According to the Alzheimer’s Society, normal aging leads to most of the following, which people usually start to notice from their 40s or 50s:

Becoming a little more forgetful

Taking a bit longer to remember things

Getting distracted more easily

Finding it harder to do several things at once.

Although this may be frustrating, for most people, it is a natural part of aging, and it is not a sign of dementia.

However, around 40% of people aged 65 and over do have some age-associated memory impairment. But of these, only 1% will progress to develop a form of dementia.

In some people, memory cognitive impairment (MCI) is caused by a hormonal imbalance or nutrient deficiency, so once this is resolved, the MCI can be reversed.

In others, it may be the first sign of dementia. People with MCI have mild memory and thinking problems but can usually take care of themselves and carry out normal daily activities.

Symptoms of MCI may include:

Forgetting about appointments or social events

Misplacing household items, such as car keys, clothing, or other objects

Raving greater difficulty finding the right words than peers of the same age

Having trouble remembering events, instructions, or conversations.

Although MCI may develop into dementia, for many the condition does not progress further.

However, if the symptoms persist, or start to impact daily functioning, this may mean that the person is developing dementia. In this case, they must seek medical help and diagnosis.

 Ways to Improve Memory

A Healthy Diet and Lifestyle

Keeping physically healthy can help protect against memory loss and dementia. Experts recommends regular aerobic exercise, and a healthy diet with plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables.

In addition, getting the right amount of sleep, socializing, minimizing stress, and keeping health conditions such as high blood pressure and diabetes under control will help reduce the risk of cognitive decline.

A new study has also highlighted the importance of vitamin D in preserving cognitive function. In this study of postmortem brains, the brains of people with higher cognitive function before death contained higher levels of vitamin D.

The researchers found that although the higher levels of vitamin D were associated with up to 33% lower odds of dementia symptoms, they were not associated with any decrease in post-mortem dementia neuropathology.

Exercise the Brain

Although keeping active and engaged as you age may not prevent dementia, mentally stimulating activities, such as volunteering, reading, playing games, or learning new skills could help lower the risk.

Doing word games, such as crosswords, has long been advocated in the popular press as a means of keeping yourself sharp, but recent studies confirm this type of brain exercise.

The Bottom Line

As we age, many of us will find we experience more frequent memory lapses, but unless these start to interfere with daily functioning, they are unlikely to be a sign of impending dementia.

To minimize the occurrence of memory issues, the advice is to keep active, eat well, look after your health, and stay engaged in lots of social and stimulating activities. And remember, like any part of the body, the brain will function better if it is exercised.

So keep up the daily word puzzle, and for even greater benefit tackle it with a friend. It could well be doing you more good than you realize.

From Medical News Today

1. Stroke is a problem of the heart

Although stroke risk is linked to cardiovascular risk factors, strokes happen in the brain, not the heart.

“Some people think that stroke is a problem of the heart,” Dr. Ortiz told MNT. “That is incorrect. A stroke is a problem of the brain, caused by the blockage or rupture of arteries or veins in the brain, and not the heart.”

Some people confuse stroke with a heart attack, which is caused by a blockage in blood flow to the heart, and not the brain.

2. Stroke is not preventable

“The most common risk factors [for stroke] include hypertension, smoking, high cholesterol, obesity, diabetes, trauma to the head or neck, and cardiac arrhythmias,” said Dr. Ortiz.

Many of these risk factors can be modified by lifestyle. Exercising regularly and eating a healthy diet can reduce risk factors such as hypertension, high cholesterol, obesity, and diabetes.

Other risk factors include alcohol consumption and stress. Working to reduce or remove these lifestyle factors may also reduce a person’s risk of stroke.

Genetic factors including a higher risk for high blood pressure and other cardiovascular risk factors may also indirectly increase stroke risk.

As families are likely to share environments and lifestyles, unhealthy lifestyle factors are likely to increase stroke risk among family members, especially when coupled with genetic risk factors.

4. Stroke symptoms are hard to recognize

The most common symptoms for stroke form the acronym “F.A.S.T.“:

F: face dropping, when one side of the face becomes numb and produces an uneven “smile”

A: arm weakness, when one arm becomes weak or numb and, when raised, drifts slowly downward

S: speech difficulty, or slurred speech

T: time to call 911

Other symptoms of stroke include:

numbness or weakness in the face, arm, leg, or one side of the body

confusion and trouble speaking or understanding speech

difficulty seeing in one or both eyes

difficulty walking, including dizziness, loss of balance and coordination

severe headaches without a known cause

5. Stroke cannot be treated

“There is an incorrect belief that strokes are irreversible and can’t be treated,” explained Dr. Ortiz.

“Emergency treatment of a stroke with injection of a clot busting drug, minimally invasive mechanical thrombectomy for clot removal, or surgery can reverse the symptoms of a stroke in many patients, especially if they arrive to the hospital early enough for the therapy (within minutes or hours since the onset of the symptoms),” he noted.

“The longer the symptoms last, the lower the likelihood of a good outcome. Therefore, it is critical that at the onset of stroke symptoms — ie. trouble speaking, double vision, paralysis or numbness, etc — an ambulance should be called (911) for transport to the nearest hospital,” he continued.

Research also shows that those who arrive within 3 hours of first experiencing symptoms typically have less disability 3 months afterward than those who arrived later.

6. Stroke occurs only in the elderly

Age is a significant risk factor for stroke. Stroke risk doubles every 10 years after age 55. However, strokes can occur at any age.

One study examining healthcare data found that 34% of stroke hospitalizations in 2009 were under age 65.

A review in 2013 points out that “approximately 15% of all ischemic strokes occur in young adults and adolescents.”

The researchers noted that stroke risk factors including hypertension, diabetes, obesity, lipid disorders, and tobacco use were among the most common co-existing conditions among this age group.

7. All strokes have symptoms

Not all strokes have symptoms, and some research suggests that symptom-free strokes are far more common than those with symptoms.

One study found that out of the over 11 million strokes in 1998, 770,000 presented symptoms, whereas close to 11 million were silent.

Evidence of these so-called silent strokes appears on MRI scans as white spots from scarred tissue following a blockage or ruptured blood vessel.

Often, silent strokes are identified when patients receive MRI scans for symptoms including headaches, cognitive issues, and dizziness.

Although they occur without symptoms, they should be treated similarly to strokes with symptoms. Silent strokes put people at risk of future symptomatic strokes, cognitive decline, and dementia.

8. A ministroke is not so risky

“The term ministroke has been used incorrectly as some think that it is related to small strokes that carry low risk,” said Dr. Ortiz. “That statement is incorrect, as a ministroke is a transient ischemic attack (TIA).”

“It is not a small stroke, but a premonition that a large stroke can occur. Any symptom of acute stroke, transient or persistent, needs emergency workup and management to prevent a devastating large stroke,” he added.

9. Stroke always causes paralysis

Stroke is a leading cause of long-term disability, but not everyone who has a stroke will experience paralysis or weakness. Research shows that stroke leads to reduced mobility in over half of stroke survivors aged 65 and over.

However, the long-term impacts of stroke vary on many factors, such as the amount of brain tissue affected and the area affected. Damage to the left brain, for example, will affect the right side of the body and vice versa.

If the stroke occurs in the left side of the brain, effects may include:

paralysis on the right side of the body

speech and language problems

slow and cautious behavior

memory loss.

If it affects the right side of the brain, paralysis may also occur, this time on the left side of the body. Other effects may include:

vision problems

quick and inquisitive behavior

memory loss.

10. Stroke recovery happens fast

Recovery from stroke can take months, if not years. However, many may not fully recover. The American Stroke Association says that among stroke survivors:

10% will make an almost complete recovery

another 10% will require care in a nursing home or another long-term facility

25% will recover with minor impairments

40% will experience moderate to severe impairments

Research suggests there is a critical time window between 2–3 months after stroke onset, during which intensive motor rehabilitation is more likely to lead to recovery. Some may also be able to spontaneously recover during this period.

From NPR News

The science behind the integrative approach

A miswiring of the brain-gut connection

Let’s start with the basic re-set in thinking about IBS. It’s not just a problem of the gut. Scientists now know that disturbances in the way the nervous system, brain and gut interact can cause changes that trigger or worsen IBS symptoms, including stomach pain, bloating, diarrhea and constipation.

“There’s a continuous feedback loop between the brain and the gut,” explains Suzanne Smith, a nurse practitioner at UCLA’s Integrative Digestive Health and Wellness program. Information flows along the vagus nerve, which connects brain to gut, so what’s happening in the mind affects the gastrointestinal system.

Smith says stress and anxiety can increase sensations of pain in the body and disrupt the GI system. When you feel an unpleasant sensation in the body, “it’s registered as a threat, and the stress response is mounted,” she says. “That gets that negative feedback loop going.”

IBS symptoms include stomach pain, bloating and gas and sometimes urgent bowel movements or constipation. A new treatment approach helps patients learn how stress may make symptoms worse.

In a crisis – if your arm is broken – this amped up pain response is useful. It signals you should get help. But if there’s nothing structural to be treated, which can be the case with IBS, the heightened stress response is a problem, and can keep us stuck in the nervous system’s fight-or-flight mode. Every cramp or stomach sensation can register as a threat. The brain and the gut are talking, but it’s almost as if the brain is misinterpreting the signal.

Quiet the nervous system with mindfulness and relaxation techniques

A pillar of the integrative approach and many of the apps is to help patients limit anticipatory anxiety, and halt the feedback loop that can amplify the unpleasant feelings and sensations associated with IBS symptoms.

Mindfulness techniques can help patients tamp down the anxiety linked to their symptoms by learning to foster awareness of the present moment. In 2020, a study of patients who participated in an 8-week Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction course found that 71% of the patients had robust improvements in their GI symptoms.

“There was a significant improvement in quality of life and overall well-being,” Smith says.

The program includes various tools to help get patients to cultivate awareness and calm, including body scans, breathing exercises, or walking meditation.

It may raise eyebrows but hypnosis is another technique shown to help quiet the nervous system. New apps deliver specifically gut-directed hypnotherapy, including Meta Me (which requires a prescription) and Nerva, which people can purchase and download without a prescription. One small study found that about 70% of patients using Nerva had significant improvement in symptoms.

It’s not at all like what you’d see in the movies. There’s no pendulum swinging in front of your face. Gut-directed hypnotherapy combines relaxation techniques with suggestions and guided imagery to help reset communication between the gut and the brain.

When John Mastro, 38, of Melbourne, Australia, first heard about gut-directed hypnotherapy he was experiencing frequent bouts of GI distress that made him hesitant to join in normal day-to-day activities. “There was this sort of anxiety around the idea of leaving home, you know, the symptoms would just suddenly appear,” Mastro recalls.

Doctors had ruled out serious conditions and suggested stress could be a factor, but Mastro wasn’t convinced.

“I just sort of refused to believe that, hey, this could be some form of anxiety that’s triggering,” he recalls, though he was under a lot of stress running a business. He says using the Nerva app helped him understand the connection.

How hypnosis can calm IBS symptoms

Hypnosis can address “the hypervigilance and hypersensitivity that happens in patients that have irritable bowel syndrome,” explains Megan Riehl, a GI clinical psychologist at the University of Michigan who has been offering patients gut-directed hypnotherapy for several years.

“Our brain and our gut are communicating all the time. And if you’re somebody that has a digestive problem, it’s like the communication is turned up way too high,” she says. Hypnosis “helps calm that conversation down.”

The technique usually starts with taking some long, slow breaths, to activate the parasympathetic nervous system, followed by a type of body scan.

“You visualize, say, your chest relaxing or your stomach relaxing, your intestines relaxing,” says Ron Berli, 75, one of Riehl’s patients who lives in Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan. “You’re not into a deep sleep. I would call it just a deep relaxation. It’s almost like sitting in a hot tub.”

What distinguishes hypnotherapy from meditation alone is that after you’ve started to relax, a psychologist will talk you through a script. On the Nerva app, it’s a calming, mellifluous voice actor reading the script.

“Powerful changes are happening inside your body. Imagine the sensations of abdominal pain are becoming a thing of the past,” the soothing voice intones.

The voice tells you to imagine that you’ve been welcomed into an apothecary, where smells of herbs and concoctions fill the air. A pharmacist has made an imaginary special medicine just for you. You’re told it will create comfort and that it will soothe the line of communication between your mind and your gut.

“You’re put into a very calm state,” Mastro says. And the changes or “suggestions” articulated in the 15-minute sessions start to feel real, he says.

The app also includes short readings that distill the science of the gut-brain connection into easy-to-understand bits. Mastro says he came to understand how he was changing his physiology, activating the parasympathetic nervous system, which slows down the heart rate, lowers blood pressure and improves the digestive process.

“It’s been nothing but transformative,” Mastro says. He rarely has symptoms now, and when he does, he says he feels equipped to dial them back using the techniques he’s learned.

Cognitive tools to redirect anxious thoughts

There’s a lot of overlap between hypnosis, meditation, mindfulness based stress reduction and CBT, or cognitive behavioral therapy, which has a deep body of scientific research behind it. The basic gist of CBT is that it helps people identify the connection between their patterns of thinking, their emotions and their actions. And the goal is to recognize and alter their patterns of negative thinking.

CBT has been shown to help people overcome insomnia and poor sleep, and researchers are studying its effect on IBS too.

The idea is to help patients learn to “re-train” their thought processes to develop a more positive way of thinking, less likely to trigger stress.

For instance, if you’re hesitant to go out to eat because you’re worried about having a bathroom emergency, CBT can help break the cycle of catastrophic, negative thoughts. A more realistic assessment of the situation is to realize that if you did sense an urgent need to have a bowel movement, you could excuse yourself to the restroom.

There are now apps to deliver IBS-tailored CBT. Mahana is authorized by the FDA for the condition and requires a doctor’s prescription. Depending where you live, you can get a consult and prescription from within the app for a fee. Zemedy from Bold Health is another CBT-based digital app that has been shown to be effective in a small trial.

The benefit of the technique goes well beyond controlling symptoms of CBT. By developing more positive thoughts, CBT has been shown to improve overall mental health.

Foods to avoid to manage IBS symptoms

Changing what’s on the menu is another key tool for people to manage IBS.

The University of Michigan has had a dedicated GI nutrition program since 2007. “When I started to talk about diet as an important part of treating patients with IBS at that time, people literally laughed at me,” Chey says. “But now almost every gastroenterologist accepts that diet is an important part of the solution.”

The FODMAP diet has gained the most attention from researchers. FODMAP stands for fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides and polyols — and the diet requires elimination or reduction of certain foods known to commonly cause gut distress, including gluten, lactose, excess fructose (found in some fruits and corn syrup) as well as certain nuts, beans and starchy vegetables.

Studies show somewhere between 52% to 86% of participants report significant improvement in their symptoms after following the diet, including reduced gas and bloating.

Researchers at Monash University in Australia explain that the FODMAP diet is based on the understanding that certain compounds in our diet can’t be completely digested or absorbed, so they can end up in the large intestine where they’re fermented by gut bacteria. This leads to gas and bloating.

“I saw the benefits almost within the first week,” says Karen Beningo of Northville, Mich., who was treated at the University of Michigan. After she started the FODMAP diet she found her energy level improved significantly. “The distension and the bloating went away very quick,” she says.

After following the diet strictly, she’s now added some foods back to her diet. She knows gluten is a trigger, so she remains gluten-free and avoids onions, broccoli and Brussels sprouts, as well as some nuts. The diet helped her learn what her triggers were.

“It was only through calming down my system and then reintroducing [them] that I pretty much confirmed, yeah, I’ve got a problem with those things,” she explains.

Following a rigorous diet takes a lot of awareness – luckily there’s an app for this one. Monash University has this FODMAP app that can help people follow the diet, detailing which foods, in which amounts, are ok, and which ones should be avoided.