Aging Resource Center Update

If I told you there were basic steps you could take to enhance your quality of life and reduce or delay your chances for memory decline, would you take them?

Research suggests that when we are informed, most of us will take proactive steps.

That’s the idea behind Menorah Park’s Aging Resources Center. We want people to have access to information that supports overall wellbeing, independence and reduces crises and the resulting stress (a major cause of memory loss). The site within our main Menorah Park website, www.menorahpark.org/arc includes a library of comprehensive information to help our community find many answers to questions that arise during the aging process. It includes search capability to make the information even easier to find.

Please explore the site and let me know what you think. I always welcome and appreciate input that supports our Menorah Park mission as experts in the field of aging.

In addition to the site, thanks to the Myers fund, we hold quarterly free Dinner Conversations for the entire community. The next one is about fraud prevention and protection and will be held on March 22^nd at 6:30 p.m.

I will send more information closer to the date.

I want to jump back to some brief information about ways to reduce memory decline, but first I want to thank Howard Epstein for his leadership of the Aging Resources Committee and all of the board members and staff involved in making this program a success.

Ways to reduce risks of memory decline:

According to Johns Hopkins, you will be in a better position to keep your memory strong well into later life by knowing to the following:

• New studies show that getting adequate sleep plays an essential role in learning new information, relating to names, dates, faces, facts, specific events - in short forming memory.

• Recent evidence-based research reported in the Annals of Neurology suggests that people who closely follow the Mediterranean diet have a 40 percent lower risk of Alzheimer's disease. The Mediterranean diet incorporates basics of a healthy diet plus a splash of olive oil and sometimes a glass of red wine along with other components that characterize the traditional cooking style of countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea. (Most healthy diets include fruits, vegetables, fish and whole grains, and limit unhealthy fats. While these basic elements to diet remain tried-and-true, subtle variations or differences in proportions of certain foods may make a difference in your risk of heart disease.)

• Studies investigating the exercise/memory/dementia link have shown positive outcomes in recent years so keep moving.

• Johns Hopkins researchers have linked high levels of the stress hormone cortisol with poor cognitive performance in older adults. And another study, reported in the journal Neurology, found that depressed and anxious people are 40 percent more likely to develop mild cognitive impairment.

• Evidence from recent studies in the Archives of Internal Medicine indicates that controlling high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease are absolutely critical to cognitive function. This can often be accomplished by losing extra pounds (just 10 pounds can help), exercise regularly, eat a healthy diet, reduce sodium and limit alcohol.

Wish me luck as I work to take off those 10 pounds and more!

I wish all of you ongoing health and wellbeing!!