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People Are Living Longer
Exercise strengthens your bones and muscles, boosts your
immune system by reducing stress, strengthens your heart,
and significantly reduces joint swelling from arthritis. A
program of exercise helps lower your risk for:
- High blood pressure
- High cholesterol
- Heart disease
- Diabetes
- Colon cancer
- Osteoporosis
A healthy diet goes hand-in-hand with exercise to help
you lead a healthy, active life. Good nutrition can help
prevent health problems like osteoporosis, diabetes, and
heart disease. As metabolism slows and your need for
calories starts to decrease, your vitamin and mineral
requirements stay the same or, in some cases, even increase.
Facts of Life
How many times have you walked into a room and forgotten
what you wanted? Slips of memory are part of life. Part of
the reason you forget is, that if you remembered everything,
you'd suffer from overload.
Cognitive fitness is just as important as physical
fitness. You need to exercise your brain just as much as you
need to exercise your legs. Here are some things to practice
to keep your memory sharp:
- Concentrate - pay attention
- Focus - reduce distractions
- Slow down - don't rush
- Organize - a place for everything
- Write it down
- Repeat newly learned information
Memory loss is one of the early symptoms of Alzheimer's
disease. While everyone occasionally
Forgets where you put the keys to the car, it's when you
forget what color the car is that there maybe a problem.
Determining where forgetfulness ends and Alzheimer's begins
is the challenge.
Alzheimer's is a form of dementia affecting memory,
language ability, and rational thinking. More than four
million Americans suffer from Alzheimer's disease today and
that number is expected to more than triple by 2050.
Research is making great strides in understanding the
disease, but neither a cause nor a cure has been found.
Early warning Alzheimer's signs include problems with:
- Recalling recent events
- Making decisions or judgments
- Managing routine chores
- Expressing thoughts and feelings
- Processing what others say
- Handling complex tasks like balancing a
checkbook
"Because there is no known cure for Alzheimer's disease,
staying 'cognitively active' is all the more important,"
says Daniel Tranel, Ph.D., UI Hospitals and Clinics
neurology department.
"Read books. Play cards. Join social groups. Don't watch
too much TV and don't feed your brain too much alcohol. "Old
people may be slower, but they are usually wiser, and they
have many important life lessons to share with younger
generations," he says.
For more information about the UI Memory Disorders Clinic
or Alzheimer's Disease Clinic, please call UI
Health Access at 319-384-8442, ext. 1004, or
800-777-8442, ext. 1004.
Stimulate your brain
- Keep your brain agile by learning to think in new
ways
- Use your imagination to solve old problems a new
way
- Change your routine, don't always do everything the
same way
- Turn off the television and read a book or work a
crossword puzzle
- Try a new dish at your favorite restaurant
- Start a journal
Relax your body
- Get a massage to soothe tight, sore muscles
- Learn Tai Chi
- Learn relaxation breathing techniques
- Take a bath with scented oils and soothing music
- Take a walk in a park or along a nature trail
- Learn Yoga
Yoga can:
- Improve your balance and flexibility
- Increase your strength
- Help your concentration
- Help relieve stress
- Give you energy
For more information:
Listed above are several Web sites that offer additional
information on this topic. University of Iowa Health Care
does not sponsor or endorse these sites, or guarantee the
accuracy of the information contained on these sites. These
links are here for general information only, and should not
be used for personal diagnosis or treatment. If you have any
questions, please contact UI
Health Access.
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