Brain Health

 

   Keeping one’s brain well is more important than keeping one’s body youthful. Once significant deterioration has taken place, it usually is not recoverable. If one’s mind is not working properly, one is not capable of enjoying any of the other benefits of good health.

 

   The basic needs of the neuron cells of the brain are oxygen and glucose. It must also have other nutrients to manufacture its neurotransmitter chemicals and to keep its cells healthy. Ginkgo Biloba is thought to have a positive effect on the vascular system in the brain. Evening Primrose Oil among other things improves the elasticity of red blood cells, allowing them to be more effective in transversing small capillaries that are only one cell wide.

 

   There are mainly two categories of reasons for compromised brain health. The first is substances which cause various cells in the brain to die. Some are introduced into the body voluntarily and are usually addictive. The most commonly abused substances are alcohol and nicotine.

 

    Other substances begin to appear more and more as we age on their own. Lipofuscin is a pigment substance circulating in the bloodstream as we age and causes what we call “age spots”. This substance also kills memory cells in the brain. There are multiple prescription medications known to reduce the level of lipofuscin.

 

   Mono Amino Oxidase B is a very bad enzyme that begins to appear in the brain after about age 40. Many doctors believe that MAO-B destroys dopamine producing neurons. It is postulated that on average humans lose about 13% of these neurons every 10 years. If we live long enough to lose about 70 to 80% of these neurons, we are then diagnosed as having Parkinson’s disease. As mentioned above, once the neurons are destroyed they will never grow back again. We all know older people who have lost much of their memory, are not very coherent, who have trembling hands. Often what really is going on is that the individual has probably lost 50% or more of his dopamine producing neurons and is pre-Parkinson’s. Deprenyl is a prescription medication that is a selective depressor of MAO-B.

 

   The second category of reasons for brain dysfunction is the loss of the ability of the cardiovascular system to provide oxygen to the brain. As the human body ages a combination of compromises take place. A factor of major importance in the prevention of a decreasing oxygen supply is regular exercise to help keep that system in good working order. What follows is a simplistic description of these compromises. There are three things that happen which most directly affect the blood’s ability to carry and transfer oxygen. First, as our bodies age for various reasons our blood volume decreases. Second, our bodies manufacture less hemoglobin. (Hemoglobin is manufactured in bone marrow.) Thirdly, as is stated elsewhere in this plan, many have a tendency to be either pre-diabetic or diabetic and have a higher average glucose level. As is the case so many times in the body, one thing affects another. In aging, pre-diabetic or diabetic individuals, blood glucose adheres to hemoglobin on the order of 10 times normal. This ruins the ability of that hemoglobin to carry bio-available oxygen. Measuring this is the purpose of a test called a hemoglobin A1c.

 

   The combination of these three phenomena causes a condition of low available oxygen in the bloodstream. This loss of oxygen is not enough to medically call it a disease, but it slowly starves the brain of the oxygen it needs. Regular monitoring of hemoglobin and hematocrit will keep one aware of where this process is. Again, one needs to keep in mind that “normal” laboratory results of a measurement only mean that the measurement falls in the middle 80% of a bell curve. Good health requires bodily functions to be optimal. One wants to attempt to maintain a hematocrit of 45%, preferably 47% or 48% and a hemoglobin of 15% or above. The endocrine system here again is in charge, the production of hemoglobin in bone marrow is controlled by a hormone called erithropoyetin. If one is conversant with all of the “abused” substances in sports, EPO is a banned substance because raising the body’s ability to carry oxygen affects one’s ability to athletically perform. This is the reason many Olympic athletes train at high elevations. The body adapts naturally and increases its capacity to “hold” oxygen in the bloodstream. I will not here get into discussing the use of EPO in a prophylactic manner. (Please refer to the general discussion of hormone replacement therapy at the beginning of that section.)

 

             Good Nutrition

 

   The quick description would be low carbohydrate, high protein with plenty of vegetables. Particularly to be avoided are refined carbohydrates. Since the goal is to mediate glucose level gyrations caused by insulin resistance, a diet which accounts for the glycemic index of foods and alters eating patterns accordingly works synergistically with the other parts of this health plan. Many criticize a plan such as this as being intentionally high fat. Since they start with a bias toward low-fat nutrition, a nutrition plan without significant restrictions on fat are high fat by their definition.

 

   Other points: Eat enough fiber. Psyllium husks are a good supplemental source of fiber. Many other alternatives are available. Never eat trans fats. Nuts and fruits of certain kinds are good. Splenda is a real help, avoid aspartame. A good program of vitamins and supplements is intended to complement good nutrition.

 

                  Exercise

 

   There have been many recent studies continuing to confirm with more and more certainty the incredible importance of exercise to lifetime health. As with many things in life exercise seems hard at first, but soon you realize that you are not paying the price, you are enjoying the benefits. Beyond the present benefits however, regular exercise has been proven to add years to the average lifespan.

 

                                    Strength Training

 

   If one wishes to build muscle mass, there is no significant alternative to resistance training of some sort. The more muscle you have relative to fat, the more calories your body burns, and the more the natural the cycle of the expenditure of energy and rest seems experientially normal. Typically, as people move well into their later years, the loss of leg strength (the largest muscles of the body) is an almost universal phenomenon denying quality of life.

 

                                    Aerobic Training

 

   Aerobic training is absolutely essential to cardiovascular health. Earlier in my life I went for a number of years with jogging as my main form of exercise. I ran approximately 25 miles per week. At the time my blood pressure was rock stable at 90/60 and my heart rate was also rock stable at an athletic 60 beats per minute.

 

                                  Flexibility Training

 

   Flexibility training is the most forgotten of the three prongs of exercise. Many of the changes associated with aging actually come from “disuse”. Bob Anderson, author of Stretching, calls this syndrome “creeping rigor mortise”. One cannot expect joint and ligament structures to stay flexible without regularly working them.