Caring for the Brain

As we celebrate the increase in the average human life span, we tend to forget that along with this increase comes the increase in the need to take care of our bodies and in particular our brains. Dementia is becoming progessively more common and the risk is often a factor of things like weight, blood pressure, and lack of mental activity. However, if we maintain an active and healthy lifestyle, coupled with daily brain stimulation, we can combat this evil of aging and find ourselves in a better place in the future.

At the Karolinska Institutet, professor Laura Fratiglioni and a team of diligent researchers have been  studying the processes that attribute to the development of Dementia and are are working to create strategies to combat it.

“The brain, just as other parts of the body, requires stimulation and exercise in order to continue to function. Elderly people with an active life – mentally, physically and socially – run a lower risk of developing dementia, and it doesn’t matter what the particular activities are”, says Professor Laura Fratiglioni.

Fratiglioni’s team as well as other teams across Europe, are using various forms of physical, social, and mental interaction on a controlled research group and seeing the delay of onset Dementia through their support in preserving cognitive function. Education in early life has also shown to play a role in preventing Dementia and Fratiglioni says its never too early to start taking steps towards brain preservation. In a few years they believe they will have key knowledge and a solidified outline as to how the general population can begin to make adjustments to avoid not only Dementia, but perhaps other prominent degenerative brain conditions as well.

Information courtesy of: Medical News Today

Written by: Tessa

Professional Medical Corp

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