Daily Habits That Can Lead to Depression and Dementia
Losing your memory or developing brain fog is not normal – it’s a sign of trouble. In an article published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease depression and dementia have been linked with findings showing that brain SPECT imaging has the proven ability to distinguish depression or dementia in people with both with 83% accuracy.
One of the most important ways to decrease risk for depression, dementia, and Alzheimer’s disease is to decrease all of the risk factors. Here we’ve outlined four risk factors to address to keep your mind healthy as you age.
Excessive Stress
Stress is a major risk factor for depression and dementia. Some major causes of stress include:- Taking care of a loved one with a mental illness or a parent with dementia.
- Having a serious medical ailment like cancer.
- Losing a loved one, either through death or divorce.
- Calm your emotional brain while helping with focus
- Help break addictions
- Treat depression, especially when it is combined with my ANT killing technique I’ll discuss in a future article
- Be a powerful aid for sleep
Untreated Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD)
Studies have shown that ADD is associated with low activity in an area called the prefrontal cortex, which acts as the brain’s brakes. It stops you from saying or doing impulsive things. When the prefrontal cortex is low, people tend to be easily distracted and have trouble controlling themselves, making it very hard to stay on track and consistently make good decisions—even though they want to. Amen Clinics has treated many patients experiencing memory issues. One of our patients was 94-years-old when she first came to the clinic. She couldn’t focus and could never finish reading the newspaper. A month after she started treatment, she told said with a big smile on her face that she had read her first book! Other patients are much younger, including one patient who was 50-years-old.Infrequent Exercise
If you exercise less than twice a week it increases your risk of dementia, but you can eliminate that risk today by exercising more than twice a week. Walk like you’re late for 45 minutes, 4 to 5 times a week and lift weights twice a week. The stronger you are as you age the less likely you are to get dementia and, in fact, it could save your life. Also, exercise can be very effective for combating depressive symptoms.Absence of New Learning and Addiction to Technology
No new learning or being addicted to your email, text messages or video games increases your risk of dementia and depression. In one study sponsored by Hewlett-Packard, people who were addicted to their gadgets lost 10 IQ points over a year. It was more harmful than smoking marijuana, which also decreases IQ. You can decrease these risk factors TODAY by limiting your gadgets and adding mental exercise to your life. Your brain is like a muscle, the more you use it in positive ways, the more you CAN use it. You have to work out your whole brain.- Word games or learning a language can stimulate the left front part of the brain.
- Laughter stimulates the right side and can boost creativity.
- Learning a musical instrument can boost your temporal lobes and help with memory.
- Learning new dance steps and playing table tennis can strengthen your cerebellum and help you with processing speed.
