If you are of the “Baby Boom” generation, as I am this is important for you.

Have you lost your keys lately?

Walked into a room and forgotten why you went there?

Had an ideas of something you had to do and forgotten it two minutes later?

(or is it just me)

How to Stay Mentally Fit

When I was about 20 years old, I was asked to do something for a “shirt-tail” uncle of mine.  He was quite a bit older than I am now, but not so much older that I can’t see it on the horizon somewhere.  The state was about to take his driver’s license away, saying that he was unfit to drive.  I took him out a few times and he seemed to be lucid and aware.

I ran across an article in the last couple of days that suggested that baby boomers be required to take a driver’s test to keep their licenses. It mentioned age in particular, and the inference was certainly there.

Some folks who are not capable of driving safely anymore might also be identified. It is obvious to me that way too many people, young and old, rarely use their signals, often run red lights, pass on the right, go much too fast, and so on. It’s getting worse out there on the road. And the baby boomers are aging fast. I know. I am one of them.

So, what was my uncle’s problem? Looking back now, from a point of view of n fitness, it’s easy to see there was little available to him in the form of mental exercises, no field of brain health.  He had trouble focusing and paying attention. There were times, other than driving, where his memory impairment showed through.

Back then, there was no such information saying you should do aerobic exercise and brain exercixe in order to prevent memory loss and to remain sharp long into the older years.

Neuroaerobics, other brain fitness workouts and physical workouts may not help the person that has developed the tangled neuronal web of Alzheimer’s, but the question that is more intriguing is whether brain fitness can prevent the disease from developing.

The jury is still out on that one.

Mike [contact-form 1 "Contact form 1"] Photo Credit to The Rocketeer