Forgetting Something? 3 Ways to jog your Memory
By the age of 65, women have a 1 in 5 chance of developing Alzheimer’s, compared to a 1 in 11 chance for men.
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Out of the 5 million people living with Alzheimer’s in the U.S., 3.2 million are women.
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Research has found that women in their 60s are twice as likely to develop Alzheimer’s than to develop breast cancer.
Kicking things off with the “fun” facts…
But which aging woman hasn’t comedically been depicted by being a bit confused or out there, forgetting her keys and searching for words. After mood swings, it is probably one of the more common symptoms that others notice as we get closer to the end of our fertile life.
Recent studies reveal a long suspected link between menopause and Alzheimer’s disease. Because the female body goes through several changes during this time, the question then becomes what specifically about this condition triggers Alzheimer’s? According to the research, the loss of estrogen associated with menopause is a major reason.
We already know that low estrogen levels contribute to hot flashes and increased risk of bone fractures. However, as Dr. Lisa Mosconi says, “Our findings show that the loss of estrogen in menopause doesn’t just diminish fertility. It also means the loss of a key neuroprotective element in the female brain and a higher vulnerability to brain aging and Alzheimer’s disease.”
Recent research indicates that estrogen plays an important role in protecting the female brain against aging and promoting healthy activity. A decrease in estrogen also appears to age the female brain faster than men. So, despite the fact that women generally have a longer lifespan, their brain is much more vulnerable, or susceptible, to neurodegenerative diseases.
Some of the changes in cognitive decline, can be felt sooner than 60 and be much less severe, nor do they need to lead to Alzheimer’s. But they are annoying enough to wreak havoc on our days, routines and relationships.
Mild memory loss, verbal fluency impairment, and slowed psychomotor speed translate to lost keys, searching for words and certain tasks taking longer.
These changes can then have an effect on our emotional state. It is probably a contributing factor to the estimated 1 million women who have left the workforce in the US due to peri/menopause in the last few years.
Forgetfulness is a form of freedom. Khalil Gibran
In this blog post, we want to make concrete recommendations on how to maneuver life situations better to avoid states in which we lose courage, feel stupid or create more anxiety. We also want to introduce you to simple mind games/ brain games to improve mild variations of the above mentioned symptoms.
3 Ways to be confident, less forgetful and slay the day:
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Theta and other brain waves are a relatively new field of research and examine the effect of frequencies on memory and helping people learn. Theta waves can be found as tracks on Spotify and according to Dr. Joe Dispenza, they occur when we are between a state of sleeping and being awake. You can listen to them as a form of meditation or while reciting affirmations. If they do nothing else for you, they may relax you. So give it a try and see how they make you feel.
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Sports that challenge your brain, like boxing or racquet sports, dancing or even just switching up the terrain on which you walk or run, are good ways to train the brain to stay alert and adapt. In sport, it will also contribute to your courage, when you choose to play tennis with a new player or doubles partner, run on grass barefoot to ground yourself and reap the sensory benefits as well as stronger feet. Dancing and remembering steps or dance routines, then being able to reproduce them, is a great way to stay sharp with joy.
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Jog your memory by doing things that are part of a standard routine in new ways. Brush your teeth with your non dominant hand. Eat with your non dominant hand. Shower with your eyes closed and go through all the steps without the sense of sight.
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