Healthy Body, Healthy Mind

My mom has always said "I experience everything my mother did, only 10 years early". I find myself thinking that more and more, only I say 20 years earlier!

Ask anyone who really knows me, and they will say I have a terrible memory. It's true, and I know it! The older I get, the worse it gets, and it's scary at times. I used to chalk it up to excessive partying in my younger days... and I still believe that has something to do with it. But since that's long past and there's nothing I can do to change it, I focus on the future. What can I do about it now?

There is a wealth of information on the relationship between exercise and cognition. The role glucose plays is very interesting, but that's a bit much for this arena. Taking it a step further and relating fitness to Alzheimer's, this sums it up (pardon the fact that the guy's from KU): "People with early Alzheimer's disease who were less physically fit had four times more brain shrinkage when compared to normal older adults than those who were more physically fit, suggesting less brain shrinkage related to the Alzheimer's disease process in those with higher fitness levels," said study author Jeffrey M. Burns, MD, of the University of Kansas School of Medicine in Kansas City and member of the American Academy of Neurology. (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080714162632.htm)

Just last week I saw on the news where another study concluded exercise can improve cognitive performance in older adults. Interestingly, it appeared to only impact women; it did not have the same effect on men. On that note, I went out and ran five miles. When I returned, I still had trouble understanding my first graders math homework! Ha... and that used to be my strong point. Running outside right now is not fun. And, seriously, are running and hard workouts ever really "fun"?! You usually feel great afterwards (if nothing more than for having done it), but during, it's hard work. One of my primary motivations for "just doing it" is keeping a healthy body AND mind.

If you are interested in reviewing the study (the Google found it for me), it can be found here: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/715642 ""The aerobic group exercised under the supervision of a fitness trainer at 75% to 85% of heart rate reserve for 45 to 60 minutes per day, 4 days per week for 6 months," the investigators note." Holy shcow, these people were in their 70's! If they can do it, so can you and I. Just do it!