Cause for Concern

Wes Craven 1939-2015

I don’t necessarily feel that this is a trend that we should worry about, but we should certainly at least stop and see what’s going on.  During the last week of August (August 29^th and 30^th to be exact) two very popular and loved icons died in what I consider to be, way too young.

·       Wes Craven (8/02/1939 to 8/30/2015), the famed maestro of horror known for the Nightmare on Elm Street and Scream Franchises, died Sunday after a battle with brain cancer.  He was 76. 

·       Craven, whose iconic Freddy Krueger character horrified viewers for years, died at his home in Los Angeles, his family announced.  Survivors include his wife, producer and former Disney Studios vice president Iva Labunka.

Wayne Walter Dyer 1940-2015

• Wayne Walter Dyer (5/10/1940 to 8/29/2015) was an American self-help author and motivational speaker. His first book Your Erroneous Zones is one of the best-selling books of all time, with an estimated 35 million copies sold. ~ Wikipedia
• Dyer was diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia in 2009 but claimed to have treated it with positive thinking, daily exercise and "psychic surgery" performed remotely by the Brazilian medium João Teixeira de Faria, better known as "John of God." He detailed the controversial treatment in an interview with Oprah Winfrey — for whom he was a friend and frequent guest for more than 30 years — in 2012.

We can hopefully take this as a sign that we need to stay current on our personal and loved one’s health.  Some illnesses are avoidable and/or treatable others that are terminal may allow us additional time with loved ones if we become aware early enough.

I’ve said it before there are two professionals in our lives that we would do well to communicate with, our health care providers and the Internal Revenue Service.  In these two instances no surprises is good policy.  Rest In Peace to the two fine gentlemen that we just lost.  The best is yet to come……

Senior Moments

Senior Moments

·       Creeping into our everyday vocabulary over the past few years, the term "senior moment" is now the chief lament of midlife adults who fear they are losing their memory. You've probably used this term yourself on at least one occasion. Perhaps you forgot where you put your keys, blanked on the name of an acquaintance or couldn't recall whether you turned off the oven after you left the house. "I'm having a senior moment!" you mutter to yourself or complain to your friends. Although you're probably half kidding, that other half secretly fears that you're showing the early signs of serious memory loss.

·       Fear of developing memory loss is a common concern of people 55 and older. In research I conducted a number of years ago on people's concerns about aging, I found that the number one age-related change that people feared the most was changes in their memory.~ Susan Krauss Whitbourne Professor of Psychology

While we May all chuckle or laugh out loud about “senior moment’ situations, we need to realize that the problem can be very serious or not, depending on the causes for the lapse in memory.

The most serious could be the advent of Alzheimer’s which according to news articles is neither preventable nor treatable.  However, there are other forms of Dementia that are treatable.  There are also other competing causes of memory loss other than dementia. Here is a partial list: preventable and treatable memory loss and should be addressed as quickly as convenient.  Some causes of memory loss other than dementia can be: stress, lack of sleep, depression, and side effects from medications.

In my own personal experience I find that my thinking process is foggy at best when I haven’t had a good night’s sleep.  I can still think things out but the process is slower and I actually know that I am working harder at it.  As an example, if I want to think of the title of a song, but it doesn’t come to me easily (we’ve all heard someone say, it’s on the tip of my tongue but I can’t come up with it) that’s when I ask my wife for a clue after telling her the artist name, if she can’t help I google the artist and his song list will come up.

Whenever I am stressed over a deadline I also don’t have as clear thinking as I normally do.  For now I relay on associations to come up with the information before I ask for help.  I prefer not to let many people into the fact that I am struggling at the moment.  I actually do mental exercises and play board games with the family that give my mind a workout.

It seems that only last month if I was extremely tired I would slow down in every aspect of activity, now more and more I am finding that when I reach the wall I need to be aware cause it’s like running out of batteries.  I don’t want people to see me dosing off, so I need to be aware of my low battery gauge.  I use my last bit of mental ability to make myself aware that I am 5 minutes from hitting the proverbial wall, and thus make a proper (acceptable) quick exit. Just like older computers have to be maintained and periodically defragmented, so do our minds so we can keep it in service much longer.

Here are some foods that will help to strengthen your brain in the memory department according to Carol Sorgen Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD  (http://www.webmd.com/diet/eat-smart-healthier-brain):  Blueberries, Wild Salmon, nuts and seeds, and avocados.

We need to do all we can to keep our mind active and not give in if at all possible to declining memory.  The best is yet to come…………..