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How to Prevent Dementia in The Elderly ~ 7 Best SureFire Ways

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How to Prevent Dementia in The Elderly
7 Best SureFire Ways.
Brain Food
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What is dementia and what causes dementia in the elderly? To answer this question, we must first liken life to a long road of making and keeping memories.
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We all dream of living a happy and healthy life with different kinds of experiences. We dream of sharing our stories with our younger generation. Dementia is a disease that robs a person of these memories.
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According to The WHO, nearly 50 million people suffer from dementia across the world. What’s more terrible is the yearly addition of ten thousand new cases. The number is projected to hit 80 million by 2030. However, with healthy lifestyle changes and early intervention, it is possible to prevent the risk of dementia in the elderly.
Prevent Dementia in The ElderlySo, don’t wait for the signs of dementia. The sooner you take precautionary measures, the higher your chances of preventing dementia later in your life. Take a look at seven scientifically-backed ways to prevent the risk of dementia in the elderly.
What Causes dementia

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Prevent Dementia in The Elderly: SureFire Way #1
Give Up Drinking and Smoking

Over-Drinking At WeekendsThese two substances are truly a constant for every health issue. No matter what you hear about drinking and smoking in moderation, they are never safe to consume.
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Numerous studies have linked heavy drinking and smoking with the risk of early dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
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According to research, alcohol breaks down as acetaldehyde in our body. Acetaldehyde is known for causing damage to brain cells. Moreover, excessive alcohol consumption can cause thiamine deficiency, which in turn impairs brain function. Similarly, research attributes nearly 14 percent of dementia cases to smoking.
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So, it is imperative to stop drinking alcohol and quit smoking now. However, if you can’t entirely give up on alcohol or cigarettes, try to limit their consumption as much as possible.
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Prevent Dementia in The Elderly: SureFire Way #2
Healthy Diet and Exercise

Prevent Dementia in The Elderly Like for any other organ, your brain’s health is strongly related to a healthy diet and sufficient exercise.
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Certain kinds of food can improve your brain function and keep your brain cells healthy. While fruits, vegetable, nuts, and grains are healthy for your brain, highly processed foods full of fat and sugar is not. These foods are fast-track precursors to diabetes, strokes / heart disease and dementia.

A study conducted in this regard reveals that the Mediterranean diet is the best diet for a healthy brain. That’s primarily because it includes nuts, vegetables, and plenty of olive oil. People who adhere to this kind of diet are 40 percent less likely to develop dementia or even cancer.

A healthy diet, when paired with healthy workouts and exercise, can reduce the risk of dementia by up to 60 percent. Overall, people who exercise daily can help themselves maintain healthier blood pressure and blood sugar levels.

Additionally, there are those who have runaway eating habits coupled with excessive sugar and carb intake leading to resistant fat, weight gain and obesity in later life.
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All of these problems are among the biggest risk factors for dementia.

This brings us to our next point.
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Prevent Dementia in The Elderly: SureFire Way #3
Take Care of Your Health

Prevent Dementia in The ElderlyAs doctors say, what’s bad for your heart is definitely bad for your brain.
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That is why it is important to keep a check on your blood pressure and blood sugar level. Elevated blood pressure and blood sugar level can both cause damage to your brain and eventually lead to dementia.

Recent research has proven that even for someone who doesn’t suffer from diabetes, higher than normal blood sugar level can be a risk factor for dementia.
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High sugar levels causes insulin resistance which is detrimental to your brain cells leading to dementia. Therefore, it is extremely important to keep processed sugar and carbohydrates in check.

Similarly, hypertension or increased blood pressure for a continuous amount of time can increase the risk of brain lesions. These lesions can go undetected for years before their impact on memory, and cognitive function becomes apparent.
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Find out how to adopt a healthy brain diet for your golden years!
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Prevent Dementia in The Elderly: SureFire Way #4
Keep Your Mind Active

Prevent Dementia in The Elderly We have already talked about exercise. Keeping your mind active is equally important. In a way, the brain is different from other organs in our body. It only gets better with usage.
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A child’s brain develops when they are learning new things. It is pretty much the same for adults. Keep the development going by learning new things.

Learn a new language or a new skill. Solve crossword puzzles and play games that require logical thinking. You can specifically look for memory games online. When you keep your mind busy with new challenges, you slow down the cognitive aging process.
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Prevent Dementia in The Elderly: SureFire Way #5
Improve Your Sleep

Prevent Dementia in The ElderlyA good night’s sleep is linked to a lower risk of dementia. Irregular sleep timing, poor sleep quality, excessively long or short sleep duration – these are all signs of bad sleeping routine.
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If you aren’t sleeping well, you aren’t giving your brain the time to relax and rejuvenate. Needless to say, it can’t be good for your brain.

So, look for the causes of poor sleep. If you suffer from mental stress or other conditions like insomnia or hypoxemia, get it treated.
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If it is just your bad habits that are keeping you awake, like late night binge-watching and partying, make positive changes before it’s too late. Make use of natural sleep solutions to get a good night’s sleep.

Do not compromise your sleep for anything because nothing is worth your cognitive health.
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Prevent Dementia in The Elderly: SureFire Way #6
Be More Social

Prevent Dementia in The ElderlySocializing is a kind of mental activity. Meeting new people isn’t much different from learning new things and having new experiences. It is why people who are more social tend to have a lower risk of dementia. According to one research, being highly social can reduce the risk by 70 percent.

However, it is worth noting that those social interactions must be positive in nature. Unnecessary stress that comes from negative or toxic interactions can actually be counterproductive.

So, make more friends. Go out with them. Have a productive conversation every now and then, and laugh your heart out ever so often.
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Prevent Dementia in The Elderly: SureFire Way #7
Take a Dementia Test

While dementia is an age-related disease that is diagnosed later in life, it starts to develop much earlier than that. The brain damage begins years before the signs start showing. Thankfully, there are methods to detect the sign of damage in the early stage. This can play a vital role in slowing it down and preventing severe loss of damage later in life.

There are dementia tests created to assess the risk of dementia in a person. These tests focus on the changes in the brain that point towards the possibility of dementia later in life. Dementia isn’t treatable, but early intervention can make a world of difference. If you are susceptible to dementia, the best thing you can wish for is a heads up so that you can prepare to stay ahead.
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The Final Word

Dementia can be prevented – but it takes numerous lifestyle changes and a bit of attitude adjustment. Eat healthily, workout regularly, monitor your health and try to stay happy and positive. More importantly, take a more proactive approach and get yourself assessed for early signs. The sooner you take care of your mind, the better you can prevent dementia.
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Guest Contributor: Alycia Gordan  Twitter: @meetalycia
Alycia Gordan is a freelance writer who loves to read and write articles on healthcare technology, fitness and lifestyle.
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Our readers also enjoyed and benefited from these DEMENTIA / ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE article. Click to read!
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Dementia Explained : 4 Warning Signs and 3 Care Tips

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Dementia Explained
4 Warning Signs & 3 Care Tips

Dementia Explained Dementia is one big health problem in life that can take over your body and disrupt the way you live. Similarly, there are many issues that can disrupt your cognitive abilities and really make things difficult for you.
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Dementia is one of the most common disorders affecting our brain. It affects millions of people around the world.
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The daily stresses of the modern 21st century world we live in can be one big contributory cause of dementia.
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Another possible contributory cause could be the modern diet comprising refined, processed and genetically-modified foods that has become the norm today. Coupled with bad eating habits, it’s a cocktail for many degenerative disease. What we really need is healthy brain food for our brains to function at their optimal levels.
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It’s a problem that doesn’t get a lot of attention as people don’t see it as a life threatening problem like they do with other diseases like cancer and cardiovascular/heart disease.
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However, it can wreak havoc on the life of anyone who is unlucky enough to suffer from it. Furthermore, it’s unique in the sense that most people will get dementia at some point. Your chances greatly increase when you get older, but you can still get it at any age.
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The purpose of this article is to explain dementia in as much detail as possible. I’ll tell you the warning signs to look out for in yourself and others. I’ve also included advice for looking after and caring for others with this issue.
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Dementia Alzheimers


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What Is Dementia?

Contrary to what you might believe, dementia itself isn’t actually an illness or disease. Instead, it’s a disorder which affects your brain and changes the way you think and remember things.
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People get dementia as the result of other diseases such as Alzheimer’s.
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As for Alzheimer’s disease, one can take precautionary measures well in advance to reduce the risks of getting it by exercising and stimulating the brain and mind.
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Additionally, a diet comprising real food is a must for preventive purposes. Macronutrients including proteins, carbohydrates and fats in optimal portions are necessary.
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Sadly today we live in a world where processed foods are the norm, especially for those born into such a culture. Malnutrition, digestive disorders and diseases resulting from a diet of such processed ‘foods’ can contribute to cognitive decline leading to Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.
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Warning Signs Of Dementia

Dementia comes on slowly and gets worse over time. When symptoms are spotted in the early days, you can take steps to try and make life as easy as possible for the afflicted person.
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Below, you will find 4 warning signs to look out for in you or other people:
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1. Memory Loss

Memory loss is one of the biggest and earliest signs that you have dementia. Of course, most of us may struggle to remember things on a daily basis, and it might have nothing to do with this disorder.
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So, how do you tell if your memory loss is linked to dementia?
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It’s really quite simple. Dementia memory loss is more concerned with the short-term. In essence, someone with dementia may have vivid memories from the past, but struggle to remember things that happened recently.
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So, if short-term memory loss hasn’t been a problem and it suddenly becomes one, you may have early signs of dementia.
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2. Mood Changes/Personality Shifts

This is where things get interesting as most people just assume dementia means you lose your memory. As such, the other warning signs may be present and go unnoticed.
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One of the biggest signs of dementia is that your mood changes. You stop being who you used to be and you end up going into bad moods where you feel down about yourself.
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This is also one of the easiest symptoms to spot in other people. If you have a relative or friend who’s always cheerful and they’re suddenly very down and depressed, then dementia could be the cause. This can be particularly so if other symptoms are present too.
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3. Feeling Confused

With a disorder like dementia, it’s easy to become confused. The dementia patient struggles to make sense of the world around them.
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This links in heavily with the first warning sign of memory loss. When you start to lose your short-term memory, you become very confused. You may end up wondering how you got somewhere. You may become very confused when someone visits and you forget who they are.
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4. Problems Completing Tasks

The final warning sign is having difficulty completing tasks. People who suffer from dementia will struggle to complete tasks they used to have no problem with.
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If you, or someone you know, start finding it hard to do things that used to come easily to you/them, then dementia may be the source of the problem.

smarter health choices

There are other smaller signs of dementia, but these are the biggest and easiest to spot. Dementia is a disorder that’s likely to affect you in old age.
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However, you should always be aware of the signs in case a family member starts to suffer from it.
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Looking After Someone With Dementia

Dementia Explained .
If this is the case, and a family member shows signs of dementia, you need to know how to look after them and make their life easy.
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Below are 3 tips for caring for others with a Dementia / Alzheimer’s disorder.
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1. Get Professional Help For Them

If someone suffers with very bad dementia, you might now have the time or knowledge to look after you. In such a case, you can look for professional help.
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There are institutions which take in in dementia patients, bringing them into a home which is dedicated to memory care. The dementia patient will be around professionals who can help them cope with their problems and train their brain every day.
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2. Ask Simple Questions

If you’re living with someone who has dementia, you need to be careful not to ask too many difficult questions. Doing so can cause them to trigger their memory loss. This leads to confusion and makes them feel really upset.
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Instead, ask simple questions they can easily answer. It makes them feel like they’re part of the conversation, and you stop them from triggering any symptoms.
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3. Always Be Supportive and Patient

Dementia Explained People with dementia are really trying to remember things properly. So, when they’re trying to recall something and are struggling to get certain aspects right, be supportive of them.
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Respond positively and fill in the blanks, but also be patient.
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Don’t keep cutting across them and being forceful in your response as though you’re annoyed they can’t remember. This will only cause them to feel worse about themselves.

The sad thing about dementia is there’s not a lot you can do to stop it. The second two tips are really important when someone is in the early stages of dementia. When things get worse and worse, it’s handy to revert to the first tip and find professional help.smarter health choices
Hopefully, this article has helped you understand one of the world’s biggest mental health problems. In doing so, you can now spot dementia and understand how to look after someone with it.

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Our readers also enjoyed and benefited from these DEMENTIA / ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE articles. Click to read!
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Caring for An Elderly Relative ~ 5 Important Areas They May Need Help In

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Caring for An Elderly Relative

Caring for An Elderly Relative,
It is a situation no one wants to be in. Yet age happens to us all. When it is your turn, surely you will be happy to have a family member care for you?
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Caring for someone can range from mild inconvenience to a full time occupation. There are all kinds of things you can do to be useful.
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Keeping their physical health in good shape is important. However, there are other areas you may need to invest time in to keep their quality of life secure.
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Caring for An Elderly Relative.
Below are 5 areas where they may need help with. You may already be taking care of some areas. Or you may have thought about helping them out here.
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Yet read on, for you could find something else that could help your elderly relative.

Professional Care

In the first instance you need to assess whether your elderly relative needs professional care. This is hard to do, and should be decided upon by you and your family.
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If their health is bad they will need specific care, dementia care is a key example here. There is no point trying to care for them yourself when you do not have the medical know-how to do so. Get them specialist care as soon as possible.

Cleaning Help

If they have nothing seriously wrong with them and are just aging normally, then there are things you can do.
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For starters, they will want to have a routine, such as cleaning their room and personal items. Yet they will probably no longer be able to, they’ll get tired. Try doing this for them. Or at least doing part of it for them.
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You could even consider getting a cleaner to go there but check with them first. They may not like having a strange person in their home.

Mobility

Caring for An Elderly RelativeTheir mobility will also take a hit. At a certain age, they may no longer be able to drive.
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You can help here by taking them out and about to do their shopping. Or even just out for the day for some fresh air and a change of environment. They will appreciate this no end.
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Of course you can arrange to get the shopping delivered. However, do remember that they may want to do it themselves as it is what they were used to.

Dispensing Medication

You may need to make sure they take the right amounts of medicine as prescribed.
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You can organise this in one day for the whole week. Set their prescribed medicines out ready in containers which are clearly marked day by day.
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Different medications can sometimes be confusing. So you will need to ensure they are taken properly.

Finances

You may need to take a look at their finances from time to time too. Make sure their bills are being paid properly and that their pensions are coming in as they should.
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They may not like you doing this but if they no longer have a good grasp on their finances, you may have to. If not, they could end up having to pay a glut of late payment fees.
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The Mega Benefits Of Aromatherapy ~ 4 Best Ones!

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4 Mega Benefits Of Aromatherapy

Benefits Of AromatherapyThere is no denying that we have always been conscious of how to best look after our bodies.
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But with prescription drugs often having harmful side-effects, more and more people are looking to natural remedies. That is where aromatherapy comes in.
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Aromatherapy is a fascinating alternative medicine which has a hugely diverse range of benefits. More of this further down in this article.
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But for now, it is important to know what aromatherapy is. At its most basic level, it is the use of essential oils which can be aromatically inhaled.
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These essential oils are found in citronella, lavender, lemongrass, terpenes, ginger, jasmine and rose, to name but a few.
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But what are the benefits of aromatherapy? Well, read on to find out.
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Benefits Of Aromatherapy #1:
Helps Relieve Stress

Little STRESS BUSTER Book

Stress is, without a doubt, the most popular use of aromatherapy.
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The reason it works so well is because of the relaxants in these essential oils. They are known to soothe your mind and tackle any feelings of anxiety.
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The essential oils which work best for stress are lemon oil and lavender. They are your best bets. These 2 oils are known to cap outbursts of anger while also improving a person’s mood.
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Benefits Of Aromatherapy #2:
Improves Memory

Memory loss is one of the most frustrating and heart-wrenching diseases anyone can suffer with. And yes, it is common amongst older people.
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Of course, Alzheimer’s Disease remains on the incurables list. However, the use of aromatherapy is used to slow down the progression of this disease. The essential oils give the afflicted person a better quality of life for longer.
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What’s even more staggering is that certain cases have even shown an improvement in memory. That is incredible! It is heartening in that it could improve daily life for people in general, not just those suffering from memory-loss.

The essential oils most helpful in this respect is sage oil. It is the most popular and most effective.
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Benefits Of Aromatherapy #3:
Helps Lift Depression

Aromatherapy is used extensively for the treatment of depression.
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According to research , this option is gaining traction for a few reasons. Perhaps the top reason could be because pharmaceutical antidepressants give a vast amount of unpleasant side-effects. This isn’t the case with essential oils.
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The most promising essential oils to treat depression include jasmine, lavender, peppermint and chamomile.
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Of course, you could seek other help alongside the use of aromatherapy. These include physical exercise which helps life depression, therapy or counseling, especially if your depression worsens. Here are 5 ways to help you out of the pit of depression.
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Benefits Of Aromatherapy #4:
Helps Boost Energy Levels

With life more hectic, full-on, fast-paced and sapping than ever before, energy levels deplete quicker. It is a result of modern times.
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Of course, the modern day person has his vices to deal with such as coffee and cigarettes, energy pills, illegal drugs,  excessive sugar leading to overweight runaway eating habits resulting in diabetes and obesity. All these can be extremely bad for the body both in the short-term and long-term.
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As such, it is well worth swapping these for natural remedies like physical exercise, an improved diet using real, unadulterated foods and ingredients and aromatherapy.
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The reason why aromatherapy works is because it can improve your body’s circulation. It also encourages energy levels to recover through the stimulation of both your mind and your body.

We recommend you try these essential oils: black pepper, clove, cinnamon, sage, tea tree and/or jasmine.
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AROMATHERAPY REMEDIES OILS

Our Readers also Enjoyed and Benefited from this Natural Remedies Article. Click to Read!
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What are Your Tips, Success and Challenges with Aromatherapy? Share with us below!

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Brain Food ~ Optimal Performance for Your Brain

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Brain Food

Brain Food Now, nobody’s saying you can eat your way to intelligence. What you can do is improve your memory, mental sharpness and focus. This can help you to perform better at work and reach your full potential.
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Our brain needs to be nurtured and taken care of throughout the years, all your life. Invest in yours by feeding it what it needs.
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Start eating more of these brain-boosting foods listed below and see the results for yourself.

Protect Your Nerve Cells

Brain Food .
Vitamin E is an extremely powerful antioxidant which could potentially help to protect nerve cells.
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These nerve cells start to die if you have Alzheimer’s disease. Their death leads to a loss of cognitive function.
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Whilst eating foods rich in vitamin E won’t stop these kinds of disease, they do help your bodies natural defenses.
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Brain Food .
Foods which have vitamin E include seeds and nuts and whole grains.
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These are easy to incorporate into your diet as a snack or topping on your usual food.
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Brain Food .
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Leafy green vegetables can also help protect nerve cells.
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It is believed that they help by lowering the levels of amino acid in the blood. High levels could result in the death of nerve cells in our brain.
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Kale, spinach, and broccoli are also good sources of vitamin E.

Boost Your Energy Levels

Brain Food .
Your brain needs energy too. Just like other parts of the body, it can’t work to its full potential without enough energy.
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Whole grains are a good supplier of energy and they release it slowly throughout the day. These whole grains release glucose into the bloodstream.
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Such grains help our concentration and ability to focus. Cereal, granary bread, and rice and pasta are all good whole grains.
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Brain supplements are another good way to boost your concentration levels. What are brain supplements? They improve mental function including memory and focus.

Improve Your Memory and Mood

Brain Food .
Omega-3 fats, which can be found in oily fish, cannot be made by the body. In order to reap their benefits, we have to incorporate them, into our diets.
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These fats can help our brain to function better. They have also been linked to lowering the risk of Alzheimer’s Disease and increasing memory.
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They can also help reduce stress and improve our mood by producing the brain chemical, serotonin.
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Get these essential fats into your diet by eating salmon, trout and mackerel.

By incorporating some of these brain foods into your diet, you will be protecting and harnessing your brain power. These foods can help improve your memory, focus, and energy levels.
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Supplement the brain food you eat with some exercise. Exercise is also proven to help with brain function and can work with your new brain diet to achieve optimum results.

Reduce Your Risk of Alzheimer’s Disease ~ 4 Brain Exercises, Games, and Activities

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Reduce Your Risk of Alzheimer’s Disease

4 Brain Exercises, Games, and Activities to Tease Your Wits


Reduce Your Risk of Alzheimer’s Disease As doctors and researchers discover more about Alzheimer’s disease, we learn there are a few things we can do to reduce our risk of developing it, including other forms of dementia.
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The benefits of physical exercise have been touted in recent years by researchers who found that the brain can grow instead of atrophy even well into our later years.
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However, physical exercise is not the only way to ward off developing Alzheimer’s; mental exercise also reduces your risk of the brain health deterioration that leads to dementia.
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The key is to get the right kind of mental exercise, and we share four types of games below that fit the bill.
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  1. Memory Relationship Games

Reduce Your Risk of Alzheimer’s Disease There are various memory strategies that strengthen the brain.
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One such strategy is to associate new information with familiar concepts to help you remember something. For example, if you have to learn a new PIN number, you could associate the four digits with something in your life.
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You can expand this relationship game to any string of numbers that you create by writing random sequences of numbers in a notebook and testing yourself to see which you can remember by associating them with something familiar to you.
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Work through four or five random number combinations a day to keep your mind sharp.
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Playing memory games with mnemonics is another way to exercise the brain. You may recall learning the treble clef with the mnemonic “every good boy does fine.” Mnemonics are most successful when you make humorous or silly phrases to help you remember important pieces of information.
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  1. Brain Teasers and Puzzles

Reduce Your Risk of Alzheimer’s DiseaseOther types of game that keep the mind sharp are brain teasers and puzzles.
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Challenging brain activities and puzzles stimulate the brain to minimize the deterioration that characterizes dementia.
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Any brain teaser that boosts reasoning skills and requires memory and mental processing speed can stave off mental decline.
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Brain teasers may be riddles, puzzles that require mental math and deductive reasoning, or word problems that require you to think outside the box and avoid obvious answers.
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  1. Card Games

Reduce Your Risk of Alzheimer’s Disease Chances are, you love to play cards and know others who do as well. That’s good news because playing cards is one of the best ways to exercise your brain.
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First, playing cards relieves stress and allows your body to rest while you exercise the mind so your brain is focusing on playing rather than other activities.
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Card games also stimulate nerve growth in the parts of the brain that direct emotion and executive function.
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Playing cards also helps people improve their short-term memory. In fact, one study found that playing Bridge uses several areas of the brain and requires visualization, memory, and sequencing.
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However, nearly any card game gives players some brain exercise via problem solving. Playing card games with others provides even more mental stimulation because you have to communicate with others, watch and learn how they play various hands, and share memories from the past.
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  1. Word Puzzles

Reduce Your Risk of Alzheimer’s DiseaseWord puzzles, such as crossword puzzles and word searches, benefit our brain health by improving overall brain and memory function and staving off brain deterioration.
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Specifically, crossword puzzles increase vocabulary and improve our problem-solving skills.
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Researchers have determined that people who engage in word puzzles like crossword puzzles have less buildup of the toxic protein beta-amyloid, which is the main component of the brain plaque that characterizes Alzheimer’s disease.
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When we solve word puzzles, we have to use logic and approach the problem in a particular way.
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We also recognize patterns until we reach a solution. All of this activity stimulates the brain and exercises it in a way that can minimize the risk of Alzheimer’s and dementia. Word games, crossword puzzles, and letter games are good places to start.
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Article by George Mears. George is a brain fitness expert, educator, and counselor. One of his primary areas of study is neuroplasticity, the brain’s ability to change and improve over one’s lifetime. He shares his thoughts and favorite brain fitness exercises at BrainWellness.info
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Our readers also enjoyed and benefited from these DEMENTIA / ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE article. Click to read!
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