Sanjay Gupta is not a neurosurgeon at his day job as he is not on CNN giving updates on the coronavirus. “I had a long-term love affair with the brain,” he said.
“You’re a brain surgeon – what is it like to hold it in your hands?” asks CBS News’ medical correspondent, dr. Jon LaPook.
“The first time I ever had brain surgery, you know, it was a mystical experience almost 30 years ago,” said Dr. Gupta replied. “You can not believe that the three-and-a-half pound is everything to us – all our pain, all our joy, all our memories, all our learning, everything.”
And in his spare time, dr. Gupta wrote a book about the brain ‘Keep Sharp’ – specifically how to keep it in shape. [The book is published by Simon & Schuster, a part of ViacomCBS.]
Simon & Schuster
For dr. Gupta is it personal: “In many ways, this story started when my grandfather developed Alzheimer’s disease. I saw it as a teenager, and you know, it really held me back. It was probably a lifelong journey to try to understand how I can prevent this from happening to me and anyone else. ‘
More than five million Americans have Alzheimer’s, the most common cause of dementia.
Dr. LaPook said: “One of the biggest fears my patients are experiencing is developing dementia. They will come in and say, ‘You know what? I could not think of anyone’s name. I know them so well. I was in in in the middle of a sentence, I lost my mindset. ‘So, how can people know the difference between changes associated with normal aging, and the onset of dementia?’
“This is a topic of conversation No. 1 in our home,” said Dr. Gupta said. “It was because my parents always asked me this question. And now my wife and I always ask each other the following question: ‘Am I starting to get more forgetful?’
“When it comes to discovering if something is just normal, memory loss is versus abnormal: people lose keys all the time. It becomes abnormal if you do not remember exactly what the keys are for.”
It seems that the changes in the brain that give rise to Alzheimer’s disease are decades before symptoms appear.
“There is a suggestion that, even if you are destined to develop Alzheimer’s in the future, that if your blood vessels in your brain are wide open, if you do everything in your power to keep the heart healthy, it actually expresses “Can it actually slow it down?” Dr. LaPook asked.
‘I think there’s no doubt we can say now – and I do not think we could have said that five, ten years ago – but there are things we can do that involve lifestyle changes that can absolutely slow down the progression of dementia, and it even reverses. ‘
Dr Gupta says the key is to do activities that create ‘cognitive reserves’ in the brain – areas of new nerve growth and wiring that can pick up the slack if necessary.
So let’s get to that. With no miracle cure on the horizon, what is the prescription for combating dementia?
Let’s start with exercise. Put it this way: What is good for the heart is good for the brain.
CBS News
Dr Gupta said: “When you move, it is as if you are signaling to the body and the brain, ‘I want to be here. I’m not ready to go!’ What specifically releases the brain [are] these things are called neurotrophins; these good chemicals nourish the brain kind. ‘
“In the United States, a lot of us go 100 miles per hour, but so many of us do it while sitting down and not moving,” said Dr. LaPook said.
‘You know, people keep saying’ sit is the new smoke ‘. Every time you sit down, say, ‘I do need to sit ” And then just try to move moderately all day. It is so effective in terms of what it does to the brain and what we can measure that it does to the brain. ‘
“And there are simple habits you can do – for example, take the stairs rather than the elevator.”
“It takes months, years to change the heart,” said Dr. Gupta said. ‘The brain can change like that. ”
How about diet? You’ve also heard of it: Eat less red meat, less processed foods, more vegetables and fruits – especially, says Dr. Gupta, one kind of fruit: “They always say, Jon, ‘Apple a day keeps the doctor away.’ I think when it comes to the brain, it’s berries. Berries, in terms of what they can do for the brain and some of these certain chemicals it releases will probably be one of your best foods. ‘
Any berries? “Almost any berry. … Dive into berries!”
How about working directly on your thinking skills? Crossword puzzles? Video games? What works, if anything?
Dr. Gupta said: “I have nothing against crossword puzzles and even video games and brain training games and stuff like that. I think it can be great. We do crossword puzzles, you play piano, you do it over and over again, and practice makes perfect. It is absolutely true.But this is alter which builds resilience. You need the change.
‘So, I would not just do crossword puzzles. The way I think about it is that if you can get outside your comfort zone in any way every day, you’re probably using other real estate in the brain that you do not ‘. otherwise use it very often. Do something every day that scares you! Whatever the metaphor, whatever works, just do something else. Learn a new skill. I remember talking to these neuroscientists who said, ‘Have dinner with your left hand tonight if you’re right handed.
Good sleep is another way to stay sharp. There are so-called “garbage collection cells” that help remove toxins from the brain. And while you sleep, memories of the day are processed.
Dr. LaPook said: “Our knowledge about the importance of sleep has changed over the years. It’s not just a matter of recharging our batteries, is it?”
“Sleep is such a sophisticated activity that we spend a third of our lives on it,” replies dr. Gupta. “The brain is a remarkably complex organ. When you go to sleep at night, it takes into account the experiences you had during the day. Why do we even have experiences when we will not do the necessary things to remember them? where not? We learn that the brain constantly goes through this ‘flush cycle’ at night. “
For one of the best ways to fight dementia, look no further than your friends and family.
“We know that social interaction is so critically important,” said Dr. Gupta said. “We are social beings. We know that there are certain neurochemicals that are released when we really touch and look someone directly in the eye.
“The best thing you can do in general is take a quick walk with a good friend and talk about your problems.”
Why? “With the fast walk you get the movement in. You do it with a friend: you get the social connection. It becomes this beautiful thing for the relationship, but also for the brain.”
Of course, the coronavirus means that it is now difficult to see friends up close. But when Americans start vaccinating against COVID, the time may come when we can move past the pandemic.
Dr. LaPook asked, “What people want to know is when are we going back, if not normal, to normal? What do you think?”
“I think we will start to get back to normal much sooner than people realize, and I think it might be mid to late spring, it’s going to feel a lot more normal,” he said. Gupta said. “Things will start to open up. People are moving more and more.
“I have three teenage girls. I think they’ll be back to school next fall. I may be wrong, but this is where things seem to be on the way.”
As we look forward to getting out of isolation, here’s a New Year’s resolution for you: think about doing something for your brain.
“Empathy and kindness, compassion – it does a lot for everyone’s brains, doesn’t it?” asked dr. LaPook.
“This is the ultimate nutrition for the brain,” replies Dr. Gupta. “Every face you see, every sound you hear, everything you touch, feel, whatever it may be, taste – and then feel the feelings, the experiences you have through empathy, through these connections with people – too. to feed the brain.It’s really good for the brain.
“That’s why we live.”
For more information:
Story produced by Alan Golds. Editor: Ed Givnish.