Keep Your Brain Young

Marilyn Albert, Guy Mckhann

Description

"The ultimate user's guide to the brain...highly intelligent, straightforward, and important."
--Kay Redfield Jamison, Ph.D.

As Seen in Time magazine and on the Today Show

"Guy McKhann and Marilyn Albert are to middle-aged people and seniors what Dr. Spock is to babies and their parents. Keep Your Brain Young is must reading for anyone over fifty; it should be on your bedside table."
----Judy Woodruff, CNN, and Al Hunt, The Wall Street Journal

"I highly recommend this readable, informal, and entertaining guide to achieving and maintaining optimum brain functioning as we age. . . . A single, reliable, comprehensive guide to the changes we all can expect as we enter the second half of life."
----Richard Restak, M.D., coauthor of The Longevity Strategy

Your brain controls and powers virtually every aspect of your life ---- and like the rest of your body, it changes with age. In Keep Your Brain Young, two of the world's leading brain doctors guide you through the changes you may encounter as you get older and as your brain matures. Based on state-of-the-art research and supplemented with dramatic case histories, this comprehensive resource shows you the latest techniques for maintaining memory, managing stress, and coping with sleep disorders and depression, offering prescriptive exercises you can put into action right away. You'll also learn how to enhance your mental and physical functioning while reducing the risk for serious diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. Read Keep Your Brain Young and gain the knowledge and confidence you need to manage the aging process, take care of your brain, and stay active and alert for many years to come.
Acknowledgments.

PART ONE: THE BRAIN AND EVERYDAY CONCERNS.

Introduction: Healthy But Realistic in the Second Half.

Maintaining Your Memory.

Nutrition for the Brain: Food, Fuel, and Protection.

Sleep and the Brain.

Managing Stress.

Unmasking Depression.

Alcohol and Your Brain.

PART TWO: THE BRAIN AND YOUR BODY.

Pain and Your Brain.

Body Functions and Your Brain.

Protecting Your Senses.

How to Keep Your Balance—Literally.

Fainting, Dizziness, and Your Brain.

PART THREE: THE BRAIN AND PREVENTING AND TREATING SERIOUS PROBLEMS.

Understanding Acute Memory Loss.

Acute Confusion and How to Prevent It.

Dealing with Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias.

Treatable Dementias.

Cancer and the Brain.

New Options for Parkinson's Disease.

Shaking, Weakness, ALS, and Your Brain.

Stroke: The Brain-Heart Connection.

Taking Charge of Your Brain.

Appendix.

Index.

Sujets

• Médecine
• Médecine Générale
• Medical

Informations

• Publié par: Turner Publishing Company
• Date de parution: 31 juillet 2007
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780470242957
• Langue: English

Extrait

K EEP Y OUR B RAIN Y OUNG
T HE C OMPLETE G UIDE TO P HYSICAL AND E MOTIONAL H EALTH AND L ONGEVITY

Guy McKhann, M.D. Marilyn Albert, Ph.D.

John Wiley Sons, Inc.
Copyright 2002 by Guy McKhann and Marilyn Albert. All rights reserved.
Published by John Wiley Sons, Inc., New York
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, [phone], fax [phone]. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley Sons, Inc., 605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158-0012, [phone], fax [phone], e-mail: [e-mail].
This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering professional services. If professional advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought.
This title is also available in print as ISBN 0-471-40792-5. Some content that appears in the print version of this book may not be available in this electronic edition.
For more information about Wiley products, visit our web site at www.Wiley.com
Dedication
To David and Hillie Mahoney- a remarkable couple and good friends who were always there when we needed them.
David-a retired businessman who, as chairman of The Charles A. Dana Foundation, brought excitement and vision to the promotion of brain research. We all miss him.
Hillie-a partner with David in all his endeavors. She continues to bring her unique talents to continuing David s vision, both individually and as a director of the Dana Foundation and as president of the Harvard-Mahoney Neuroscience Institute.
Contents
Acknowledgments
PART ONE T HE B RAIN AND E VERYDAY C ONCERNS
INTRODUCTION Healthy But Realistic in the Second Half
1 Maintaining Your Memory
2 Nutrition for the Brain: Food, Fuel, and Protection
3 Sleep and the Brain
4 Managing Stress
5 Unmasking Depression
6 Alcohol and Your Brain
PART TWO T HE B RAIN AND Y OUR B ODY
7 Pain and Your Brain
8 Body Functions and Your Brain
9 Protecting Your Senses
10 How to Keep Your Balance-Literally
11 Fainting, Dizziness, and Your Brain
PART THREE T HE B RAIN AND P REVENTING AND T REATING S ERIOUS P ROBLEMS
12 Understanding Acute Memory Loss
13 Acute Confusion and How to Prevent It
14 Dealing with Alzheimer s Disease and Other Dementias
15 Treatable Dementias
16 Cancer and the Brain
17 New Options for Parkinson s Disease
18 Shaking, Weakness, ALS, and Your Brain
19 Stroke: The Brain-Heart Connection
20 Taking Charge of Your Brain
Appendix
Index
Acknowledgments
This book has been a long time in coming. Its inception was related to the many years we ve spent talking with patients, disease advocacy groups, students, and young doctors about the brain and its disorders. Many of these people have either discussed parts of this book with us or read specific chapters-we cannot list them all.
We have also gotten advice from colleagues of ours with expertise in specific areas. Again, we cannot list them all; we would like to particularly acknowledge Dr. Carol Johns, Dr. Robert Wityk, Dr. Steve Riech, Dr. Bill Falk, Dr. Ray DePaulo, Dr. Kay Jamison, and Dr. Guy McKhann II.
We also asked relatives and friends to read parts of this book as we considered them a subset of our potential audience. We would particularly like to acknowledge Harry and Pam Harrick, Carolyn and Arthur Kofler, Jeannette Albert, Emily McKhann, and Jeanette Glover.
We have been guided throughout this endeavor by the advice and assistance of colleagues at The Charles A. Dana Foundation. These include Francis Harper, Barbara Gill, Barbara Rich, and the current chairman, William Safire, and the current president, Ed Rover. We d particularly like to acknowledge the assistance of people at The Dana Press, Jane Nevins and her associate, Elizabeth Lasley. We also got editorial assistance from William Patrick and editorial guidance from Tom Miller and Mark Steven Long of John Wiley Sons. Finally, we wish to acknowledge the continuing help and guidance of Susan L. Soohoo, our administrative assistant.
PART ONE

T HE B RAIN AND E VERYDAY C ONCERNS
INTRODUCTION

H EALTHY B UT R EALISTIC IN THE S ECOND H ALF
We hear every day that we are part of an aging population. More of us than ever before are living longer than our parents and grandparents. Of course, we want these added years to be good ones. We want to stay active and productive. We want to spend time doing things that we enjoy, including some of things we had less time for in the frenzy of our younger years. And we d like to pursue these activities in good health, and in bodily comfort, as much as we possibly can.
Some people seem to glide through the second half of life. We ve all heard about such individuals-they tend to make the news-and many of us are lucky enough to know a few of them personally. Time lies lightly on these people, who are often called successful agers, as they play their sports, keep themselves up to date on current events, and take active roles in their families and communities.
And then, apparently, there are the rest of us. While wondering how to age successfully ourselves, we begin to notice troublesome changes. To our consternation we can t walk quite as fast as we used to, or bend down as easily. We suddenly need a new eyeglass prescription. We no longer sleep through the night. Are these changes normal, and do they plague the successful agers as well? Are there things that we can do to help us age more easily and gracefully?
The answer is found in a place where many people might not think to look for it: the brain.
If there is one thing that determines how fully we live at an older age, it is how well our brains work. This may come as a surprise to many who do not realize how much the brain does. Most people tend to relegate the brain to cognitive or thinking arenas only. The fact is, the brain is involved in almost everything we do. Of course it is the control center of our thinking. But it also powers our feelings and moods, our movements, our senses, and certain bodily functions not generally associated with higher mental faculties. The brain is even responsible for what would seem to be the other end of thinking-sleep.
This book, Keep Your Brain Young, will help you understand how the brain serves us in all of these ways, and more. It will guide you through the changes that can be expected as you get older and your nervous system matures-as well as providing some good ways to cope with these changes. Perhaps most important, Keep Your Brain Young will emphasize ways to keep your brain functions performing as well as possible for as long as possible. As you ll see, there is a lot that you can do to keep your edge as you get older. Some of these things are quite simple; some require more thought and time. We spend a lot of time fixing, redoing, reshaping, revising our hair and hair lines, our skin, and our bodies. Surely it s also time to think more directly about our brain and what we can do for it!
We are two doctors absorbed by the human story of getting older. We don t just specialize in the brain; we devote our professional lives to an area that most lay people (and too many doctors) view with trepidation or even fear: the second half of life. Most people can t appreciate the beauty of living this second half with a sense of composure-and a sense of humor, when at all possible. We ve seen so much we like and believe in about the brain in the second half of life-and plenty of things to be careful about as well. But the important thing is that you can be in harmony with getting older, and our mission in these pages is to help you do it.
We believe that knowledge and understanding is the key to taking any action effectively, and minding your brain is no exception. In our practices at Massachusetts General Hospital and Johns Hopkins University, we daily see older people who feel as if they ve been set down in an alien landscape. They ve always been accustomed to having their minds and bodies work a certain way; suddenly that s changing, and they don t know what to expect. Many of our patients are familiar with the term successful aging; they may have read books or attended workshops on the subject. But while these programs make valid points about things like lifestyle, attitude, and activity, they usually neglect other realities of growing older-the precise realities that we are questioned about most closely. Our patients are worried that their occasional memory lapses may be a sign of Alzheimer s disease. They wonder why they suddenly have to go to the bathroom three times a night. They re not sure whether everything they read about vitamins and nutritional supplements is true.
Our aim in writing Keep Your Brain Young is to fill this gap-to give you a single reliable, comprehensive guide to the all the normal changes and, sometimes, illnesses that may come in the later years to the organ that is the true center of your sense of self and quality of life, the brain. At the same time, we ll tell you how to minimize these changes and enhance your mental and physical functioning-without underestimating the very important role that lifestyle and attitude play. As the brain gets older, it goes through changes that occur in almost everyone. Your memory isn t as sharp. You don t see quite so well. Your sleep patterns change. And-though you might not