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Aging – Crib sheet

Aging1

As we age, the brain shrinks,

White matter degrades,

Blood flow is reduced,

Plaques and tangles develop.
Free radicals damage increases,

as does inflammation.

So what to do?
Compensate:

Use adaptive capabilities,

Tap cognitive reserves,
Control risk factors,

(Cholesterol, blood pressure, weight)

Exercise,


Eat healthy,

Stimulate your intellect,

Be social,

And

Use it.



[1]From article title “The Changing Brain in Healthy Aging”, http://www.nia.nih.gov/alzheimers/publication/part-1-basics-healthy-brain/changing-brain-healthy-aging, published Sept. 2008, updated Jan. 22, 2015

I wrote the above to summarize the article. I think this is a good to remember, but who can remember the whole article.  I like the ‘free radicals’ I want to be one when I grow up.  Plaques and tangles sound like something I have to avoid when I go to the garage to find something. But, when it comes to tapping my cognitive reserves, haven’t I been doing that all my life?

I did learn something html wise when I created this. I had to go to html to get the superscript for the footnote. “<” sup and /sup>” tags are your friends.