As we get close to our prime age, we naturally gain more experience at our work. This can be good and bad at the same time. Good because, well, you would earn more income as you grow in your career. Bad because you might end up getting diagnosed with Dementia.
Dementia is a cognitive disease where a person suffers from memory decline and as a result leads to symptoms like memory loss, difficulty in thinking correctly and lack of proper reasoning. Dementia usually happens due to ageing which can affect older adults in their careers.
To not lose focus and keep yourself efficient at your job, you need to take precautions before dementia takes over your health.
Here are some ways to reduce the risk of getting dementia:
Engage in Fun Brain Activities
These include reading an interesting book, learning a new skill, playing competitive games like chess or anything that involves you using your mind to action.
What are the results? Your memory power will get stronger. Studies show that new neurons in your brain are created which enhances your thinking ability and your memory. The more brain activity your brains gets the more stable and active it remains. This no doubt reduces the possibility of getting Dementia.
A good starter is by reading a book. It can be any sort of genre, just get started. Reading requires good amount of concentration and focus. So as you let your mind enter the story of a book, the brain automatically helps you focus and build visual images in your head.
Continue that for a week and watch yourself concentrate at work without much effort.
Start Working out
The mind and body are soulmates. When you exercise, it sends signals to your brain. Let us show you how.
As you work out, the movement in your body muscles helps the brain studies the pattern of those body movements. This is called muscle memory a term you might be familiar with.
Building a muscle memory is incredibly important not just for older adults but for every single age group. It’s like the foundation of a well-constructed house. Without it nothing there’s hardly any support or stability.
You don’t have to hit all your body parts to achieve this. Try doing cardio exercises like running, jumping jacks or try weight lifting which is even more beneficial for building muscle memory. Simple weight lifting activities include lifting barbells for biceps and triceps.
Maintaining Social Interaction
Life is too short for you to be caught up in dementia, so make use of your time by socializing with people. You don’t have to start small talks with strangers, but have a little chit chat with your colleague, friends or your family at home.
By staying socially active and not suppressing yourself, your brain can boost cognitive stimulation. What that means is while engaging in conversations your letting your brain maintain a ‘normal’ cognitive reserve. The reserve is like a savings account for your brain and when you need money you can use this savings account.
So while interacting with people you build up this savings account in your brain. These activities create new connections between brain cells and strengthen existing ones, which can help keep your brain healthy and functioning well as you get older.
But remember to do it with the people you like talking to, who have a positive impact in your life. Let your friends and family keep you away from this horrible disease!
Keep Chronic Conditions in Control
Most people who enter in their 30s and 40s start developing common chronic diseases like high cholesterol, diabetes, or high blood pressure. If not kept under control it can lead to the risk of getting diagnosed by Dementia.
Yes, diabetes is associated with dementia later in life especially if it is very high. An estimated number of 415 million people in the world are living with diabetes in the world.
Therefore, it is an eye opener for everyone to take measures right now! Book a consultation for a doctor, start taking medication and improve your lifestyle with the help of the next key point.
Adopt a Mighty Diet
A healthy diet can overcome any disease that exists including dementia being one of them. A well balanced diet that includes food groups like:
o Leafy Vegies
o Fish and Poultry
o All kinds of Beans
o Berries
o Nuts
o Whole grain
o Olive oil
This type of diet is called the MIND (Mediterranean- DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay) diet. For a detailed info about diets to consume for Dementia disease, check out this blog.
This may come as a shock but 1 glass of WINE can help in the prevention of Dementia too. However the same can’t be said for the rest of the alcohol kinds. So avoid excessive drinks like vodka, beers and whiskey.
And finally hydrate yourself with water as this is seen as the most crucial part of preventing Dementia.
Managing Work Related Stress
Every work comes with certain level of stress. However the level of stress may increase the more experienced and high position you are. So it’s a no brainer that reducing your stress level will reduce the risks of dementia as well as give you mental stability.
For the record, it’s not easy to manage work related stress when you’re always under high pressure from your boss. But taking added amount of stress can only lead to you finding yourself lose your concentration and memory as a result.
By following the above tips like consuming healthy diets, working out and challenging your brain with activities, the degree of stress will level down. To add this list, getting enough sleep is also beneficial to reducing dementia risk.
Having sufficient sleep can improve your memory consolidation. Your brain will help store new information due to recreation of cells during your sleep.
Talk about doing something fun that most people find sleeping a guilty act. Getting as much sleep will only outweigh the number of cons that comes with it.
Dementia is a very dangerous illness. And if not prevented seriously you can be diagnosed with various kinds of dementia. The most common one being the Alzheimer’s disease which causes severe memory loss and could eventually lead to death.
Practicing these methods which are scientifically proven will not only prevent memory loss but also avoid different kinds of dementia in your life.
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