Preserving Brain Health In A Toxic Age

Brain health is adversely impacted by environmental toxins. This book helps identify them and suggests ways to reduce their impact regarding neurological disorders including dementia and autism. It offers insights from neuroscience, integrative medicine, and public health and the discoveries across the sciences advancing knowledge in these areas.

While we may expect to live longer, many wonder if their brains will keep up with their bodies. This book looks at typical functions and declines of an aging brain, the signs and symptoms of problems, the available treatments, the financial responsibilities, and the factors that determine what kinds of care people might need as they age.

While gray hair and wrinkles may be unwelcome if inevitable signs of the passing years, the memory loss, intellectual impairment, and mood swings that come with an aging brain can be truly devastating. According to bestselling author and anti-aging expert Dr. Eric Braverman, getting older does not have to mean becoming forgetful, clueless, or depressed—quite the opposite, in fact. Distilling his 35 years of research and clinical experience into an easy-to-follow protocol, Dr. Braverman explains how men and women can actually build new brain cells, becoming younger and smarter as they age. Readers will learn what to eat to stay focused, when to exercise to sharpen their memory, and how to organize their lifestyle to improve problem-solving skills—and discover the revolutionary hormone therapies and medications available to treat cognitive decline. Having helped thousands take control of their hormones to maintain the physical and sexual vitality of their twenties and thirties, Dr. Braverman now presents Younger Brain, Sharper Mind, a simple plan to help them protect and enhance youth's most prized possession: a vigorous, capable mind.

This issue examines what is a healthy aging brain and covers preventive measures for succesful cognitive aging. Topics covered include: A road map to healthy aging brain; Cardiovascular risk factors, cerebrovascular disease burden and healthy aging brain; Healthy aging brain: Impact of head injury, alcohol and environmental toxins; Healthy aging brain: What has sleep go to do with it?; Endocrine aspects of healthy aging brain; Healthy aging brain: Role of exercise and physically active lifestyle; Healthy aging brain: Role of nutrition and nutritional supplements; Healthy aging brain: Role of cognitive reserve, cognitive stimulation and cognitive exercises; Healthy aging brain: Impact of positive and negative emotions; Dementia risk predictor. Are we there yet?; Potential future neuroprotective therapies for neurodegenerative disorders and stroke; Healthy aging brain: Importance of promoting resilience and creativity.

A popular claim in recent years is that a person only uses 10% of their brain, and while this is not remotely true, it is accurate that the human brain contains massive untapped capabilities. Brains remain the most magnificent biological machines, and the latest neurobiological research on nutrition, sleep, music and exercise aims to help people keep theirs in top shape. The human mind is more than just electrochemical signals--it's a fountain of consciousness, transcending physicality. This work, backed by decades of experience, includes the latest neuroscience research and vignettes based on the author's actual patients. Containing "mental hacks" to explain how to overcome mental limitations, it explores how simple changes like breaking bad habits, having a better work-life balance, and more could help the human mind go from being just "fine-tuned" to being enlightened and limitless. With these hacks, a designer brain is just around the corner.

From the bestselling author and PBS star, a brain healthy program to turn back the clock, and keep your mind sharp and your body fit. “Dr. Amen magically shows us that the aging of our brain need not match the aging of our bodies.”—Mehmet Oz, M.D. A healthy brain is the key to staying vibrant and alive for a long time, and in Use Your Brain to Change Your Age, bestselling author and brain expert Dr. Daniel G. Amen shares ten simple steps to boost your brain to help you live longer, look younger, and dramatically decrease your risk for Alzheimer’s disease. Over the last twenty years at Amen Clinics, Dr. Amen has performed more than 70,000 brain scans on patients from ninety different countries. His brain imaging work has taught him that our brains typically become less active with age and we become more vulnerable to memory problems and depression. Yet, one of the most exciting lessons he has learned is that with a little forethought and a brain-smart plan, you can slow, or even reverse, the aging process in the brain. Based on the approach that has helped thousands of people at Amen Clinics along with the most cutting-edge research, Dr. Amen’s breakthrough, easy-to-follow antiaging program shows you how to improve memory, focus, and energy; keep your heart and immune system strong; and reduce the outward signs of aging. By adopting the brain healthy strategies detailed in Use Your Brain to Change Your Age, you can outsmart your genes, put the brakes on aging, and even reverse the aging process. If you change your brain, you can change your life—and your age.

When you’re living with a loved one who is suffering from Alzheimer’s disease you must be able to survive one emotional upheaval after another. What is most important during this difficult time is that you not only survive the physical demands placed on you as the primary caregiver, but that you learn to cope effectively with the emotional turmoil and preserve the quality of your own life in the process. Caregivers have been known to put their own lives on hold and become entirely devoted to caregiving—making this difficult role even harder, and often compromising their own health. This needn’t happen. The caregivers you will meet in this book, with whom you have much in common, have learned how to deal with the frustration, anger, and grief that come naturally to any person in this role. Through their poignant stories and personal experiences you will find the strength that you need to care for your loved one while remaining emotionally committed as the mutuality of your partnership fades. Loving and nurturing while letting go is the paradox of Alzheimer’s caregiving. You can learn from the caregivers in this book what you need to do to create a satisfying life that meshes with your role as caregiver. You will ultimately be able to make the right decisions and minimize the chaos that can overwhelm you. Within are the tools you need to manage the stressors of your changing and challenging world.

Your brain could be suffering without your knowledge. Most likely your brain is suffering at this very moment and you have no way of knowing or finding out, until you start to notice irreversible signs of decline. Our current diet is leading to all kinds of health problems: obesity, cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular disease, with increasing evidence that it also triggers Alzheimer’s disease, now seen by some researchers as another form of diabetes, an issue addressed in this book. What can we do? Awareness campaigns for healthy diets have achieved limited success. Many continue to follow fad diets, but most do it for aesthetic reasons or health problems. Some popular diets like the Mediterranean and DASH diets are specifically focused on preventing cardiovascular disease and hypertension. And what about the brain? We have left it to the mercy of our bad eating habits, preservatives in processed foods, excess sugar and fat, and environmental contaminants. All this happens because our brain does not complain – it does not have pain receptors – so we are not aware of its suffering and deterioration until it is too late. It is time to take care of our brain and prevent it from failing before the rest of our body by following a healthy diet that maintains its health and proper functioning. In "The MIND Diet, Nutrition to Help Prevent Alzheimer's Disease,” you will discover what Alzheimer’s is and its causes and symptoms, among other topics, including a nutritional strategy for your daily life – all with a simple and direct style, addressed to the general public. As an easy-to-follow diet based on the latest scientific studies, the MIND diet can improve your overall health and dramatically reduce your risk of getting Alzheimer's disease.