of this program.

Case Management: People with serious illness often have many doctors involved in their care making. It is difficult to determine who to contact when a problem occurs. In this program, each patient has a registered nurse case manager assigned. That person is then a link to all other caregivers and available after hours.

The Harry R. Horvitz Center: Most people can be managed in an outpatient setting, but in crisis, this 23-bed inpatient unit is available for comprehensive multidisciplinary care.

Inpatient Consultation Service: Comprehensive assessment and management of symptoms in other areas of the hospital is provided to ensure maximum comfort for all hospitalized patients. The attending physician must request this service.

Outpatient Clinic: Specialty follow-up and consultation are available in this clinic. Nurse case managers maintain contact with their patients in this setting also.

Home Care and Hospice: As people become more ill they may need assistance at home which can be provided by Cleveland Clinic Home Care Ventures. As end of life approaches, the Hospice of the Cleveland Clinic is available at home for the special multidisciplinary care so critical at this time of life. Inpatient hospice care in the community is also available. Continuity is maintained throughout with the staff of the Palliative Medicine Program.

What is special about the Harry R. Horvitz Center?

Dr. Declan Walsh first developed the program at the Cleveland Clinic in 1988. At that time nothing of its kind existed in the United States. It still remains one of the few fully integrated programs in this country. In 1991 it was recognized by the World Health Organization as “a unique model of a much needed service” and designated a WHO Demonstration Project. The program had the first endowed chairs in Palliative Medicine in the USA.

The 23-bed inpatient unit was built in memory of Harry R. Horvitz, lifelong resident of Cleveland, recognized by his friends and associates as a man of integrity and compassion. The unit consists of the following facilities:

• 13 private patient rooms
• 5 semi-private patient rooms
• Family lounge
• Glass enclosed solarium
• Family dining room
• Donor recognition area

Research

The Harry R. Horvitz Center for Palliative Medicine also conducts important cancer research and educational programs in pain management, symptom control and nutrition. Donations made to the Harry R. Horvitz Center for Palliative Medicine are allocated for this vital research.

Advances made at the Cleveland Clinic have minimized unwanted side effects of treatment and enhanced quality of life for patients with advanced disease and painful cancer symptoms.

 Cancer Answers & Appointments

Speak with a cancer nurse specialist for appointment assistance and for answers to your questions about cancer locally at 216.444.7923216.444.7923 or toll-free 1.1.866.223.8100 FREE866.223.8100866.223.8100 FREE.

Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. (ET).

Referrals

Resources for medical professionals

• Outpatient appointment referrals: 216.444.7923216.444.7923 or 866.223.8100866.223.8100 FREE
• Inpatient hospital transfers: 800.553.5056800.553.5056 FREE
• Referring Physician Concierge: 216.444.6196216.444.6196 or 216.312.4910216.312.4910.

Clinical Trials

Search available cancer clinical trials by disease, hospital, phase or number.

• Search Cancer Clinical Trials

This information is provided by Cleveland Clinic and is not intended to replace the medical advice of your doctor or health care provider. Please consult your health care provider for advice about a specific medical condition.

© Copyright 2016 Cleveland Clinic. All rights reserved.

 

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Latino Youth In California See Significant Rise In Psychiatric Hospitalizations

By Jocelyn Wiener February 24, 2016

Psychiatric hospitalizations of Latino children and young adults in California are rising dramatically — at a much faster pace than among their white and black peers, according to state data.

While mental health hospitalizations of young people of all ethnicities have climbed in recent years, Latino rates stand out. Among those 21 and younger, they shot up 86 percent, to 17,813, between 2007 and 2014, according to the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development. That’s compared with a 21 percent increase among whites and 35 percent among African Americans.

No one knows for certain what’s driving the trend. Policymakers and Latino community leaders offer varying and sometimes contradictory explanations. Some say the numbers reflect a lack of culturally and linguistically appropriate mental health services for Latinos and a pervasive stigma that prevents many from seeking help before a crisis hits.

“Often, they wait until they are falling apart,” said Dr. Sergio Aguilar-Gaxiola, a professor at the University of California, Davis Medical School and director of the university’s Center for Reducing Health Disparities.

This story also ran in The Sacramento Bee. It can be republished for free (details).

Others blame stress from the recent recession, family disintegration and an influx of traumatized children fleeing poverty and violence in Central America.

Still others suggest the trend might actually be positive, reflecting an increasing willingness among Latino parents to seek treatment for themselves and their children, at least when they are in crisis.

Among Latino adults, psychiatric hospitalizations rose 38 percent during the same period. Similar hospitalizations of black adults increased 21 percent, while hospitalizations of white adults remained flat.

Margarita Rocha, the executive director of the nonprofit Centro la Familia in Fresno, said mental health issues are starting to be discussed more publicly in the Latino community.

“That’s helping people to come forward,” she said.

Ken Berrick, CEO of the Seneca Family of Agencies, which serves children with emotional disturbances in a dozen counties, agreed. Because more Latinos are now getting mental health services, children are more likely to be identified as requiring hospitalization, he said.

“I know for a fact that access to service is better now,” said Berrick, whose operation has a crisis stabilization unit in Alameda County, Calif.

Kids’ psychiatric hospitalizations overall rose nearly 45 percent between 2007 and 2014, regardless of ethnicity, a pattern experts attribute to various factors including a shortage of intensive outpatient and in-home services, schools’ struggles to pay for mental health services through special education and a decline in group home placements.

“Those kids have to be treated somewhere,” said Dawan Utecht, Fresno County’s mental health director, of the move to keep kids out of group homes.

“If they don’t get those services in a community setting, they’re going to go into crisis.”

The rise among Latino youths is remarkable in part because hospitalization rates for that population historically have been relatively low.

Latino children remain much less likely to receive mental health treatment through Medi-Cal, the state and federal coverage program for poor and disabled residents. Between 2010 and 2014, less than 4 percent of Latino children received specialty mental health services through the traditional Medi-Cal program. That’s compared with 7 percent of eligible black and white children, according to state data. The numbers don’t include those enrolled in managed care.

(Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders seek treatment at a rate even lower than Latinos. Although hospitalizations are also increasing rapidly among that population, the raw numbers remain relatively small.)

Leslie Preston, the behavioral health director of La Clínica de La Raza, in East Oakland, says that the shortage of bilingual, bicultural mental health workers limits Latino kids’ access to preventive care, which could lead to crises later on.

“Everybody’s trying to hire the Spanish-speaking clinicians,” she said. “There’s just not enough clinicians to meet that demand.”

Access to care can be even harder for recent immigrants. Spanish-speaking children who have been referred for a special education assessment, which can help them become eligible for mental health services, sometimes wait months or years before someone tests them, she said.

“The families don’t know the system,” she added. “They don’t know their rights.”

Other clinicians point to relatively low health insurance coverage among Latinos, particularly those without legal status, and a cultural resistance to acknowledging mental illness.

Dr. Alok Banga, medical director at Sierra Vista Hospital in Sacramento, said some immigrant parents he encounters don’t believe in mental illness and have not grasped the urgency of their children’s depression and past suicide attempts. Many are working two or three jobs, he said. Some are undocumented immigrants afraid of coming to the hospital or having any interaction with Child Protective Services.

But the biggest problem, from his perspective, is the shortage of child psychiatrists and outpatient services to serve this population.

“The default course for treatment falls on institutions: hospitals, jails and prisons,” he said.

Jeff Rackmil, director of the children’s system of care in Alameda County, said sheer population growth — particularly, an increase in Latino children insured under Medi-Cal — may also be part of the explanation for the rise in hospitalizations.

Yet the state’s Latino population aged 24 and under increased less than 8 percent between 2007 and 2014, which doesn’t nearly explain an 86 percent increase in hospitalizations.

Some California communities are working to bring more Latino children into care and to reduce the stigma associated with mental illness.

At Life Academy of Health and Bioscience, a small, mostly Latino high school in East Oakland, students grow up amid pervasive violence and poverty. “We’re just told to hold things in,” said 17-year-old Hilda Chavez, a senior.

Students often don’t seek help because they fear discussing mental health problems will earn them a label of “crazy,” Chavez said.

Last year, the school, in conjunction with the Oakland-based La Clínica de La Raza, started a program to interest students in careers in mental health care. The program provides training in “first aid” instruction to help people in crisis, and places students in internships with mental health organizations.

Nubia Flores Miranda, 18, participated in the program last year and now is majoring in psychology at San Francisco State University. Miranda said she became interested in a career in mental health after she experienced depression and anxiety during her freshman year at Life Academy.

Seeing a school counselor “changed my life around,” she said.

But she saw that her peers were wary of seeking help from counselors at the school, most of whom were white and lived in wealthier, safer neighborhoods. Once, when a classmate started acting out at school, Miranda suggested she talk to someone.

“She told me she didn’t feel like she could trust the person — they wouldn’t understand where she was coming from,” she said.

The shortage of services is especially evident in the Central Valley, where many agricultural workers are Latino. Juan Garcia, an emeritus professor at California State University, Fresno, who founded a counseling center in the city, says the drought and economic downturn have exacerbated depression, anxiety, substance abuse and psychotic breaks among Latinos of all ages.

“The services to this population lag decades behind where they should be,” he said.

In Fresno County, psychiatric hospitalizations of Latino youth more than tripled, to 432, between 2007 and 2014. Hospitalizations of their white and black peers about doubled.

Liliana Quintero Robles, a marriage and family therapy intern in rural Kings County, also in the state’s Central Valley, said she sees children whose mental health issues go untreated for so long that they end up cutting themselves and abusing alcohol, marijuana, crystal meth and OxyContin.

“There’s some really, really deep-rooted suffering,” she said.

Out in the unincorporated agricultural community of Five Points, about 45 minutes from Fresno, almost all of the students at Westside Elementary School are low-income Latinos. When principal Baldo Hernandez started there in 1981, he’d see maybe one child a year with a mental health issue. These days, he sees 15 to 30, he said.

He blames dry wells and barren fields, at least in part.

“I’ve had parents crying at school, begging me to find them a home, begging me to find them a job,” he said.

In some parts of the Valley and other places, the closest hospitals that accept children in psychiatric crises are hours away. Children can be stuck in emergency room hallways for days, waiting for a hospital bed.

“It makes for a very traumatized experience for both families and children,” said Shannyn McDonald, the chief of the Stanislaus County behavioral health department’s children’s system of care.

Recently, the county expanded its promotora program, which enlists members of the Latino community to talk to their peers about mental health.

In the small town of Oakdale, a slim, energetic 51-year-old promotora named Rossy Gomar spends 60 to 70 hours a week serving as cheerleader, educator and sounding board for many of the Latino women and children in the town.

Gomar’s office in the Oakdale Family Support Network Resource Center is cluttered with open boxes of diapers and donated children’s toys and clothing.

“Look at my office,” she laughs. “We don’t fit.”

Gomar says many of the women she works with don’t recognize that they are depressed or abused. Children see their parents’ problems and don’t know where to turn for help.

“There are many young people who don’t have any hope,” she said.

But little by little, she has seen some good results.

One 17-year-old client is a student at Oakdale High School. The girl, whose name is being withheld to protect her privacy, said that earlier this year, problems at school and a break-up with her boyfriend had her struggling to get out of bed each morning. She began drinking, using drugs and thinking about suicide. She was scared to talk to her parents, she said, and kept everything inside.

One day, she walked into Gomar’s office and started crying.

“She told me ‘Everything is ok. We want you here,’” the girl said. “When I was talking with her, I felt so much better.”

The California Wellness Foundation supports KHN’s work with California ethnic media.

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First Pill To Prevent Alzheimer’s: One Catch

According to the Mayo Clinic, The Mediterranean diet is healthy for the brain. It’s rich in fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains and fish and uses olive oil as the primary cooking fat.

Here are other steps that promote good overall health:

• Avoid smoking.
• Control vascular risk factors, including high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes.
• Eat a balanced diet rich in vegetables, fruits and lean protein, particularly protein sources containing omega-3 fatty acids.
• Be physically and socially active, including engaging in aerobic exercise.
• Take care of your mental health.
• Use thinking (cognitive) skills, such as memory skills.

A pill commonly used for cancer may prevent the onset of Alzheimer’s disease

The catch is you have to take it in your 30s. It’s a pill which they say would be what a statin is to your heart. Here’s the thing  People who take statins for their heart have been shown to later get dementia and Alzheimer’s.  I think we’re going to find out in the future that dementia or Alzheimer’s is not a natural part of aging, but caused by two things: your lifestyle (what you eat, drink, how much you exercise and your exposure to toxins) and side effects from medications you take to combat what are essentially side effects of an unhealthy lifestyle.

Pharmaceutical companies work towards treating what should be prevented in the first place. So before you get excited about more pills to prevent dementia or Alzheimer’s, pay attention to what you can do NOW to keep your brain healthy.

Your brain benefits from the same exact things your body benefits from: healthy foods, exercise and avoiding toxins such as sugar, smoking, alcohol –all the usual suspects. It begins in childhood, but it’s never too late.

Neurogenesis, the growth of new brain cells can happen the moment you change these things.

They say in the future millions of 30-somethings may be taking this pill, but it’s so important to know whenever a new pill is announced or FDA approved –the longterm side effects are still unknown.

Heart Statins taken by millions of Americans and their link to dementia and Alzheimer’s wasn’t initially known.

Alzheimer’s is progressive, which means it happens over a long period of time. That’s the reason what you do today will affect your future. Pay attention to foods, beverages, exercise and activities which benefit your brain and those that have a detrimental affect on it.

Some experts say it’s “irreversible” when there are cases of people who have indeed reversed it through lifestyle changes. The key is recognizing early symptoms, so you can make necessary changes.

Even this pill was shown not to work in studies when given too late.

Prof Chris Dobson, Master of St. John’s College, University of Cambridge told the Telegraph, “You wouldn’t give statins to someone who had just had a heart attack, and we doubt that giving a neurostatin to an Alzheimer’s patient who could no longer recognize a family member would be very helpful…

But if it reduces the risk of the initial step in the process, then it has a serious prospect of being an effective preventive treatment.”

The drug targets the first step in the toxic chain reaction that leads to the death of brain cells.

Tests showed it delayed the onset of Alzheimer’s disease, both in a test tube and in nematode worms. I would pay attention more to the bodies natural ability to ward of Alzheimer’s. Please read the list below of Brain Toxic Foods and what you can do without needing a pill.

When the drug was given to worms genetically programmed to develop Alzheimer’s disease, it had no effect once symptoms had already appeared.

But when the drug was given before any symptoms became apparent, no evidence of the condition appeared.

• Human mini-brains to speed up Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s research

The drug works by preventing a process called “primary nucleation.”

What is that? Primary nucleation occurs when proteins in the body mis-fold and begin to clump together, eventually forming sticky plaques that cause dementia.

“The body has a variety of natural defences to protect itself against neurodegeneration, but as we age, these defences become progressively impaired and can get overwhelmed,” said Prof Michele Vendruscolo of Cambridge’s Department of Chemistry, the paper’s senior author.

“By understanding how these natural defences work, we might be able to support them by designing drugs that behave in similar ways.

“This, in terms of an approach for Alzheimer’s disease, would be the equivalent of what statins do for heart conditions. So you would take them well in advance of developing the condition to reduce your risk.

“I think the spirit should be similar to the way statins are used, so they are given to people that are more at risk of disease and given fairly early.

“There is some evidence that amyloid-beta aggregation takes place in middle age, so we may start in people in their 30s.”

The research was published in Science.

In Case That Is Blurry When Enlarged.

KNOW TEN WARNING SIGNS OF ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE

1. MEMORY CHANGES THAT DISTURB DAILY LIFE
2. CHALLENGES IN PLANNING OR SOLVING PROBLEMS
3. DIFFICULTY COMPLETING FAMILIAR TASKS
4. CONFUSION WITH TIME OR PLACE
5. TROUBLE UNDERSTANDING VISUAL IMAGES & RELATIONSHIPS
6. NEW PROBLEMS WITH WORDS OR SPEAKING OR WRITING
7. MISPLACING THINGS AND LOSING THE ABILITY TO RETRACE STEPS
8. DECREASED OR POOR JUDGMENT
9. WITHDRAWAL FROM WORK OR SOCIAL SITUATIONS
10. CHANGES IN MOOD OR PERSONALITY

TIMELINE OF ALZHEIMER’S

1. Early brain changes
2. Subtle decline in thinking
3. Memory changes, confusion
4. Inability to bathe, dress or eat without help
5. Loss of ability to communicate and recognize loved ones

If  you or are a Caregiver to someone with Alzheimer’s remember:

New Study Reveals WHERE Alzheimer’s Disease Begins in the Brain.  It’s in the Locus Coeruleus where the red arrow is pointing in this illustration.

The Lous Coeruleus  is the First Brain Structure Affected By Alzheimer’s Disease.  More about that here:   http://ow.ly/Yp1uN

Meanwhile, here are some brain healthy foods to BOOST BRAINPOWER.

Check out U.S. News & World Reports which rated the BEST nutritional plan for Alzheimer’s disease prevention

PREVENT ALZHEIMER’S

KEEP FIT BY EXERCISING DAILY – YOUR BRAIN BENEFITS!

MAINTAIN A HEALTHY BALANCED DIET – AVOID SUGAR, PROCESSED FOOD, JUNK FOOD AND ALL SODAS

SATURATED FATS

ENJOY BRAIN CHALLENGES LIKE PUZZLES, READING

MAINTAIN AN ACTIVE, SOCIAL LIFE

Maintain a healthy, balanced diet and an active lifestyle. Keep fit.  The benefits of exercise on your brain’s health are extraordinary.   A daily walk can be done anywhere.

TIME Magazine even featured an article called, “This Is Your Brain on Exercise.”

Great read:  http://time.com/3956256/brain-exercise-effect/

If you or someone you know needs help with fitness I highly recommend Michael Gonzalez-Wallace, CEO, fitness expert and author of Super Body, Super Brain.

He has an on-line training program and has a passionate interest in optimizing brain function through fitness/lifestyle and brain-muscle training.

On-Line Fitness Training:  https://www.superbodysuperbrain.com/

Enjoy brain challenges like puzzle activities, cards and board games.

In related news be sure to check out the New York teen, Kenneth Shinozuka who invented an in-sole sensor that can track Alzheimer’s patients when they wander.

Kenneth Shinozuka has invented a new wearable sensor called the SafeWanderer that can help keep Alzheimer’s patients safe. Inspired by his own grandfather’s battle with the disease, the 15-year-old came up with a device that can keep tabs on patients if they begin to wander off. The sensor works by reacting to pressure and can notify a caregiver through a smart phone app when a patient is on-the-go.

Read more: New York Teen Invents In-Sole Sensor that Can Track Wandering Alzheimer’s Patients | Inhabitat New York City

Here’s more help for Alzheimer’s patients in the form of an app.  I like the simplicity of MindMate.

Keep in mind that not all Alzheimer’s patients use smart phone and they may resist adding one more thing to their proverbial To Do list.

Be sure to discuss it with the patient first. Show it to them and ask them if they would find it helpful. If yes, follow-up to check on their progress.

Great read: “Super Body Super Brain” by Michael Gonzalez-Wallace.  Michael has provided fitness programs specifically tailored for Alzheimer’s patients.

It focuses on keeping your brain sharp at all ages.

The book “Super Body, Super Brain” by Michael Gonzalez-Wallace is available here:

http://www.harpercollins.com/search-results/?search-term=super+body+super+brain

Stay healthy, everyone!

     MARIA DORFNER is the founder of Healthy Within Network. This is her blog. It curates and shares best in health from around the world without conflicts of interest for consumers  & media. Maria’s interest in health began in childhood. She won first place in science fairs and has always loved research, writing and creating. She covered the health beat in college and began professionally specializing in health after ten years of working in media.  The letters of gratitude she received from viewers after her medical segments aired is what gave meaning and purpose to her vocation.  Some people wrote to say seeing a segment saved their life.  She began as an executive intern at NBC News in 1983. In 1989, she helped launch CNBC, NBC’s cable station. In 1993, she began specializing in health. She founded NewsMD Communications and developed 7 half-hour original health series and pitched them to CNBC.  She senior produced and co-anchored them on CNBC for 3 years. She has since worked as director of research for Ailes Communications and as an associate producer, producer, field producer, medical/health writer, and on-air host. She has also written, produced and directed 21st Century Medicine, a documentary series covering future health, breakthroughs and pioneering medicine, airing on Discovery Health. She helped launch the Cleveland Clinic News Service (CCNS) on-site, and MedPage Today. Her award-winning original programs include Healthy Living, Healthcare Consumers, Lifestyles & Longevity, Healthcare Practitioners and Green Magazine. She has also produced for The Cutting Edge Medical Report and Healthy Women. She is the author of 3 books including Healthy Within available on Lulu Publishing. She is the  founder of NewsMD Communications, LLC.  Her alma mater, Pace University and Women in Corporate America awarded her an Outstanding Leadership Abilities award.

She can  be reached at maria.dorfner@yahoo.com

 “When We Tell Stories…People Listen.”

  

 

 

 

6 Nutrients for Your Brain’s Health

The Pie of excellent brain health includes:  Nutrition, Physical Activity, Mental Stimulation, Socialization & Spirituality.  I would add Sleep & Fresh Air.  Click on image to enlarge it.

I explore nutrition because the first study, to use nutrient levels in the blood to analyze the effect of diet on memory and thinking skills, and brain volume says nutritional factors do influence brain health.  It makes sense that we need to feed our mind well as much as our body.  Good input.  Good output.  Feeding your brain well may ward off memory loss, dementia or Alzheimer’s Disease.  The findings appeared in Neurology, a journal from the American Academy of Neurology.

The 6 nutrients linked to good memory and thinking skills are:

1. omega-3 fatty acids (salmon, tuna, mackerel and trout are particularly high in omega-3s)
2. vitamins B (meats, fish, eggs, cheese & some cereals)
3. vitamin C (orange juice, broccoli, red peppers, dark green vegetables, strawberries & kiwi)
4. vitamin D (natural sunlight)
5. vitamin E (vegetable oils, nuts, seeds, leafy greens, whole grains, wheat germ)
6. vitamin B-12 (clams, oysters, mussels, liver, caviar, octopus, salmon, tuna, cod, trout, bluefish, crab, lobster, beef, lamb, cheese, egg yolks, more below)

People with high blood levels of these nutrients:

• Scored better on thinking tests than those who had low blood levels of these nutrients.
• Their brains also showed less shrinkage, a sign of brain health.

People with Alzheimer’s typically have smaller brains than those without the disease.  What causes brain shrinkage? Trans fats. That’s the unhealthy type of fat. People with high levels of trans fats scored lower on thinking and memory tests.   Where are unhealthy trans fats found?

• FAST FOODS
• PACKAGED BAKED GOODS
• FRIED FOODS
• FROZEN FOODS

So, keep your thinking and memory sharp by sticking with nutritious foods.

The study, part of the Oregon Brain Aging Study, involved 104 people, average age 87. Other than advanced age, they had few risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of dementia.

“These results need to be confirmed, but obviously it is very exciting to think that people could potentially stop their brains from shrinking and keep them sharp by adjusting their diet,” said study author Gene Bowman of Oregon Health and Science University in Portland.

By ALZinfo.org, The Alzheimer’s Information Site. Reviewed by William J. Netzer, Ph.D., Fisher Center for Alzheimer’s Research Foundation at The Rockefeller University.

Sources: Christy C. Tangney, Nikolaos Scarmeas: “The Good, Bad, and Ugly? How Blood Nutrient Concentrations May Reflect Cognitive Performance.” Neurology Vol 78 No 1, 2012.

G. L. Bowman, L.C. Silbert, D. Howieson, et al: “Nutrient Biomarker Patterns, Cognitive Funciton, and MRI Measures of Brain Aging.” Neurology Vol 78, No. 1, 2012.

For More Information please visit Alzheimer’s Research Foundation at http://www.alzinfo.org

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Other Vitamin B12 Rich Foods

Fortified Cereals* List of Cereals High in Vitamin B12	20μg (333% RDA) per 100 gram serving	16μg (267% RDA) in an average bowl (2 cups) (80 grams)	8μg (133% RDA) per cup (40 grams)	Click to see complete nutrition facts for Fortified Cereals
Liverwurst Sausage	13.46μg (224% RDA) per 100 gram serving	2.42μg (40% RDA) per slice (18 grams)	3.77μg (63% RDA) per ounce (28 grams)	Click to see complete nutrition facts for Liverwurst Sausage
Fortified Energy Bars*	12.24μg (204% RDA) per 100 gram serving	5.39μg (90% RDA) per bar (44 grams)	2.7μg (45% RDA) in half a bar (22 grams)	Click to see complete nutrition facts for Fortified Energy Bars
Fois Gras (Goose Liver Pâté)	9.4μg (157% RDA) per 100 gram serving	1.22μg (20% RDA) per tablespoon (13 grams)	2.63μg (44% RDA) per ounce (28 grams)	Click to see complete nutrition facts for Fois Gras (Goose Liver Pâté)
Emu Steak	9.37μg (156% RDA) per 100 gram serving	36.92μg (615% RDA) per tablespoon (394 grams)	7.96μg (133% RDA) per ounce (85 grams)	Click to see complete nutrition facts for Emu Steak
New England Clam Chowder	4.8μg (80% RDA) per 100 gram serving	12.1μg (202% RDA) per cup (252 grams)	1.54μg (26% RDA) in a fluid ounce (32 grams)	Click to see complete nutrition facts for New England Clam Chowder
Manhattan Clam Chowder	3.3μg (55% RDA) per 100 gram serving	7.92μg (132% RDA) per cup (240 grams)	0.99μg (17% RDA) in a fluid ounce (30 grams)	Click to see complete nutrition facts for Manhattan Clam Chowder
Luncheon Meat*	5.14μg (86% RDA) per 100 gram serving	1.44μg (24% RDA) per one ounce slice (28 grams)	2.88μg (48% RDA) in two slices (56 grams)	Click to see complete nutrition facts for Luncheon Meat
Hard Salami*	2.8μg (47% RDA) per 100 gram serving	3.16μg (53% RDA) in one 4 ounce package (113 grams)	0.28μg (5% RDA) per slice (10 grams)	Click to see complete nutrition facts for Hard Salami
Whey Powder	2.37μg (40% RDA) per 100 gram serving	3.44μg (57% RDA) per cup (145 grams)	0.19μg (3% RDA) per tablespoon (8 grams)	Click to see complete nutrition facts for Dry Sweet Whey
Yogurt (No Fat)	0.61μg (10% RDA) per 100 gram serving	1.49μg (25% RDA) per cup (8oz) (245 grams)	0.69μg (12% RDA) per 4oz serving (half-container) (113 grams)	Click to see complete nutrition facts for Plain Yogurt (No Fat)
Yogurt (Whole)	0.37μg (6% RDA) per 100 gram serving	0.91μg (15% RDA) per cup (8oz) (245 grams)	0.42μg (7% RDA) per 4oz serving (half-container) (113 grams)	Click to see complete nutrition facts for Plain Yogurt (Whole)
Skim Milk	0.53μg (9% RDA) per 100 gram serving	1.3μg (22% RDA) per cup (245 grams)	0.16μg (3% RDA) in a fluid ounce (31 grams)	Click to see complete nutrition facts for Non-Fat Milk
Whole Milk	0.44μg (7% RDA) per 100 gram serving	1.07μg (18% RDA) per cup (244 grams)	0.14μg (2% RDA) in a fluid ounce (31 grams)	Click to see complete nutrition facts for Full Fat Milk
Low-Fat Buttermilk	0.22μg (4% RDA) per 100 gram serving	0.54μg (9% RDA) per cup (245 grams)	0.07μg (1% RDA) in a fluid ounce (31 grams)	Click to see complete nutrition facts for Low-fat Buttermilk
Yeast Extract Spread (Marmite)	0.5μg (8% RDA) per 100 gram serving	1.44μg (48% RDA) per cup (288 grams)	0.03μg (1% RDA) per teaspoon (6 grams)	Click to see complete nutrition facts for Yeast Extract Spread
Cured Ham (Lean)	0.65μg (11% RDA) per 100 gram serving	0.91μg (15% RDA) per cup (140 grams)	0.55μg (9% RDA) in a 3 ounce serving (85 grams)	Click to see complete nutrition facts for Extra Lean Cured Ham
Chicken (Lean)	0.31μg (5% RDA) per 100 gram serving	0.43μg (7% RDA) per cup chopped (140 grams)	0.21μg (3% RDA) in a half-cup (70 grams)	Click to see complete nutrition facts for Lean Roasted Chicken
Fortified Soymilk*	1.11μg (19% RDA) per 100 gram serving	2.7μg (45% RDA) per cup (243 grams)	0.3μg (5% RDA) per ounce (28 grams)	Click to see complete nutrition facts for Fortified Soymilk
Fortified Tofu*	2.36μg (39% RDA) per 100 gram serving	1.86μg (31% RDA) per serving (1/4 packet) (79 grams)	0.7μg (11% RDA) per ounce (28 grams)	Click to see complete nutrition facts for Fortified Tofu

*Amount of vitamin B12 may vary greatly between products. Be sure to check nutrition labels for the exact amount of vitamin B12 from each individual product.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I can’t talk about the brain without mentioning some amazing, brainiac friends I adore, who have written books I love.  Check out my friend, Spencer’s book, “The Brain Mechanic”.  Great read!  http://www.amazon.com/The-Brain-Mechanic-Maximize-Emotional/dp/0757315569

To learn more about Spencer Lord, you can visit his website:  http://www.thebrainmechanic.com/

The book is also available on Audio: http://www.learnoutloud.com/Resources/Authors-and-Narrators/Spencer-Lord/21441

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

And my friend, Michael’s book, “Super Body, Super Brain” is another great read!  http://www.amazon.com/Super-Body-Brain-Workout-That/dp/B005CDTVKA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1334456103&sr=8-1

To learn more about Michael Gonzalez Wallace, you can visit his website at: http://www.superbodysuperbrain.com/

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I also highly recommend you visit my friend, John Assaraf’s website if you want to learn how to use your brain to achieve business success.

John Assaraf is one of the experts featured in the film and book The Secret, which he helped launch into a worldwide phenomenon. He has shared his expertise on achieving financial freedom and living an extraordinary life with millions of viewers on Larry King Live, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and dozens of other media venues worldwide. Visit John online at http://www.johnassaraf.com. I love all of John’s books.  And he and his wife, Maria are wonderful people.  Read more at Amazon’s John Assaraf Page

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Stay healthy!
Maria Dorfner

maria.dorfner@yahoo.com

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Bird Brains Follow Beat

ScienceDaily (Feb. 24, 2012) — By training birds to ‘get rhythm’, scientists uncover evidence that our capacity to move in time with music may be connected with our ability to learn speech.

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Image via Wikipedia

Even though typical dance-floor activity might suggest otherwise, humans generally demonstrate a remarkable capacity to synchronize their body movements in response to auditory stimuli. But is this ability to move in time to musical rhythm a uniquely human trait?

(Shakira, Shakira)

Some animals are capable of vocal learning, changing the sounds they make in response to those they hear from other members of their species. Scientists have hypothesized that such behavior may be associated with the capacity for so-called ‘rhythmic synchronization’.

“Motor control of vocal organs is naturally important in vocal learning,” says Yoshimasa Seki of the RIKEN Brain Science Institute in Wako. “Once auditory-motor coordination in the vocal control system has been established, a similar auditory-motor transformation system for other body parts might be derived from that.”

Studies in vocal-learning species have largely focused on case studies of individual animals, but Seki and colleagues conducted larger-scale experiments and found that budgerigars (Fig. 1) may have an inherent capacity for rhythmic synchronization. The researchers tested their hypothesis by training eight budgerigars to peck a button in response to the rhythm of an external metronome, which could be adjusted to present the birds with audio-visual stimuli at varying intervals.

In all 46 experiments, the birds were able to consistently respond to rhythmic beats within a certain time-frame, demonstrating successful entrainment. However, the accuracy of their timing was dependent on the tempo. Only one out of seven birds was successfully able to match the onset of each beat when the stimuli were generated at 450 millisecond intervals, while all animals achieved this feat when that interval was lengthened to 1,500 or 1,800 milliseconds.

To confirm that actual synchronization was taking place, the researchers used computer simulations of other bird behavior scenarios, such as random pecking or responding directly to individual stimuli rather than the rhythm itself. However, none of these alternative models was sufficient to explain the observed activity. “Our results showed that budgerigars can show rhythmic movements synchronized with external stimuli, which means they potentially have this capability of auditory-motor entrainment as a species,” says Seki.

As such, this species may offer a useful model for future investigations of the neurological mechanisms that potentially connect vocal learning with rhythmic synchronization in both birds and humans. “Such studies should contribute to discussions of specific characteristics of the human speech system and its similarity to the vocal learning systems found in other animal species,” explains Seki.

The budgerigar (below), Melopsittacus undulates, is one of several vocal-learning species of parrot, well known for its capacity to mimic human language. (Credit: Copyright : 2011 Yoshimasa Seki)

  

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by RIKEN, via ResearchSEA.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

 

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Journal Reference:

1. Ai Hasegawa, Kazuo Okanoya, Toshikazu Hasegawa, Yoshimasa Seki. Rhythmic synchronization tapping to an audio–visual metronome in budgerigars. Scientific Reports, 2011; 1 DOI: 10.1038/srep00120

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

LINK TO AND SUBSCRIBE TO SCIENCE DAILY : http://www.sciencedaily.com/ 

RELATED STORIES:  

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Babies Are Born to Dance, New Research Shows (Mar. 16, 2010) — A study of infants finds they respond to the rhythm and tempo of music and find it more engaging than speech. The research suggest that babies may be born with a predisposition to move rhythmically … > read more

 

 

Newborn Infants Detect The Beat In Music (Jan. 27, 2009) — Researchers have demonstrated that two to three day old babies can detect the beat in music. This phenomenon – termed ‘beat induction’ – is likely to have contributed to music’s origin. It enables … > read more

 

 

Some Vocal-Mimicking Animals, Particularly Parrots, Can Move To A Musical Beat (May 1, 2009) — Humans aren’t the only ones who can groove to a beat — some other species can dance, too, a new study reveals. The capability was previously believed to be specific to humans. Researchers found that … > read more

 

 

No Easy Answers In Evolution Of Human Language (Feb. 21, 2008) — The evolution of human speech was far more complex than is implied by some recent attempts to link it to a specific gene a professor of computational linguistics. Some researchers in recent years … > read more

 

 

Musical Aptitude Relates to Reading Ability (Oct. 17, 2011) — Auditory working memory and attention, for example the ability to hear and then remember instructions while completing a task, are a necessary part of musical ability. But musical ability is also … > read more

 

• Baaad Call: Young Goats Pick Up Accents (livescience.com)
• Young goats pick up accents from one another (mnn.com)
• What Really Makes Rhythms Human? New Research Investigates Perception, Preference, Tech (createdigitalmusic.com)

Brain Training Games — Improve memory and attention with scientific brain games.
www.lumosity.com

 

10 Habits of Highly Effective Brains

Neurogenesis or growing new brain cells while exercising makes sense because your brain is receiving more oxygen and blood. At 45-minutes your mind is at its sharpest.

Society is obsessed with working out for their body, but it’s the brain that will lead you to take the right actions, make good decisions and naturally secrete endorphins and naturally alleviate anxiety, depression and inflammation.

Here are 10 ways you can keep your brain vibrant, sharp and constantly improving.

By:   Alvaro Fernandez

1. Learn what is the “It” in “Use It or Lose It”. A basic under­stand­ing will serve you well to appre­ci­ate your brain’s beauty as a liv­ing and constantly-developing dense for­est with bil­lions of neu­rons and synapses.

2.  Take care of your nutri­tion. Did you know that the brain only weighs 2% of body mass but con­sumes over 20% of the oxy­gen and nutri­ents we intake? As a gen­eral rule, you don’t need expen­sive ultra-sophisticated nutri­tional sup­ple­ments, just make sure you don’t stuff your­self with the “bad stuff”.

3.  Remem­ber that the brain is part of the body. Things that exer­cise your body can also help sharpen your brain: phys­i­cal exer­cise enhances neurogenesis.

4.  Prac­tice pos­i­tive, future-oriented thoughts until they become your default mind­set and you look for­ward to every new day in a con­struc­tive way. Stress and anx­i­ety, no mat­ter whether induced by exter­nal events or by your own thoughts, actu­ally kills neu­rons and pre­vent the cre­ation of new ones. You can think of chronic stress as the oppo­site of exer­cise: it pre­vents the cre­ation of new neurons.

5.  Thrive on Learn­ing and Men­tal Chal­lenges. The point of hav­ing a brain is pre­cisely to learn and to adapt to chal­leng­ing new envi­ron­ments. Once new neu­rons appear in your brain, where they stay in your brain and how long they sur­vive depends on how you use them. “Use It or Lose It” does not mean “do cross­word puz­zle num­ber 1,234,567″. It means, “chal­lenge your brain often with fun­da­men­tally new activities”.

6.  We are (as far as we know) the only self-directed organ­isms in this planet. Aim high. Once you grad­u­ate from col­lege, keep learn­ing. The brain keeps devel­op­ing, no mat­ter your age, and it reflects what you do with it.

7.  Explore, travel. Adapt­ing to new loca­tions forces you to pay more atten­tion to your envi­ron­ment. Make new deci­sions, use your brain.

8.  Don’t Out­source Your Brain. Not to media per­son­al­i­ties, not to politi­cians, not to your smart neigh­bor. Make your own deci­sions, and mis­takes. And learn from them. That way, you are train­ing your brain, not your neighbor’s.

9.  Develop and main­tain stim­u­lat­ing friend­ships. We are “social ani­mals”, and need social inter­ac­tion. Which, by the way, is why ‘Baby Ein­stein’ has been shown not to be the panacea for chil­dren development.

10.  Laugh. Often. Espe­cially to cog­ni­tively com­plex humor, full of twists and sur­prises.

DRUMROLL PLEASE…# 11 COMES TO US FROM A READER NAMED, JOHN.  I love the hobbies he mentions as they’re my own and they do serve to keep the mind sharp.  John has a beautiful blog. I encourage you to take a look at it. The link for it is:   http://realtruelove.wordpress.com/

11. Write, journal, blog (as well as draw, paint, play an instrument, learn photography).  And read decent books (and poetry); give yourself some real food for thought. And when you read decent books, read slowly enough to explore–and even better, to journal–your own thoughts in relation to what you are reading. Developing and refining our own personal philosophy or “life map” is a huge part of using it and not losing it.

Now, remem­ber that what counts is not read­ing this article-or any other-, but prac­tic­ing a bit every day until small steps snow­ball into unstop­pable, inter­nal­ized habits…so, pick your next bat­tle and try to start improv­ing at least one of these 10 habits today. Revisit the habit above that really grabbed your atten­tion, click on a link below to learn more, and make a deci­sion to try some­thing dif­fer­ent today!

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Hot Books on Brain Health by friends of mine:

The Brain Mechanic by Spencer Lord

Super Body, Super Brain by Michael Gonzalez-Wallace

My Review of Super Body, Super Brain. I serve on the board.

SUPER BODY, SUPER BRAIN by Michael Gonzalez Wallace is my #1 pick for a fitness book. It’s based on the very latest, cutting-edge brain research. Michael’s program is unique in that it provides a whole brain workout that requires thinking and precision through specific left to right, and front to back movements.

This is the first time someone has created a program, which taps into how complex circuits in our brains connect to our muscles through voluntary and intentional movement. Huge implication for aging. For more than a century, medical science firmly believed that our brain could not repair itself and that we were born with all the brain cells we would ever have.

Over the last 20 years, research has shown neurogenesis, the creation of new brain cells, actually does occur in the brain with the right training. Michael brilliantly harnesses this knowledge to provide expert training on how your brain connects to your body through motor and sensory pathways.

In SUPER BODY, SUPER BRAIN he provides compelling evidence that exercise is not only good for your heart, but also good for your brain. He aptly demonstrates an exciting daily fitness program that stimulates your brain cells during your workout. He shows you how to work out smarter, instead of longer.

As someone who has specialized in medical/health for over two decades, I strongly endorse Michael’s program. When you first learn of it, you’ll think it must be a gimmick. It’s not. As mentioned, it’s based on decades of scientific research. I use the program myself and have known Michael for years.

He’s the real deal; extremely passionate about the program because he knows it works and can help others improve their energy level and entire well being from the inside out. In today’s ever-competitive world, it’s not enough to have a Super Body. You absolutely need a Super Brain. Michael shows you how to build both at the same time.

The benefits of his unique program are long overdue within the entire health community. Super Body Super Brain by Michael Gonzalez Wallace is definitely the future of fitness. Everyone at any fitness level from beginner to pro will take something away from this book that improves his or her health.

-Maria Dorfner, Founding CEO, NewsMD Communications

I also highly recommend all Books by John Assaraf

Take a Listen to John’s Latest Podcast Here on The Power of Expanding Your Awareness:

 https://unmistakablecreative.com/podcast/the-power-of-expanded-awareness-with-john-assaraf

Your Brain After Chemo by Idelle Davidson

You can also check out one of my own books HEALTHY WITHIN at the following link. Make sure you check for Discount Codes before checkout.

Link: http://www.lulu.com/shop/maria-dorfner/healthy-within/paperback/product-21813389.html

 

 

Stay healthy!

MARIA DORFNER is the founder of NewsMD Communications and
Healthy Within Network (HWN)

This is her blog

contact:  maria.dorfner@yahoo.com

 “When We Tell Stories…People Listen.”