|
 |
|
|
 |
Myth #1 | Myth #2 | Myth #3 | Myth #4 | Myth #5 Myth #3 Getting old means losing your mental sharpness. Alzheimer's disease strikes one in five people by age 80. Still, that means that the vast majority of 80-year olds don't have the disease. And the normal mental decline that typically accompanies aging is milder than most people think. While the average 80 year old receives and processes information more slowly than the average 30 year old, the differences are modest, and can be offset by the older person's experience and wisdom. Age-linked memory decline is apparently limited to the storing of new information; there's little decline in the ability to recall, recognize, or perform things previously seen, heard, or learned. More importantly, much of the mental decline, like the physical decline, appears to be preventable or reversible. Physically fit older people react to mental challenges just as quickly as unfit individuals decades younger. Starting to get exercise can improve older people's mental agility. Those benefits may stem partly from exercise's ability to bolster the cardiovascular system which feeds oxygen to the brain. In addition, research suggests that exercise boosts production of certain brain chemicals that promote the growth of new cells. Mental exercise, like physical exercise, may also help preserve cognitive ability. Training older people in various mental skills can reverse up to two decades of memory loss. Anything that helps keep the neurons firing learning a new language or musical instrument, playing chess or bridge will likely help maintain and possibly even help restore mental functioning. Supplemental estrogen may also help post-menopausal women stay mentally vigorous. Studies have linked the hormone to a reduced risk of developing Alzheimer's disease and to slowed progression of the disease. Several drugs, notably the pain killer propoxyphene (Darvon, Prophene), the tranquilizer diazepam (Valium) and the diabetes drug chlorpropamide (Diabinese) may cause mental cloudiness in older people. Other potentially correctable causes of mental deterioration include alcohol abuse, depression, deficiency of vitamin B12, sleep disorders, and an underactive thyroid gland.
|
