“Irene. Honey, where have you been? I’ve missed you so much.” His eyes were wondering around her figure, lost in a sea of confusion and angst.  Williams hospital gown covered up most of his frail arms as he did his best to lean over and get a better look at his long lost sweetheart. 

Only it wasn’t Irene. It was his daughter, Janet. Every day when she came to visit him, it was the same gut wrenching pain of having her own father not recognize her anymore. She knew it wasn’t his fault but it didn’t soften the blows by any stretch of the imagination. 

“Where have you been? I’ve been waiting for you for a long time. I don’t understand. What did I do to make you go away?”

As the tears streamed down her young, full cheeks, Janet tried to respond. It was only getting worse by the day. Sometimes there were flashes when he would remember anything from who she really was to when Irene died some ten years ago.  The doctors had said it was coming close to the end of the line for William. Soon, his body would forget how to breathe, how to eat, how to live.

What a horrible way for the big, strong man who had raised her, to die.

“I’m Janet, daddy,” she choked out a meager reply. 

“No, no. Don’t be silly. Janet is..is..who is Janet?”

That was the last straw. Janet needed a break. She excused herself and walked out of the hospital room. Briskly making her way to the bathroom down the hall.

Its an all familiar scene for millions of people around the world every year. Dementia takes hold and there is no going back. It is devastating to the families of the loved one as the most precious of wealth, our memories, are robbed from us right before our very eyes.

But there are ways to protect yourself (and your family) from such fates. One of the simplest ways to combat inflammation of the brain (thus helping it stay active and fit) is exercise! Yup, that’s right. Sometimes the simplest answers are the best answers.

Research has shown that moderate activity exercise reduces the inflammation of the brain and releases hormones that keep it active and fit. The brain may not be a muscle in the normal sense of the term but its the key to the whole system and if it’s happy, you’re happy too.

One very interesting study found  US researchers at the Harvard Medical School giving proteins created by exercising mice to mice who weren’t exercising at all.  They found the proteins were protecting the “lazy” mice from the ill effects of degenerative brain conditions. Thus they concluded that exercise may in fact be a way to ward off such illnesses. 

Scientists have always believed and recorded the mental benefits of exercise when it came to studies but up until recently they really couldn’t understand why jogging was good for your brain. 

According to Doctor Petersen M.D. From the Mayo Clinic, exercise may be the BEST defense against dementia and Alzheimer’s. “Studies show that people who are physically active are less likely to experience a decline in their mental function and have a lowered risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.” 

Just 30 to 60 minutes a day can make a huge difference in your mental health in the later years. Nobody wants to be in that hotel room when a loved one forgets their name. Its the worst kind of pain. Preventing dementia is just another rock solid reason to exercise on a regular basis. Stop thinking about it and go for a run! 

I pulled up in front of the gym downtown at 5:23 p.m. and began scoping the street for an empty parking spot.  The only one I saw available was situated in a section marked with a sign that read “No parking between 3:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.” “Great,” I thought.  Knowing that the parking attendant in this area of town was widely known for being a little trigger happy with his ticketing, even if there was only seven minutes left until parking was allowed.  I parked my car and headed into the gym for my CrossFit class.  When it was done, I found myself standing on the sidewalk staring at an empty space by a sign that read “No parking between 3:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.”   My heart sank.  I pulled out my phone and called my husband. “My car has been towed.  Can you call and see if you can find out where they took it?”  I hung up, after a few moments of lecturing, and hailed a cab.  I opened the rear passenger door, got in, and recited the address to my house.  The cab pulled forward about 40 feet and stopped at a red light.  As I looked out the driver’s side window, there sat my car.  Parked across the street.  I shook my head at myself and informed the cab driver I’d be getting out.  He looked at me in the rear view mirror, confused.   I asked if there was any charge, he said “No.”  Probably out of shock.  He likely thought I was crazy.  I slid out of the right side door and trotted across the street to my car. If I hadn’t dreaded calling my husband to admit my little mishap, I probably would have burst into laughter. They say the memory is the first things to go, right?  Okay, they say that about a lot of things (whoever they are).  But the fact was, I didn’t used to be so forgetful.  I made a note (literally, on a piece of paper) to call and schedule an appointment with my doctor for my yearly check-up the next morning – yes I’d been forgetting to do that too, for weeks. When I finally got to talk with him, he gave me a few suggestions to help boost my memory from a health point of view. Stay mentally active.  Mental stimulation helps to not only preserve, but create new connections in your brain.  Reading, learning something new, playing games that make you think more in depth than you do on a daily basis, all keep your mind sharper. Eat a heart healthy diet.  Because what’s good for your heart is good for your brain. Enough said. But he also stated that Omega-3 fatty acid helps to promote the health of the membrane of brain cells or act as an antioxidant and it has other benefits, so it can’t hurt. Exercise.  Apparently you can actually stimulate the development of new brain cells with physical activity.  Who knew? Take time to socialize. Research suggests that having a large network of social interactions helps to maintain good brain function and even delay Alzheimer’s disease. I guess maybe it’s time I took that class I’ve been thinking about to finish up my master’s degree.  I can kill three of these birds with one stone: learn something new, socialize, and ride my bike to class and back.  Now…if I could just remember where I put my bike, I’d be set.