Can You Prevent Dementia?

Here is a great dementia resource for caregivers and healthcare professinals,

Here is information on being the best caregiver you can be

Here are more interesting dementia brain boosting activities

by Adrienne Carlson

Can You Prevent Dementia?
It’s a sad but true fact of life – even the most brilliant of minds atrophy into nothing when old age and its related ills take over. Dementia, Alzheimer’s disease and other mental illnesses are the plague of the elderly, and it’s all we can do to stave them off as long as possible. Why are people affected by these diseases, people who are intelligent and have until then led normal and fulfilling lives? It’s mostly in our genes, so even doctors are not sure if we can prevent dementia altogether, but you can keep it at bay for a good many years if you take good care of your mental health.
• Early diagnosis is the key: If you have a family history of mental illnesses like dementia and Alzheimer’s, it’s best to keep monitoring your mental health for signs of the disease. You don’t have to be paranoid, just careful enough so you don’t have to suffer the way your ancestors did. Doctors do prescribe medicines to keep you in good mental health, so it’s better to be safe than sorry.
• An active life helps: Even if you grow old, it’s wise to stay active – go to work every day, work out a little, eat healthy food, and generally prevent your life from slowing down. When you stop doing something, your body becomes accustomed to it and shuts down the parts that are used to do perform that activity. So if you stay in bed without getting up, your legs are bound to atrophy and become useless. Even if you’ve retired, keep yourself busy with volunteer work or activities around your home.
• Mental stimulation works: This is very important if you want to stay mentally healthy until you die – push your brain to take up new challenges. Besides doing crossword puzzles, Sudoku and other mentally challenging activities, try something new like learning a language or how to play a musical instrument. The more active your neurons remain, the less chance they have of becoming vegetative.
• Social networks are important: No, I’m not talking about the ones that exist on the Internet but about the friends and acquaintances who are a part of your life. Instead of staying holed up at home with the television, get out and socialize – make time to hang out with your friends, playing cards or having a drink together and talking about old times. Take a walk together early in the morning or when the sun is going down. In short, continue to meet people and lead an active social life to keep dementia away.
• Move with the times: You may be a baby boomer, but if you don’t keep up with technology, you’re going to feel like a misfit in today’s world. Get yourself a cell phone, an iPod or even a laptop. Use them to stay updated on the latest that’s happening in the world. Not only do you feel young at heart, you also feel young in mind.
By-line:
This guest article was written by Adrienne Carlson, who regularly writes on the topic of pharmacy technician certification . Adrienne welcomes your comments and questions at her email address: adrienne.carlson83@yahoo.com