The Mistakes Of Our Youth
By Jacob Schor, N.D.
Many of us use youth as the excuse for the stupid decisions we may have made in our younger years. This is a problem. Neuroscientists tell us that our mental abilities peak at around age 25. We won't discuss how long ago that was for some of us. As we move beyond that age, our capacity to process information, store new memories, reason or process spatial data slowly but surely diminishes. If we made dumb mistakes in our younger years, where does that leave us now?
There's a new concept being discussed about mental functioning called “cognitive reserve.” To make a simple if imperfect comparison, this is the brain's equivalent to bone density. With osteoporosis a key factor is how much bone density you start out with, because as you age you are guaranteed to lose some of it. When bone density drops too low you've got osteoporosis. Your bones become brittle and more vulnerable to breaking. Well cognitive reserve is a measure of how well your brain works at its peak of function. It's downhill from then on, but for those who start with more brain power in the bank, it takes longer to notice the loss.
A number of things determine one's cognitive reserve. Some we can't control and some perhaps we can. The best predictor of cognitive reserve in middle age is the IQ we had at age 8. Not much we can do about that. Level of education is another predictor, the more the better. Again, at this point in our lives there's not much we can do about that one either. (But it sure matters to our kids and grandkids.) Working at stimulating and engaging jobs also helps. Building cognitive reserve, it seems, is a lifetime enterprise, and the earlier we start the better off we are.
The more cognitive reserve one has the better the brain is able to handle brain deterioration, damage and illness we experience later in life. Better-educated people suffer less cognitive impairment for a given level of brain damage. Highly educated people are also less likely to experience a pronounced dip in IQ after a head injury.
The not-so-good news is that once people with high IQ, good education or occupational achievement are diagnosed with dementia, they tend to go downhill particularly fast. For example, well educated people with Alzheimer's disease seem to die sooner after diagnosis than people without good education.
This makes sense. It's not that people with a lot of education and with Alzheimer's disease deteriorate faster. What is happening is that by the time the symptoms appear, these people are at a relatively late stage of the disease. If you measure the physical progress of the disease, they are already far gone when diagnosed.
As long as they have substantial cognitive reserve in the bank, outward signs are not apparent. Yet the disease progresses regardless of the amount of reserves, and once that extra cushioning is gone, the outward decline is dramatic. This may not sound like the greatest news, but in reality it's an example of "compressed morbidity," another one of these new terms in medicine. People don't live forever. The goal is to compress morbidity, that is illness, into as short a period as possible at the end of one's lifespan rather than being sick for a long time.
Research suggests there may be some things we can do to both develop and preserve this cognitive reserve:
1. Stay Alert : Mental activity builds up reserves of brain cells and connections which protect against age-related decline. Playing scrabble, doing crosswords and reading are fun ways to accomplish this.
2. Keep Fit: Exercise keeps the blood flowing to the brain and may trigger the birth of new brain cells. Fitness strengthens the brain's executive function and preserves both white and grey matter. In Colorado, there are countless ways for people of ages to be active and enjoy doing so.
3. Minimize Stress: Anxiety prone people appear to have a faster rate of cognitive decline. Of course if your brain was slipping away on you, wouldn't you be feeling some anxiety? If you know how to avoid stress, please call me right-away.
4. Eat Right: A diet high in mono and polyunsaturated acids (fish and olive oils), vitamin E, polyphenols and antioxidants may slow decline. This diet can taste much better than it sounds.
5. Stay Sober: Smoking, alcohol and street drugs all fry brain cells.
Purple Foods
Recent research also points to certain foods as being protective against brain damage. Three stand out: Pomegranate juice, at least in rats bred to develop Alzheimer's, slows disease progression by half. Resveratrol, a chemical isolated from grape skins may actually dissolve plaques which cause Alzheimer's. Blueberries continue to show up in the research as protective against damage to brain cells.
The Wisdom of Age
So, if we aren't getting smarter but actually dumber as we age what is this big thing about wisdom? What is it that older people have that young one's don't? Perhaps it's the awareness that our brains are less trustworthy than they once were and we become more cautious in our decisions. If we tally the mistakes of youth, how many would have been avoided with a bit of caution?
Jacob Schor, N.D. majored in Food Science and Product Development as an undergraduate at Cornell University, and received his doctorate in Naturopathic Medicine at National College in Portland, Oregon in 1991. He served as President of the Colorado Association of Naturopathic Physicians from 1992-1999 and maintains a private practice at the Denver Naturopathic Clinic, 303 337-4884.