With these simple exercises, we can keep our brains active and prevent Alzheimer's

by Shirley Marie Bradby

August 19, 2019

With these simple exercises, we can keep our brains active and prevent Alzheimer's
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It is one of the most common forms of dementia, incurable, and therefore terminal.

We are talking about Alzheimer's disease, a disease that affects people's cognitive faculties, generally after the age of 65, compromising memory, reasoning skills, recognition, and the ability to take care of themselves.

The origin of this pathology is still unclear, although scientists have linked many cases to a protein, beta-amyloid, which appears to interfere with the functioning of neurons, causing them to gradually lose their capacity to respond.

Although, at present, there are no therapies to prevent Alzheimer's, however, it is still possible to keep our brains active.

This can be done by following useful exercises and suggestions that can help us to keep our memory and other capabilities functioning well. In short, to make our brain stay "young". Let's see what they are.

via Sociedad Española de Neurologia

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Stannah International/Flickr

Stannah International/Flickr

Having an "agile" mind is essential to stimulate the cognitive processes of the brain and, therefore, reduce the risks of degeneration.

According to experts, keeping the brain in training - just like with other muscles in the body - can help delay the onset of symptoms related to its decline.

The exercise we purpose is very simple. Before going to sleep, when you lie down on the bed and finally relax from our daily labors, let's try to remember everything we did during the day.

Review in your mind, the places where you have been, people you talked to, the food you ate, and particular events. This exercise can serve to "summarize" the most recent hours of our lives, and at the same time, to exercise our cognitive and memory faculties.

Once everything has been reviewed in our mind, we close our eyes and organize every single memory, perhaps placing it in a timeline or based on pleasant and unpleasant sensations.

In this way, past events and experiences can be "retained" in our heads, and this is certainly good, especially as we age.

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Health and Human Services Department, National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Aging/Wikimedia

Health and Human Services Department, National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Aging/Wikimedia

This useful memory exercise, however, is not the only thing we can do every day to keep our cognitive faculties healthy. It seems obvious, but mind games, such as sudoku, chess, crossword puzzles, rebus, are also very useful in this sense.

But that's not all. Communicating what we did during the day to those around us is another little "trick" to keep memories and brain functions active, as well as to avoid isolation, perhaps due to memory loss.

In addition, it is known that a diet rich in antioxidants and vitamin E is useful to regenerate tissues and maintain neuronal connections.

Therefore, foods like walnuts, almonds, broccoli, spinach, and vegetable oils, should never be lacking in our kitchens. Your brain will thank you!

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