I am one of those people who strongly believe that if you want to be mentally fit you need to keep your brain active.

A neighbor’s mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s about two years ago and yet this woman, in her early eighties with Alzheimer’s still manages to play bridge. She was a Life Master and played for 50 years and that part of her brain still functioned well. Her daughter told me that her mother had no idea if she ate lunch that day but still could play cards with friends.

Everything in the research indicates that just as the key to our long-term physical health depends upon our healthy lifestyle of good nutrition and exercise, so does our brain’s health. Just as our physical health depends upon our body’s cells being healthy and our muscles constantly receiving oxygen-rich blood, healthy brain cells also need a good supply of blood. In fact, there is evidence which points to the fact that this same healthy lifestyle, which can’t by itself prevent the disease, they can reduce the debilitating impact of Alzheimer’s.

It is the same old saw, for body or for mind: Use It or Lose It!

What are you doing to stay mentally active?

• I write this blog which is part of my business.
• I’m learning to play bridge.
• I work at maintaining friend and family connections.

How about you?

To your healthy aging success.

Ruthan Brodsky

A few weeks ago I received a call from someone I hadn’t seen in 20 years. She wanted some advice about her 90 year old mother. She was distraught because her mother seemed depressed and was no longer actively involved in previous activities. The 20 minute conversation boiled down to whether she was upset because her mother wasn’t performing as she thought her mother should or her mother was shrinking her world to make it more manageable as she aged?

Many of us are experiencing, or have experienced, or will experience, taking care of our elderly parents. Depending on when we were born in our parents’ lives and how fortunate or unfortunate their health is, we often become the sandwich generation, caring for our own children and our parents.

The call peaked my curiosity and I researched the topic caring for elderly adults to find out what is out there. Not that much and not that much interest. Amazon doesn’t list any current books and previously maybe there was a book for the adult child every two or three years. Even a keyword search showed little interest in terms of searches for that kind of information.

This lack of interest intrigues me. Caring for elderly parents and all the emotions it encompasses would seem to make it such a juicy topic.

It doesn’t make sense to me yet. Think about it. There are thousands of books out about parenting your kids. You would think that because we’re now living longer, which means parenting our parents for longer periods of time, there would be more interest. There is not.

If you have any possible answers to this question please let me know. Type them up in comments and I’ll collect your solutions.

To your healthy aging,

Ruthan Brodsky

The important part of finding a doctor for me is that I wanted a solid relationship between me and my doctor in sickness and in health. I suspect many of you boomers feel as I do and as a result more doctors are becoming involved in prevention. They understand that they are key players in keeping me well. Read the rest of this entry

My mother was very depressed as she aged. I suspect

It started in her sixties but I really didn’t notice it until she was in her eighties. The problem is that depression is difficult to identify because it usually develops gradually and its symptoms are mistaken as symptoms of other conditions or reactions from medication or being tired because someone is older. Read the rest of this entry

I don’t believe that you can stop aging. Neither do I believe that you can reverse aging. I do understand that there are medical and surgical and pharmaceutical things you can do and have done to you that may help you look younger and may even give you more energy, but those aren’t the secrets I’m seeking.

I’m convinced that the secrets to not becoming old are wrapped up in the lifestyle habits I need to include in my daily activities that will give me:

• the strength I need to lug groceries and play with my grand kids and push a vacuum;
• the flexibility I need so I can back up into a parking space and get in and out of a car without struggling;
• the smarts I need to continue to be productive in whatever I choose to do;
• the compassion I need to accept my aging and all the losses that will accompany those years.

Secrets To Health and Aging is an exploration to discover what we need to know and do to lead extraordinary lives as we age.

I suspect you have additional ideas about what your secrets are to healthy aging. Will you share them with us? Scroll down to comments and type your tips for healthy aging. Let’s see how much good information we receive.

To your healthy aging success.

Ruthan