Author Archives: brainmasters
Alzheimer’s Disease: Dutch Village Dubbed ‘Truman Show’ for Dementia Patients – ABC News
An innovative concept for Alzheimer’s patients, a nursing home disguised as a village.
Alzheimer’s Disease: Dutch Village Dubbed ‘Truman Show’ for Dementia Patients – ABC News.
New Alzheimer’s Disease Treatment Approach
This link will enable you to either listen to or read the transcript from the National Library of Medicine outlining a new possible treatment approach for Alzheimer’s Disease. Study results were recently published in Science. Very interesting!
You’re Looking at Me Like I Live Here and I Don’t | Documentary about Alzheimer’s | Independent Lens | PBS
Combination of two brain diagrams in one for comparison. In the left normal brain, in the right brain of a person with Alzheimer's disease English: Diagram of the brain of a person with Alzheimer's Disease English: Diagram of a normal brain (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Interesting documentary into a woman’s personal struggle with Alzheimer’s Disease. Definitely worth watching and sharing!
Spring Brain Cleaning and Anagrams
Image via Wikipedia
Spring has sprung and is here in full force! Allergies, pollen, blossoms, and maybe even the spring cleaning bug. How about a spring cleaning for your brain? Get rid of those cobwebs that crowded your brain during your winter hibernation and return to the business of forming new brain pathways while building a cognitive reserve through neuroplasticity or brain plasticity. Let’s build a buff brain! Challenge yourself with something new or just do something differently or change the order of things in your daily, morning or evening rituals. Yes, it can actually be that simple-anything that causes or forces us to think differently is beneficial! It doesn’t matter if you are a senior, a baby boomer, a gen X or Y, approaching 50, 40, or even 30. We all need to embrace the concept of lifelong learning. It’s as simple as ABC-Always Brain Challenging-that is what we believe at BrainMasters!
Equally important to exercising the brain is the caring for the brain. This includes physical exercise and eating healthy brain foods. By engaging in physical exercise and consuming healthy foods we become active participants in the anti-aging, longevity, and anti-Alzheimer’s Disease campaign. I know everyone is busy-we all are. Surely, we all can allocate 30 minutes each day to exercise whether it is a walk, yoga, biking, or playing Wii Fit-just get moving! If you have a dog, then walk it; after all pets need exercise too!
Now that you are armed with this powerful new knowledge, it is time to exercise your brain and form new pathways! Here are some spring themed anagrams. Form as many new words as possible, and let us know how you do!
ALLERGIES
DOGWOODS
FESTIVALS
BLOOMING
GRILLING
FLOWERS
FLORAL
BLOSSOMS
NATURE
OUTDOORS
Wild blackberry extracts show promise as brain health nutraceuticals: Lab data
Two varieties of wild blackberries found in Spain and Portugal may protect the brain from oxidative stress. Here is a link to a summary of the article published in the Journal of European Nutrition.
Wild blackberry extracts show promise as brain health nutraceuticals: Lab data.
Spring Anagrams
Image via Wikipedia
Have you ever challenged your brain with anagrams? Anagrams are another great brain exercise to help build your cognitive reserve. Yes, anagrams are anti aging for the brain promoting brain health and fitness. Anagrams are fun for people of all ages- kids, teens, young adults, middle aged, baby boomers, and seniors of course! Anagrams target the cognitive areas of problem solving, reasoning, executive function, memory, and vocabulary. Before you attempt these dementia fighting, anti Alzheimer’s Disease mentally stimulating brain exercises, let’s be sure everyone knows what anagrams are. You will be provided with a single word and your challenge is to rearrange all the letters and form new words. You may form more than one word with the letters as long as all the letters are utilized. Here is an example. If BRAIN is the starter word, the letters may be rearranged to form the words: RAN BI. I think you get the point. Enjoy, laugh, take a deep breath, sit back relax and get ready to challenge yourself. Let’s promote mental fitness, mental stimulation, healthy aging, health and wellness, longevity, and brain health. So, here’s to your brain.
Try anagrams for the following list of spring inspired words. Create as many new word combinations as you can. Happy Spring!
FLOWERS
BLOOMING
ADVENTURE
TROPICAL
CHERRIES
ALLERGIES
Alzheimer’s and Dementia Care Program
Alzheimer's Disease (Photo credit: AJC1)
UCLA introduces a new Alzheimer’s and dementia care program that targets the needs of the patient as well as those of the caregiver who often is a family member.
The UCLA Alzheimer’s and Dementia Care program will have three main components: creation of a dementia registry; a needs assessment of patients listed in the registry; and individualized dementia care plans based on those assessments.
Click on this link to watch a short introductory video on this exciting program.
Brain Awareness Week Activities
Yesterday at the Parc we had such a fabulous event as we celebrated Brain Awareness Week 2012! We discussed ways to promote brain health and engaged in some fun and interactive brain fitness activities. Check out some of our photos. By the way, what do you think of our brain erasers?
Omega-3 rich diet could protect against brain aging!
Are you getting enough Omega-3s in your diet? Studies continue to report that diets rich in Omega-3s may help protect the brain against aging. Read more here….
Brain Injury Awareness
Did you know that March is Brain Injury Awareness Month? BrainMasters is committed to increasing brain awareness and has provided a link to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) website that contains information we all should be familiar with when it comes to brain injury prevention and awareness. You will even find a quiz to test your knowledge of brain injury as well as many facts, figures and statistics.
Did you know that every year 1.7 million people will sustain a traumatic brain injury? Of those-
- 52,000 die,
- 275,000 are hospitalized, and
- 1.365 million, nearly 80%, are treated and released from an emergency department
Do you know the leading causes for brain injuries?
- Falls (35.2%);
- Motor vehicle – traffic (17.3%);
- Struck by/against events (16.5%); and
- Assaults (10%)
Do you know the 7 ways to avoid a head injury according to the CDC?
1. Wearing a seat belt every time you drive or ride in a motor vehicle.
2. Buckling your child in the car using a child safety seat, booster seat, or seat belt (according to the child’s height, weight, and age).
- Children should start using a booster seat when they outgrow their child safety seats (usually when they weigh about 40 pounds). They should continue to ride in a booster seat until the lap/shoulder belts in the car fit properly, typically when they are 4’9” tall
3. Never driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
4. Wearing a helmet and making sure your children wear helmets.
5. Making living areas safer for seniors, by:
- Removing tripping hazards such as throw rugs and clutter in walkways;
- Using nonslip mats in the bathtub and on shower floors; Installing grab bars next to the toilet and in the tub or shower;Installing handrails on both sides of stairways;Improving lighting throughout the home; and
- Maintaining a regular physical activity program, if your doctor agrees, to improve lower body strength and balance.
6. Making living areas safer for children, by:
Installing window guards to keep young children from falling out of open windows; and
Using safety gates at the top and bottom of stairs when young children are around.
7. Making sure the surface on your child’s playground is made of shock-absorbing material, such as hardwood mulch or sand.
BrainMasters 