In the family of the reader, I sure that many of you may have noticed as our relatives grow older, their memories tend to fade away with time. But if it's not just because of time? What if they couldn't remember what they ate in the morning? What if they forgot the name of their family members? What if they repeatedly asked about the same issue? According to statistics, 1 in 3 people will develop Alzheimer's, with women twice as likely to be Alzheimer as men. Cardiac patients also increase the risk of this disease. Alzheimer's is not a distant matter to us. Without taking a good care of our brain, an Alzheimer's may happen to us as well.
Stages of Alzheimer's.
Alzheimer's is a deterioration of the body that everyone will encounter different symptoms and conditions. The symptoms will be better and worse on and off. There are 3 phases of this as following.
The first phase of Alzheimer's is called MCI. It is not called a disease but a condition that may seem like just a forgetful person. It means that patients start to have short-term memory problems; forgetting what happened yesterday or the day before associate with confusion in planning and making decision. The patients will encounter depression and begin to lose enthusiasm. In this initial phase, the patients can be treated with brain training.
Phase 2, patients will begin to lose concentration, facing emotional changes such as anger, irritability and cry. This can escalate to communication problems; poor reading and naming things wrong. Some of the patients will be in this phase longer than other periods which is up to 5 years or more.
In phase 3, the severe phase is the last phase of the disease, patients are unable to do their own daily activities. They may not realize what they are doing. The patient may not speak at all or keep talking repeatedly, and cannot hold back feces or urine.
A good memory 92 years old.
Most recently, I just visited my Grandma's sister who is 92 years old after I last met her a year ago. After we had been sitting and talking for a while, she asked about what we had talked last time if I have finished that matter already or not. I was very surprised because even myself have completely forgot about that. After an hour-long conversation, I found that she still remembers everything and has no symptoms of forgetting, and she is also able to remember her secret cooking recipes accurately and precisely. I asked her about her tips to have such a good memory and she told me that it’s all about eating fish.
Good fat nourishes the brain.
Food is one of the factors that makes our brain healthy and prevents brain degeneration by the time we get older. In our brain, 65% is fats in which not every fat that our bodies can create by themselves but can be obtained from consumption of fish. This comes with omega-3 fat acids and DHA fat acids. In addition, good fats can be obtained from avocados and nuts also.
Brain exercising.
In addition to eating food, other factors are also important to help reduce the risk of Alzheimer, whether the environment or exercises/activities that help develop the brain, such as brushing teeth with uncomfortable hand side, dancing lessons, picture matching games, picture hinting, chess, crossword, Sudok, or jigsaw puzzles.
If anyone ever finds that you or your family are more prone to Alzheimer's disease, the best thing to take care of people with this tendency begins with the love and care of the family because this disease can be prevented. Nothing is too late even if you start it from today. Consumption behavior such as eating organic vegetables and fish/meat that are free from chemical use are important for brain development. In addition, the brain exercising activities can also allow families to have joint activities, resulting in a stable and happy family institution as well.
Author
Christa Usada
Freelance Model