Alzheimer’s Prevention Begins in Childhood

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Did you know that Alzheimer’s Prevention Begins in Childhood?

Alzheimer’s isn’t just a disease that begins later in life.  What happens to your child’s brain now seems to have a dramatic impact on his or her likelihood of Alzheimer’s decades later.

Gary Small, M.D., director of the UCLA Center on Aging, says the belief that Alzheimer’s is entirely genetic and unpreventable is perhaps the greatest misconception about the disease. In fact, you can even have significant Alzheimer’s pathology and no symptoms of dementia if you have a high cognitive reserve, but you’ve got to use it or you risk losing it. -w.p.

Lifestyle Habits: 

“Keep your child’s brain busy with a variety of activities and experiences to help them develop a cognitive reserve. Expose them to physical, mental, and social challenges as all of these things contribute to a stronger, higher functioning brain that can process data and memory retrieval faster and with more efficiency. This cognitive reserve is an accumulation of life experiences – education, marriage, socializing, a stimulating job, language skills, having a purpose in life, physical activity, and mentally demanding leisure activities – all make your brain better able to tolerate plaques and tangles.”  READ MORE at Parent.co

 

DIETARY GUIDELINES PER The Physicians Committee

7 guidelines to reduce risk of Alzheimer's disease

  1. Minimize your intake of saturated fats and trans fats. Saturated fat is found primarily in dairy products, meats, and certain oils (coconut and palm oils). Trans fats are found in many snack pastries and fried foods and are listed on labels as “partially hydrogenated oils.”

  2. Eat plant-based foods. Vegetables, legumes (beans, peas, and lentils), fruits, and whole grains should replace meats and dairy products as primary staples of the diet.

  3. Consume 15 milligrams of vitamin E, from foods, each day.Vitamin E should come from foods, rather than supplements. Healthful food sources of vitamin E include seeds, nuts, green leafy vegetables, and whole grains. Note: The RDA for vitamin E is 15 milligrams per day.

  4. Take a B12 supplement. A reliable source of B12, such as fortified foods or a supplement providing at least the recommended daily allowance (2.4 micrograms per day for adults), should be part of your daily diet. Note: Have your blood levels of vitamin B12 checked regularly as many factors, including age, impair absorption.

  5. Avoid vitamins with iron and copper. If using multivitamins, choose those without iron and copper, and consume iron supplements only when directed by your physician.

  6. Choose aluminum-free products. While aluminum’s role in Alzheimer’s disease remains a matter of investigation, those who desire to minimize their exposure can avoid the use of cookware, antacids, baking powder, or other products that contain aluminum.

  7. Exercise for 120 minutes each week. Include aerobic exercise in your routine, equivalent to 40 minutes of brisk walking, three times per week.

Other preventive measures, such as getting a minimum of seven hours of sleep each night and participating in 30 to 40 minutes of mental activity most days of the week, such as completing crossword puzzles, reading the newspaper, or learning a new language, can only help boost brain health.  READ MORE at pcrm.org


My First “Real” Byline!

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Relentless pressure. Wildly unrealistic sales targets. Having to pressure family members and friends to open unnecessary bank accounts. Corporate executives designed the sales quota systems and created the culture of harassment and fear when we did not meet them.

Read about it on the 

THE WASHINGTON POST: 


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Analog Life: How Gardening Can Positively Affect Your Mental Health

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Gardening is one of Mother Nature’s great equalizers.  It’s a satisfying and therapeutic activity that anyone–from a senior adult to a very young child – can tackle relatively independently. 

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Many can enjoy the gratification of creating something from virtually nothing.  What begin as tiny seeds germinating into something that’s living, thriving, and – potentially – bearing edibles is positively enchanting.  Planting vegetables, fruits, and flowers is an invigorating activity, regardless of one’s age.

Gardening allows us all to be nurturers.  Plants don’t discriminate or stigmatizeFor those with mental health problems to be able to contribute to such a transformative activity, gardening can really help boost self-esteem.

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Additionally, we can deal with depression, worry and panic by getting our hands dirty and digging in the dirt.

Here are the essential reasons you’ll want to incorporate gardening into your and your family’s lifestyle:

Teaches/Provides a Sense of Responsibility

For kids: Garden caretakers will have to be conscientious in watering the plants regularly, checking to make sure they are looking healthy, and keeping them in direct sunlight (or shade) as directed.  They will take pride in their “green pets” and the fact that they are thriving thanks to their hard work and dedication.

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Provides a Tangible Source of Accomplishment & Pride

Gardening takes commitment and sustained effort but there’s a payoff! It helps us to be less insular, less self-absorbed.  We are forced to refocus our efforts on something external: there’s the diligence in watering the plants consistently, checking to make sure they are looking pruned back and healthy-looking, and getting enough sun (or shade), as the case may be.  You might be surprised at how much pride you take in your plants and the fact that they are thriving thanks to your hard work and dedication.

Reinforces Healthy Eating Habits

Practically nothing beats fresh produce, and definitely not artificial, pre-packaged foods full of preservatives.  It can be easy to eat unhealthily when fresh food isn’t readily available, but what if it were right outside your front door?  A successful garden project gives you an opportunity to get excited about eating the right foods in the most organic, fresh, and eco-friendly way possible, which could ultimately contribute to a self-esteem boost.

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Working (Out) in Nature Releases the “Happy” Hormones

When we exercise, levels of serotonin and dopamine (hormones that make us feel good) rise and the level of cortisol (a hormone associated with stress) is lowered. According to the National Institute of Health, the Benefits of regular exercise include improved sleep, stress relief, and improved mood. I can personally vouch for the workout that gardening offers: as a former long-distance runner, I now rely on gardening as my main source of exercise – and each session leaves me dead on my feet – it can get rid of excess energy so I sleep better and ultimately feel renewed inside.  No treadmill or free weights required.

Promotes Self-Esteem, Positive Personal Identity and Internal Locus of Control

According to MetroParent, “Gardening engages both mind and body, and can help kids improve motor skills, boost self-esteem and stimulate the senses. Parents who teach their children how to nurture a garden soon discover that the garden nurtures the child as well.”

The exercise that gardening provides can yield a self-esteem revolution It promotes positive personal identity: one rooted in hard work, strength, and perseverance.

Specifically for Kids: Children learn better when they understand the context of their activity. They’ll have fun gardening, but beyond the fact that gardening is associated with “playtime”  they are contributing to the overall family well-being. Besides planting and nurturing their garden beds, be sure they alone do the harvesting and preparation of their crop for the table, no matter how modest the offering.

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For Adults: Gardening yields a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction for us all, especially when there’s suddenly head-high sunflowers or that first tomato ready for picking.  It’s a great feeling and you’ll know we’ve worked hard for it! Continue reading »


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How Adding Probiotics To Your Diet Could Impact Your Mood

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According to recent research, both probiotics and prebiotics are important for Gastrointestinal Health.

Probiotics are the “good” bacteria (live cultures) naturally occurring in the stomach. These active cultures help balance gut flora by reproducing more good bacteria. A good balance helps boost immunity and overall health, particularly the aforementioned Gastrointestinal Health. Probiotics can be used to treat stomach issues like IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome), food allergies and lactose intolerance.

Prebiotics are the foods that help the Probiotics along. They are good bacteria “promoters”. Prebiotics and Probiotics work together to achieve Gastrointestinal Health.

Gastrointestinal Health is important for more than just happy tummies. More and more scientific research is pointing towards intestinal bacteria playing an influential role in managing mental disorder symptoms.

According to an article from Nature International Weekly Journal of Science, “there is hard evidence linking conditions such as Autism and Depression to the gut’s microbial residents, known as the microbiome”.

Another states: “In humans, there is some very early evidence of a link between gut bacteria and mental health. A new study from England found that supplements that boost “good” bacteria in the gut (called “prebiotics”) may alter the way people process emotional information, suggesting that changes in gut bacteria may have anti-anxiety effects”.

Gut bacteria plays a role in our sanity.

Incredible.

So how does one get those probiotics and prebiotics into their gut?

For probiotics, consume:

  • Fermented dairy foods including yogurt, kefir products, and aged cheeses, which contain live cultures (for example, bifidobacteria and lactobacilli).
  • Fermented non-dairy foods containing beneficial cultures, including kimchi (spicy pickled cabbage), sauerkraut, miso, soy beverages and kombucha (fermented tea).

For prebiotics, consume:

  • Foods/supplements containing fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS), such as inulin and galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS).
  • Foods such as bananas, onions, garlic, leeks, asparagus, artichokes, soybeans and whole-wheat foods.

I Wish People Came With Subtitles

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I Really Suck At Reading A Room.

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Credit: Pixabay

I hardly ever get the opportunity to see all of my brothers at once, so when two of the oft-absent siblings were recently in town, I made the extra effort to go see them at my father’s house where they’d be crashing for the weekend.  

When I first arrived,  I noticed a movie playing in the family room with the closed caption feature enabled. Naturally, this version displays subtitles at the bottom of the screen, providing viewers the words to the entire episode. I could see and hear it from the foyer: a popular actress was lighting up the screen and deftly stealing the heart of her co-star while every last word was accounted for.    

I remarked to no one in particular that I have a habit of utilizing the subtitle feature on absolutely everything I watch, without exception. Literally, it is unreservedly compulsive.  I detest watching movies or television without this feature and, if said option is not available, its absence becomes so distracting that I will often cease watching altogether. I’m so used to doing it, that, when I don’t,  I feel as though I’m missing one of my senses, like the sound is turned all the way down on the program, even though I know, of course, that it’s not.  

I’m not sure when the obsessive subtitles dependency began, but I can definitively say that I have been doing it for the last 5 years minimum. The inclination toward doing  this probably originated simultaneously with my Netflix binge-watching habit.

In response to my comment, my brother agreed that he’s likewise fond, verging-on-obsessed, with subtitles. I know my mom uses subtitles at her house, too. She’s big on foreign cinema. Also, she utilizes the feature while running on her treadmill because that can get noisy.

It could be that my family members and I are genetically predisposed towards auditory issues, but that explanation seems unlikely. Rather, I believe that our collective devotion to reading, both for pleasure and education, is so strong that we simply prefer to “read” what we watch.  As a child, I had a strong and enduring passion for reading.  I sought it out as an “escape” and a comfort.  As an adult, I still seek relief in its familiarity.  

I wish I could apply the comfort and familiarity of the “Subtitle Feature”to my real life; especially when interacting with people in real life.

And dogs, too, obviously.  That goes without saying.  So entertaining.   Continue reading »


Run Happy, Run Smart!

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I just knew I was on to something when I declared that the practice of
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ought to be packaged and marketed as a glorious idea producing machine!

According to an article on Medical Xpress, a study was just completed by the Psychology and Biology Departments at the University of Jyväskylä which reported,  

“It may be possible to increase the neuron reserve of the hippocampus – and thus improve preconditions for learning – by promoting neurogenesis via sustained aerobic exercise such as running.

Aerobic exercise, such as running, has positive effects on brain structure and function, for example, the generation of neurons (neurogenesis) in the hippocampus, a brain structure important in learning.”

The article goes on to detail how the results of the study were collected and to explain that the findings are significant because,

Continue reading »


What Riding The Wells Fargo Wagon Was Really Like

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of the corporate culture:

Relentless pressure. Wildly unrealistic sales targets. Having to pressure family members and friends to open unnecessary bank accounts. Corporate executives designed the sales quota systems and created the culture of harassment and fear when we did not meet them.


This Is All About Pain

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“Are you going to eat all that yourself?

The delivery guy’s expression was incredulous as he handed me my order–an order, which, I’d used compromising means of obtaining, so desperate and pathological the means of my destruction had devolved.

I paused, immediately conjured a plausible lie, dismissed it and admitted, “Yes.”

“Whaaat?” He assessed my frame in disbelief.  “But…how?”

I had no energy for shame or mortification.

“I’m going to throw it all up when I’m done.”

Caught off guard by my candidness, his speech faltered, “Oh!  OhmyGod.  I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.  It’s not your problem.”  I pause.  “Only, if you don’t ask your customers so many personal questions, you might not have to deal with so many personal answers.”

He nodded, reaching for the signed receipt.

Now, he is finally walking away, and I think he is going to let me be.

Still, not put off, he’s got one more for me.

“So…you’re like, Anorexic or somethin’”?

Yeah, buddy.  Or somethin’.

They don’t understand.  It isn’t gluttony.  And isn’t hedonism.

This is not about pleasure.  This is all about pain.

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Credit: Pixabay

Near or distant, it’s likely that nearly every family has at least one “mad” relation.  You know who I’m talking about; the one who’s responsible for the legendary tales of insane behavior, collective embarrassment, and general familial strife? Chances are if you’re reading this essay, you either love a “mad” person or are one of them.  Well, you’re in good company my friend.

As late as the 1970’s, those “affected” were institutionalized in barbaric versions of asylums and hospitals, a la One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.  Strides made in modern medicine and mental health care ought to reduce the destructive ripple effect these individuals wield upon their respective families, but, in my estimation, it hasn’t done much to help.

At best, positive changes have been minimal;  mental illness poisons entire families.   The reality of mental illness is that there is no cure, only strategies of maintenance and coping.  The management of mood disorders is largely guesswork: trial and error requiring time, patience, resources and information.

And step one is diagnosis.

Correct diagnosis, that is.

From childhood into my early 30’s, I’ve been the unwilling passenger of a perpetual rollercoaster, with violent emotional waves dictating my behavior, decisions, and interactions.

I felt (and still feel) so wrong in the head, not understanding the constant intensity of emotion, the internal turmoil always clutching at my insides.

I’ve been confused by the behavior of those around me.  Everyone else seems so relaxed, so unaffected, so very, very even.

When I was younger, in elementary, middle and even high school, it frustrated me to no end that, when I was in a manic rage or sobbing desperately, my parents didn’t seem to take me seriously, dammit.  In fact, they often appeared amused.

Outrageous! How dare you! This is life and death we are talking about here!

I was quite indignant.

Talking to my dad about it now, he tells me: “I didn’t realize anything was really wrong.  I just assumed the fighting with your mother, the emotional outbursts, the dramatics…that it was all part of being a girl.”

Sexist, maybe.  Understandable? Absolutely.

Most of the time, I covered up the illness.  I desperately wanted (and still want) to fit in, be accepted, appear normal, be liked and admired.

And still, to this day, I seek external validation.  My 20+ years of Anorexia and Bulimia can certainly attest to that.

But of course, an Eating Disorder is not ever about just one thing.  Yes, a significant part of me wants to appear attractive, controlled, on top of things, and strong (ha ha…ha), BUT the main role of my Anorexia and Bulimia has been a homemade mood stabilizer,  only I never realized its true function until 2014, when I was finally diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder.

For years, family, doctors, psychologists, and therapists attempted to treat only the presenting symptoms: the starving, bingeing, purging, over-exercising, self-harming behaviors.

All the while, not seeing the forest from the trees.

At my sickest, I felt angry at them.  Patronized.

My problems were chalked up to the trivial pursuit of beauty.  Thinness. Perfection.  Attaining the unattainable, blah, blah, blah.

My parents theorized it was a preoccupation with vanity; a hyperbolic representation of societal standards for the aesthetic ideal.

The times when I veered toward the danger zone, more dead than alive, they realized it had become an obsession over which I’d lost control; a set of destructive behaviors so addictive and necessary that I was willing to die for them.

And I may, still.

My parents tried to understand, but they did not have all the information.

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Credit: Pixabay

Wanting very much to keep me alive, they’ve attempted all conceivable ways to help: spending tens of thousands of dollars on treatment, hospitals, rehab, therapists, doctors, and dentists.  Arguing with insurance companies on my behalf, fighting for more comprehensive care.  Seeing me through divorce and bankruptcy.  Moving me back home and opening their own homes to me, all the while providing financial and emotional support.  Straining their own relationships, prioritizing my needs at the expense of my siblings.

I am a living, breathing investment.

And then.  

Then, the true and full extent of my family’s unconditional love, support and patience was tested when I had my first psychotic manic episode.  I had initially not been diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder because, for years, doctors, psychologists, therapists, and counselors had been focused on the presenting symptoms of my eating disorder.  Forest…trees…you get it.  

 Around the time of my divorce, my family had helped moved me back home, at their time and expense, I might add, but I’d already been relapsing into Anorexia once again.  Historically my anorexia has always manifested as sub-type 2: purging type.  What this means is, that I primarily restrict my calorie intake, but if I do binge, or even eat normal portion sizes, I will purge through vomiting.  During anorectic relapses, this behavior is always accompanied by excessive exercise.  I normally run 45 minutes to an hour, but during a relapse, a two to three-hour workout would be about average for me.  OCD behaviors always intensify during these times as well.  

Having refused to go to inpatient eating disorder treatment during this relapse,  I was seeing both a medical doctor and an outpatient therapist regularly, at my family’s behest.  The doctor, in an attempt to treat my “depression and anxiety” prescribed me anti-depressants, which promptly sent me into full blown mania.  

Starvation-and not in the hyperbolic sense, mind you-combined with, well, basically speed for Bipolar people, made me a fucking lunatic.  

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 Compounding that, a Bipolar person, having a mixed-manic episode, I was readily and enthusiastically putting myself in peril. There’s that impulsive, risky element that’s so magnetically attractive in this state; even suicidal thoughts are idealized and appealing.

Continue reading »


Early Intervention Is Critical For Children’s Mental Health Services

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Early intervention is important, but it can’t be the parent’s entire responsibility. School’s *do* have to offer this kind of support: mental illness is more widespread among youth than people realize.

According to a recent article on Spectrum:

Both girls have been diagnosed with psychiatric conditions — Sydney with bipolar disorder and Laney with a similar condition called disruptive mood dysregulation disorder. (The family asked that their last name not be used, to protect the girls’ privacy.)

School has been a real challenge for them. That’s not unusual for the one in five children in the United States who have a psychiatric condition. They often experience anxiety, difficulty focusing and social challenges. Half of them drop out of high school, in part because many schools don’t manage to meet their needs.

Selena has spent the past eight years trying to get the girls the resources to help them succeed. Like a lot of parents of kids with mental health issues, she’s had to be her children’s biggest advocate.

Read the article from Jenny Gold via Spectrum:

Parents battle for children’s mental health services at school

Parents battle for children’s mental health services at school

Bipolar Disorder Butterfly Round Sticker


Is Sustainability For Suckers?

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Ugly…or  BEAUTIFULLY delicious?

Apparently, growing spreads like this for yourself is silly, foolish, and…

ugly?   AND ILLEGAL??                                                                              

That’s what a judge just ruled because apparently, veggie gardens are, get this, UGLY.

READ HERE: Judge Rules Government Can Ban Vegetable Gardens Because They’re ‘Ugly’ Continue reading »