Tips about memory for the elderly, the senior citizens and old farts

I was about 50 when I began to notice it. More and more I was hearing people (my age and older) comment about their memory, recall, and old times. It would bring to mind my grandmother. Here's my advice.

1. If you can't remember a word, face or event, DO NOT SAY to yourself or others some version of "I can't remember." Do not make an angry or silly face or slap your head (it causes wrinkles). You're reinforcing the idea, setting it in cement. Pause, breathe and continue. If it was gossip, it's just as well.

2. DO NOT SAY to yourself or others, "Oh, this is so frustrating!" That will probably signal to your body that it should be alarmed and raise your blood pressure or start a headache.

Instead.

1. If you are writing, just make a small line to be filled in later. When the word or topic comes back (and it usually will), you've provided the context and you can continue.

2. If you are talking, move on to the next word, sentence or topic. The person you're talking to is probably also forgetful or distracted and may not notice unless you make it a big issue. If it was gossip or criticism, it's just as well because no one wants to hear it anyway.

 
Ascension Day is tomorrow or Sunday, June 1, depending on the tradition you follow. Think of that thought or idea as Jesus ascending into the clouds (or if you aren't religious, maybe THE cloud for computer storage), but soon the Helper, the Comforter, the Paraclete or the Caller-to-mind will descend, and you'll be filled with joy and peace.

Transient Ischemic attack

 Excerpt from StatPearls, 2024

A transient ischemic attack (TIA) is a medical emergency. It is defined as a transient episode of neurologic dysfunction due to the focal brain, spinal cord, or retinal ischemia without acute infarction or tissue injury. The definition of a TIA has moved from time-based to tissue-based. A TIA typically lasts less than an hour, more often minutes. TIA can be considered a serious warning of an impending ischemic stroke; the risk is highest in the first 48 hours following a transient ischemic attack. Differentiating transient ischemic attack from other mimicking conditions is important. Transient ischemic attacks are usually associated with a focal neurologic deficit and/or speech disturbance in a vascular territory due to underlying cerebrovascular disease. It is always sudden in onset. Evaluation of TIA should be done urgently with imaging and laboratory studies to decrease the risk of subsequent strokes. The subsequent risk of TIA or ischemic stroke can be stratified with a simple clinical measure. Immediate multimodality therapeutic interventions should be initiated. These will include aggressive treatment of blood pressure, high-dose statin, antiplatelet therapy, blood sugar control, diet, and exercises. Specific underlying etiology needs to be managed accordingly. This treatment scheme may substantially reduce the risk of recurrent strokes or future TIA by at least 80%.

StatPearls - NCBI Bookshelf (nih.gov)

Transient Ischemic Attack - StatPearls - NCBI Bookshelf (nih.gov)

"The ABCD2 score is very important for predicting subsequent risks of TIA or stroke. The ABCD2 score was derived from providing a more robust prediction standard. The ABCD2 score includes age, blood pressure, clinical symptoms, duration, and diabetes.

Age: older than 60 years (1 point)
Blood pressure greater than or equal to 140/90 mmHg on first evaluation (1 point)
Clinical symptoms: a focal weakness with the spell (2 points) or speech impairment without weakness (1 point)
Duration greater than 60 min (2 points) or 10 min to 59 min (1 point)
Diabetes mellitus (1 point).

The 2-day risk of stroke was 0% for scores of 0 or 1, 1.3% for 2 or 3, 4.1% for 4 or 5, and 8.1% for 6 or 7. Most stroke centers will admit patients with TIA to the hospital for expedited management and observation if the score is 4, 5, or higher. For patients with a lower score, expedited evaluation and management are still warranted. This expedited approach has been proven to improve the outcome.[9]"

What to do if you have a TIA, or suspect a TIA

 Don't do what I did.  Don't second guess the strange sensation you don't recognize.  You aren't a  doctor.  Just call the squad and let them take you to the Emergency Room at the nearest hospital.  It's sure better than waiting in line with all the other sick or injured people for 2 hours. After I made it through the ER (and had a second episode while waiting for a room) I was put in a room and was asked my name and birthday maybe 10 times and looked at fingers, touched my nose and pressed against hands to see my strength.  Since it was the day after my birthday,  I got many birthday wishes.

I had 2 CT of head/brain without contrast; a CT Angiogram; MRI brain without contrast; MRI brain with Contrast; echocardiogram complete with bubble study and an EKG 12-lead.

TIA Recovery, Tests & Diagnosis | What to Expect After Transient Ischemic Attack (healthgrades.com)

Imaging tests allow your doctor to look for blockages or damage to your brain, carotid arteries (the arteries in your neck that bring blood to your brain), and your heart.

• CT (computed tomography or CAT scan) uses special X-ray equipment and a computer program for a more detailed look at your brain and carotid arteries than an X-ray alone would show.

• MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) provides a more specialized view of the brain using magnetic waves rather than radiation like X-rays.

• Magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) is similar to an MRI, but first the doctor injects a dye through an intravenous (IV) line. The doctor watches the dye’s movement on a screen as the dye moves through the blood vessels throughout your body including the brain. .  .  . 

TIA Prognosis and Outcome

A TIA is a medical emergency not because if its symptoms, but because of what a TIA means. Having a TIA is a warning that something is wrong with your vascular system and you are at risk for stroke. Doctors use a risk score—the ABCD2 score—to determine your risk for stroke after TIA. The score takes into account the following: 

• A: Age: 1 point if you are older than 60 years

• B: Blood pressure: 1 point if the systolic (upper) number is higher than 140 or the diastolic (lower) number is higher than 90

• C: Clinical features: 1 point if your speech was affected but you don’t have any weakness; 2 points if you have weakness, with or without speech difficulties

• D: Duration: 1 point if the duration of the TIA was between 10 to 59 minutes; 2 points if it has been 60 minutes or longer

• D: Diabetes: 1 point if you have diabetes 

If you score a 6 or 7, there is an 8% risk of a stroke within 48 hours after the TIA. If you have a score of 4 or less, the risk is 1%. It’s important to keep in mind these percentages don’t mean you will have a stroke. They indicate your risk without treatment.

The definition of a TIA emphasizes that it is a transient, or temporary event. Therefore, TIA recovery occurs when the symptoms have gone away completely. If the symptoms do not go away, this is not a TIA, but a stroke.

Friday, April 02, 2021

Anesthesia and memory loss

 I noticed this article in TheScientist Magazine today.  Anesthesia Impairs Memory in Mice | The Scientist Magazine® (the-scientist.com)  It is reporting on the original published work,  Anesthetics fragment hippocampal network activity, alter spine dynamics, and affect memory consolidation (plos.org)  For some time, I've been concerned about memory changes after anesthesia, but haven't been able to find anything about it except discussions of "brain fog" and short term memory loss that clears after a day or so. I recently cancelled an appointment for a colonoscopy, a procedure I consider important, because I was told that after 80 and even deeper sedation is used.  I had requested lighter or minimal because I never seem to fully recover and experience what I would call long term effects--like forever.  This research says the effects it might be otherwise: “The results challenge a very fundamental notion that I think the public—and many investigators even—assume. And that is, once the drugs have been eliminated from the body, the brain goes back to baseline state. And that’s not the case.”

Saturday, March 20, 2021

Exercising in the morning

 Saturday morning TV/radio is rather. . . boring and bland.  Rehashes of the week's news and garden shows.  So while riding my indoor cycle this morning (6 miles) I brought up Cheddar, a channel that seems to specialize, at least on Saturday early a.m., short documentaries and films.  Week-days it's a  regular news and technology channel and the target is millennials (obviously, not me). It was founded in 2016 by Jon Steinberg. Today I watched one on suspension bridges vs. cable bridges, their design, span and replacement; two on music how brain-sound researchers are manipulating the background music for exercise, shopping, workings, etc. and the changes in hip-hop and rap (and I assume pop and country-western) by young producers using the internet to sell "beats"; and two more on the military, the use of drones primarily during the Obama administration in military targets, and how the military, particularly the Department of Defense has had a cozy relationship with Hollywood ever since Wilson needed to convince the American public to go into WWI. All very interesting, and I can see how the millennial crowd becomes very jaded and cynical.  Especially with the stories about drone strikes.  Until someone investigated (in 2017) not much was known about the U.S. military branches helping Hollywood.

How the U.S. Military Influences Hollywood on Cheddar

How Focus Music Hacks Your Brain - Cheddar Explains - VoiceTube

Hip Hop's Underground Beat Economy on Cheddar

Wednesday, February 19, 2020

New discoveries in human body--I always smile at this

https://www.the-scientist.com/news-opinion/new-discoveries-in-human-anatomy--67055

I love science articles. Particularly those of "new thinking," or "new discoveries." And then eventually, evolution and not God is credited.

"The brain’s drain
The lymphatic system, a body-wide network of vessels that drains fluids and removes waste from tissues and organs, was long-believed to be absent from the brain. Early reports of lymphatic vessels in the meninges, the membrane coating the brain, date as far back as the 18th century—but these findings were met with skepticism. Only recently has this view been overturned, after a 2015 report of lymphatic vessels in mouse meninges and the 2012 discovery of the so-called glymphatic system, an interconnected network of glial cells that facilitates the circulation of fluid throughout mouse brains. In 2017, neuroimaging work revealed evidence for such lymphatic vessels in human meninges.

Fluid-filled spaces
In 2018, researchers reported that the space between cells was a collagen-lined, fluid-filled network, which they dubbed the interstitium. They proposed that this finding, which emerged from close examinations of tissue from patients’ bile ducts, bladders, digestive tracts, and skin, may help scientists better understand how tumors spread through the body. The team also called the interstitium a newly-discovered organ, but many dismissed this claim. “Most biologists would be reticent to put the moniker of an ‘organ’ on microscopic uneven spaces between tissues that contain fluid,” Anirban Maitra, a pathologist at the University of Texas MD Anderson Center, told The Scientist last year. . .

The fabella makes a comeback
The fabella, a tiny bone located in a tendon behind the knee, is becoming more common in humans, according to a study published last spring. After reviewing 58 studies on fabella prevalence in 27 different countries, researchers reported that people were approximately 3.5 times more likely to have the little bone in 2018 than 1918. The cause of this trend remains an open question, but the authors suggest that changes in muscle mass and bone length—driven by increased diet quality in many parts of the world—could be one explanation."

Imagine that. Diet changes and bone appears.

Monday, December 09, 2019

Tumor Treating Fields—a review and graphic

Treatment for glioblastoma approved in 2015.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6406491/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29349613https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29349613

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28298023

“In 2011, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a tumor treating fields (TTF) device for treatment of recurrent or refractory GBM. More recently, the FDA approved the TTF device as adjuvant treatment for newly-diagnosed patients after completing standard-of-care surgery and chemoradiation. The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) added the TTF device as an option for treatment of newly-diagnosed GBM. Despite FDA approval, skepticism remains regarding this therapy. In this review we discuss the current evidence supporting treatment with the TTF device and its limitations.”

TT Fields Treatment https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/brain-tumor/tt-fields-tumortreating-fields-for-brain-tumors

• The TT fields treatment device is portable and may help people treat their cancer while continuing their normal activities.
  
• People undergoing TT fields therapy use small transducers that are attached to their head with adhesive bandages. Hair must be shaved in order to use the device.
  
• The transducers are connected to wires, which are plugged into a battery that is about the size of a book. The batteries fit into a bag that the person carries with them, either in a backpack, across the body, or over the shoulder like a messenger bag.
  
• The system comes with multiple batteries and a charging station. The user is alerted when batteries need to be changed.
  
• The therapy is continual, but people can unplug the device for short times
  

Friday, October 04, 2019

National Brain Tumor Society

News, information, research, blog.

On Tuesday our son had several seizures, went to the ER, had a CT scan and MRI and by Wednesday we knew he had a brain tumor. A new chapter in our lives.  We had lunch together on Saturday in our old neighborhood and there were no signs of a problem.  Life changes quickly.  Don’t waste your opportunities.

Interesting video of a brain tumor patient with a sense of humor.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WG0Khy5751Y

Friday, November 09, 2018

Women and Brain Health

NEW YORK -- Former First Lady Laura Bush launched the Campaign for Women's Brain Health here on Tuesday evening to empower women with the tools they need to become more knowledgeable about the brain, and to better implement brain care for themselves and their families.

The project is a collaboration between UsAgainstAlzheimer's, WomenAgainstAlzheimer's, and Woman's Day magazine. The campaign's goal is to expand the fight against Alzheimer's to include all aspects of brain health, noted George Vrandenburg, of USAgainstAlzheimer's, and Jill Lesser, of WomenAgainstAlzheimer's.

"To achieve this, the partnership is engaging three key groups: families and communities; providers, payers, and health systems; and policymakers," Vrandenburg and Lesser stated.

Rest of the article   https://www.medpagetoday.com/neurology/alzheimersdisease/76199?

Sunday, October 15, 2017

Columbus Marathon today

The marathon benefits Children’s Hospital. Everyone is psyched.  Well, not me.  I’m just watching the weather.  Nearly 70 degrees at 5:30 a.m., but windy, and will cool down this afternoon.  I just want to be able to get out and walk.

 It’s good for the brain.

This link only provides the summary, but has an excellent graphic to remind you what lifestyle changes can help your brain. http://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/acschemneuro.6b00009  You want to stay of the right (green) side, and avoid the lavender/purple.

“Diet, stress, and physical exercise directly act on neural stem cells and/or their progeny, but, in addition, they may also indirectly affect neurogenesis by acting on microglia. Microglia, the guardians of the brain, rapidly sense changes in the brain milieu, and it has been recently shown that their function is affected by lifestyle factors. However, few studies have analyzed the modulatory effect of microglia on adult neurogenesis in these conditions. Here, we review the current knowledge about the dialogue maintained between microglia and the hippocampal neurogenic cascade. Understanding how the communication between microglia and hippocampal neurogenesis is affected by lifestyle choices is crucial to maintain the brain cognitive reserve and prevent the maladaptive responses that emerge during disease or injury through adulthood and aging.”

Exercise

“Cardiovascular exercise such as running, interval training, cross fit and or yoga are the single most effective ways of boosting neurogenesis; they come with a vast array of health benefits for mind and body, and are also important stress relievers. The endorphins produced acting as a potent antidote to cortisol, the stress hormone. Exercise has been found to increase levels of brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and glial cell line-derived trophic factor (GDNF), two key growth factors supporting neurogenesis.  It also increases hormones such as testosterone which also seem to have a extremely beneficial effect on neurogenesis, and act as a buffer against the effects of psychological stress. This is increasingly more important as we age.”  http://highexistence.com/boost-brain-harnessing-neurogenesis/  Of course, I don't run, but a brisk walk is good, too.

Wednesday, April 19, 2017

How does vitamin B6 help your brain?

A notice from The World's Healthiest Foods Newsletter, April 19

"Vitamin B6 is one of several B vitamins required for proper production of messaging molecules in our nervous system and brain (called neurotransmitters). Three key neurotransmitters— namely GABA, dopamine, and serotonin—all require vitamin B6 for synthesis.

Just as an example of how important this nutrient can be to proper brain and nervous system, function, there is a condition called pyridoxine-dependent epilepsy where a genetic mutation interferes with normal vitamin B6 function. In people who have this mutation, the brain does not develop properly and epileptic seizures are experienced beginning in infancy. Luckily, this condition is rare.

However, we may be at risk of other more common problems that can be brain and nervous-system related if our B6 intake is poor. Depression is a good example in this area. Researchers in Japan have found that the risk of depressed mood is higher in people with lower levels of vitamin B6 in their diet (in comparison with the general population). Another research group concluded that this link between risk of depression and B6 intake becomes even stronger when dietary folic acid—a nutrient that works very closely with vitamin B6 in brain and nervous system chemistry—is deficient as well. Recent research has also begun to indicate a link between B6 deficiency and risk of development for attention deficit disorder (ADHD). So once again, we are looking at the possible widespread importance of B6 for brain and nervous system support."

 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4772032/

 http://www.foodforthebrain.org/alzheimers-prevention/homocysteine-and-b-vitamins.aspx

http://www.naturalhealth365.com/vitamin-b-complex-cognitive-function-1726.html

 "supplementing high dose B6 (20mg), folic acid (800mcg) and B12 (500mcg) has been shown to greatly reduce the rate of brain shrinkage[15] and memory loss[16] in those at risk of Alzheimer’s" (http://www.foodforthebrain.org/alzheimers-prevention/6-prevention-steps.aspx)

 There are 1,000 micrograms (mcg) in 1 milligram (mg).

Monday, January 02, 2017

Water and feed your brain to make it grow

"If you want to think faster, be more creative and live life to the fullest, you will want to begin by feeding your brain good nutrients. While the brain weighs on average only 2% of our total body weight, it consumes up to 20% of the nutrients we take into our bodies.

Studies have shown these following foods have the maximum beneficial effects of our brains.

• Walnuts and raw almonds are great for the brain and delicious to eat. Substitute almond milk in your breakfast cereal to jump start your brain for the rest of the day.
• Jolly Green Giants - leafy dark green vegetables such as kale, spinach, collards and even romaine lettuce slow the rate of cognitive decline.
• Dark Chocolate - the flavanoids contained in dark chocolate improve circulation which helps speed oxygen to the brain.
• Monosaturated Fats, such as olive oil actually slow down brain aging. Enjoy avocados, another source of monosaturated fats; they improve vascular health and circulation.
• Eat more cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and brussel sprouts. Studies have shown that people who eat a lot of cruciferous vegetables and leafy greens have a slower rate of cognitive decline.
• Indulge in foods rich with Omega 3’s such as salmon, sardines, lentils and flax seed.
• Eat more berries; the more colorful the fruit, the better it is for your body. Enjoy at least one serving of fruit a day.
• Stay hydrated. Dehydration can lead to impaired cognitive function.

From Brain training, 9 easy steps.

Subscribe to: Comments (Atom)