One person in every ten walking through the mall is already suffering memory loss and confusion, before they are 60 years old. They are people like you and me. They simply lack the knowledge to prevent their brains from declining with age.
Because we can't see our brain, we tend to take it for granted. We spend more time and trouble caring for our teeth. But bad teeth are easily fixed, brains are irreplaceable. There is general agreement among neurologists that, once symptoms of brain degeneration appear, current treatments are ineffective. You have to take care of yourself.
Recent science shows clearly that almost everyone begins to develop brain decline by about age 35, with a corresponding loss of cognition. Five aspects of this loss are measurable by age 40: a loss of memory, a loss of balance, a waning of motor control, a slowing of brain speed and a decline in spatial discrimination. These problems progress slowly, but surely.
Cognitive disability with aging has now grown to approximately 11 million people in the US alone. Incidence began rising rapidly in 1960, and has doubled since 1980 to become the sixth leading cause of death in American today. It is predicted to rise by another 50% by 2025. Act now, decisively, to prevent it from ever happening to you or your family.
The first step to save your brain is to measure its cognitive ability now. Scientists have learned recently how to measure some cognitive functions that decline by regular amounts for each decade of age. These are called biomarkers of brain aging. These are now used to assess the biological age of the brain, as opposed to your chronological age.
One of the easiest tests to do is for balance. To maintain balance, your brain combines multiple sensory signals and then sends thousands of integrated signals throughout the brain and body every second. Good balance is a primary brain function for many skills. But most people don't even think about it, and lose balance rapidly with aging.
Here is a simplified test you can do at home to measure your biological brain age for balance. Do the test without shoes. Choose a clear area of carpeted floor so that if you do lose your balance you will not hurt yourself. Stand on one leg, arms loosely bent, as if you were jogging. When you feel your balance is good, close your eyes. Remain standing on one leg with your eyes closed for a slow count of 30, or have someone time you for 30 seconds. Do not move your standing foot.
If you have to move the foot that is on the floor, or you overbalance and have to put the other foot down, start again. After three practice tries, do three timed tries and average the time that you were able to remain balanced with your eyes closed. Then do the test with the other leg. Good balance yields times of 20 seconds or more.
Lesley Colgan
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lesley_Colgan
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