Dancing is Medicine for Dementia

Dancing is complex. It engages different parts of the brain at the same time, says the cognitive scientist, Helena Blumen. And because of this, it beefs up the neural connections between diverse brain regions. Dancing is really challenging to the brain. And it’s also fun.

In a study by German researchers using MRI scanners, they compared elderly people who had done one of two exercise programs – one was the standard kind of thing with strength training and cycling. The other group danced.

Both groups improved their physical fitness, of course, but the dancers had measurably and significantly increased the size of the parts of their brains related to attention, high-level thinking, and working memory – the areas of the brain that usually shrink as we get older. 

In blood tests, the people who danced also had an elevated level of BDNF. This stimulates brain growth, especially in areas responsible for memories. BDNF causes the creation of new brain cells, and energizes the processes that maintain the good health of already-existing brain cells. BDNF also helps your brain preserve and maintain its hundreds of billions of dendrites and synapses (the connections between brain cells). In other words, increasing your blood level of BDNF is a big deal.

That makes dancing a big deal.

Learn more about reversing dementia here.

Learn more about a kind of dancing you can do on your own: WalkDancer.com.

Adam Khan is the author of Principles For Personal GrowthSlotralogyAntivirus For Your Mindand co-author with Klassy Evans of How to Change the Way You Look at Things (in Plain English). Subscribe to his blog here. You can email him here.



What to Think When Someone is Rude to You

"If we could read the secret history of our enemies,” wrote Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “we should find in each man’s life sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all hostility.” I just finished reading the book, Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln and I found a good example of what Longfellow was talking about.

Before Lincoln ran for president, he was a small-time attorney. But one day he was invited to participate in an important trial. He was to be co-counsel for the prosecution with a distinguished attorney named George Harding. Harding wanted Lincoln because the judge deciding the case was familiar with Lincoln and liked him.

After Harding hired Lincoln, the case was moved to another city (with a different judge) so Harding hired a different co-counsel, Edwin Stanton. Lincoln didn’t know this and kept working on the case because this was a big opportunity, or so he thought. But Harding and Stanton ignored and shunned Lincoln, at one point referring to Lincoln as a long-armed ape.

Stanton did not want Lincoln involved in the case, and Stanton made this painfully clear. Stanton avoided him at mealtimes, letting Lincoln eat alone even though the two attorneys ate and stayed at the same hotel. Stanton never asked Lincoln to even show him the considerable amount of work Lincoln had already done on the case.

As I was reading this, I thought Stanton was clearly a rude, mean person. Stanton insulted and humiliated Lincoln. A little later in the book, I learned more about Stanton, and he had enough sorrow and suffering in his life to disarm all my hostility.

Stanton had been married and was deeply in love. He was happier than he'd ever been in his life. He and his wife had two children together. Everything was wonderful, but then one tragedy after another tore his world apart. First their daughter died of scarlet fever. While he was still reeling from that heartbreak, Stanton’s wife died of bilious fever.

Stanton almost went insane with grief. Stanton’s sister came to live with him, and she said he often wandered through the house at night sobbing, and screaming, “Where is Mary!?”

A little while later, Stanton’s younger brother got a fever that damaged his brain. He was “unhinged” and purposefully cut his own neck with a sharp instrument and bled to death, spraying blood all over the room, even up to the ceiling. Stanton lived nearby and had to come take care of things. His brother had a wife and three kids that Stanton was now responsible for.

His brother’s gruesome suicide was the last straw. Before these tragedies, Stanton was a cheerful man, full of goodwill toward others. From that point on, and for the rest of his life, Stanton was glum and grumpy. And sometimes rude.

I imagined myself losing my son, losing my wife, losing my brother, and in so doing, I didn’t resent Stanton for his rudeness to Lincoln. I felt sorry for him. Nobody should have to endure that kind of anguish. I believe that's what Longfellow was talking about.

There is only one problem with Longfellow's very sensible outlook — we don't very often find out the secret history of our enemies. Maybe the point is to give people the benefit of the doubt. If someone treats you poorly, you can reasonably assume they have sorrow and suffering enough to disarm your hostility, and you'll probably be right. And even if you're not, you have saved yourself a little suffering. It is less painful to feel sympathy than to feel anger. Here's one way to do it.

I would like to add one caveat to this practical advice: Some people may be more than rude. Some people may actually harm you or deplete your resources or take advantage of your good nature. They are a special case we cover in another article (read it here).

But for the normal, relatively harmless (but grumpy) people you come across in the course of your travels, it will probably save you unnecessary suffering if you make Longfellow's assumption.

Adam Khan is the author of Principles For Personal Growth
SlotralogyAntivirus For Your Mindand co-author with Klassy Evans of How to Change the Way You Look at Things (in Plain English). Subscribe to his blog here. You can email him here.


An Easy Way to Share With People About Alzheimer's

We've created a couple of domain names to direct you to the main page for reversing Alzheimer's. This should make it easier to share that page with people you know who have Alzheimer's, or are worried about getting Alzheimer's, or who know someone with Alzheimer's.

reversealzheimers.info

bringthemback.info

They both go to the same page, which has a brief explanation of Dale Bredesen's discovery, plus lots of links to articles and videos for more information. Let's get the word out.

You Don't Have to Wait to Be Tested to Start Reversing Alzheimer's

As you can read here, Dale Bredesen, MD, has discovered a way to not only stop the progression of Alzheimer's, but to reverse it. People on his protocol actually improve on their cognitive scores. 

Bredesen's protocol uses blood tests to pinpoint what's causing the Alzheimer's. It could be inflammation, a nutritional deficiency, insulin insensitivity, a toxic overload, a vascular problem, or a head trauma. 

Once the problem has been identified, steps can be taken to solve it, and the brain begins to recover.

But even before any testing is done, there's quite a bit you can do to move toward recovery on your own. Bredesen has identified seven categories of improvements that make a real difference in your cognitive performance. The categories are:

  1. Nutrition
  2. Exercise
  3. Sleep
  4. Stress reduction
  5. Brain stimulation
  6. Detoxification
  7. Supplementation

You can do many of these things on your own, and most of them won't cost you a dime. You can read more about these here: The Bredesen Seven.

Adam Khan is the author of Principles For Personal GrowthSlotralogyAntivirus For Your Mindand co-author with Klassy Evans of How to Change the Way You Look at Things (in Plain English). Subscribe to his blog here. You can email him here.


This is Important

If you know anybody who knows someone with Alzheimer's, please send them this link: The Ruthless Progression of Alzheimer's Can Be Reversed.

It is a tragedy, a monumental tragedy that people right now are deteriorating, their memories disappearing, their abilities fading away, unnecessarily, because they are being told with confidence that Alzheimer's is irreversible. They have been given a death sentence. And it's false.

If someone with Alzheimer's hears the news that Dale Bredesen, MD, found a way to reverse Alzheimer's, it's very likely they'll find out from someone who knows them. Someone like you. Think now. Who do you know that is taking care of someone or married to someone who has Alzheimer's or whose parent has Alzheimer's? Please send them this link now. Let them decide. Let them look into it. They have probably never heard of Dale Bredesen's work. They probably don't know anything like it exists.

So much unnecessary human suffering can be avoided. And you can help make that happen.

Here Comes the Judge

You are kind and generous most of the time. But occasionally you judge, label and disapprove of people — sometimes silently in your mind, sometimes aloud, sometimes for significant reasons, sometimes for petty reasons. Judging people causes an underlying resentment that puts you in a bad mood and makes you tired. And it strains your relationships with people. The stresses from different sources in your life accumulate, and this is a source you can do without.

And no matter how you do it or what the circumstances, when you pass judgement on someone, you are very likely making an error — usually committing at least one of these three forms of what cognitive scientists call distorted thinking:

1. Jumping to conclusions. We rarely know the motives or full story behind the actions a person takes, and yet we come to conclusions quickly and easily that “he’s a jerk” or “she’s a fool” or “how rude” or “what a freak.” We condemn people far too easily.

2. Overgeneralization. A judgment normally involves summing up a complex human being in simple terms based on a few or even one instance. That’s poor science and faulty thinking.

3. Overconfidence in one’s own assessment. You don’t really know why other people do things. And yet you hold your judgments with excessive confidence. We all do it. Overconfidence in our conclusions is a fallibility of human nature.

These thought mistakes can be corrected with practice. The technique is simple: Pay attention to your assessments of other people, and then question and criticize your judgments. Are you jumping to conclusions? Are you overgeneralizing? Do you have enough knowledge to be able to make such an assessment?

Think about it rationally. Maybe you’re being too hasty. Maybe you’re being unnecessarily harsh. Haven’t you yourself done something similar? Sure you have. But there were extenuating circumstances that at least partially excused you, weren’t there? Maybe this person has reasons too, but you don’t know about them. It’s not only possible, it’s very likely.

Question your judgments and you’ll find that many of them aren’t worth much, and you’ll stop holding them.

And what will happen? You’ll feel less stress. You’ll find your relationships gently blossoming in a new way. You’ll be able to talk to the person more freely. You’ll be more relaxed. Conflicts will be easier to resolve because you’ll be able to communicate without anger (no judgement, no anger) and without making the other person defensive (when you’re not judging, people don’t feel attacked, so they don’t get defensive). And in the long run, less stress, anger, and frustration adds up to better health too.

Once you start paying attention to it, you may find out you’re in the habit of judging people a lot. Does this make you bad and wrong? No. Only human. Judging yourself is faulty thinking too.

Adam Khan is the author of Principles For Personal Growth, Slotralogy, Antivirus For Your Mind, and co-author with Klassy Evans of How to Change the Way You Look at Things (in Plain English). Follow his podcast, The Adam Bomb.

Generate Friendliness: Something the World Needs Now, and Something You Would Enjoy

The Buddhist tradition teaches a meditation technique called metta, which is translated as loving-kindness. It's the culmination and end result of the practice of Buddhism, yet it's a simple meditation that brings surprisingly good results right away.

It only takes a few minutes, but it can imbue you with warmth and relaxation and improves the quality of your relationships without making you any less effective. In fact, in relationships that are difficult for you, it will make you more effective.

Here's how to do it:

1. In a quiet place, close your eyes and relax for a moment.

2. Think of anything that gives you a warm, loving feeling. It could be a memory of something someone did for you that touched you, or some story you've read, a scene from a movie, an image of one of your parents or children or siblings, or any thought that generates inside you a friendly feeling.

3. Notice where and what that feeling is. It could be a smiley feeling in your jaw; warmth in your eyes; a relaxed feeling in your abdomen; however you experience it is perfectly fine.

4. Imagine the feeling spreading slowly throughout your body, gradually filling the cells of your body with warm, loving feelings.

5. Slowly open your eyes, and throughout the day, pay attention to that loving-kindness feeling whenever it arises during your day, no matter how slight. You'll notice it talking to someone or shaking hands or thinking about someone. Simply notice the feeling. Pay attention to it and enjoy it.

Love and friendliness are relaxing and enjoyable feelings. It is healthy to feel that way, and the metta meditation brings more of those feelings into your life. It is not only good for you, but any increase in feelings of goodwill, whether in you or in the people you contact, helps make this world a better place.

Get more instruction about how to do metta meditation in the audiobook, Lovingkindness Meditation.

And here's another thing you can do in your daily life that will help create feelings of friendliness and warmth: Becoming Holy.

Adam Khan is the author of Principles For Personal Growth
SlotralogyAntivirus For Your Mindand co-author with Klassy Evans of How to Change the Way You Look at Things (in Plain English). Subscribe to his blog here. You can email him here.