I am living my best days at the moment, so why should I think about a topic such as dementia? Well, more and more people are diagnosed with it, and dementia is ruining the lives of millions of people. But, what is really dementia?
Dementia is a term used to describe a group of symptoms affecting memory, thinking and social abilities severely enough to interfere with your daily life.
I have recently been reading a little bit about it, and do you know what is one of the best news I have for you? The best way to protect yourself against dementia isn't some expensive medication, but moving your body. Isn't that great?
Source: Pixabay
Of course, there is no such thing as a guarantee against dementia, but one of the best tools and medications against it is moving your body (in opposition to a sedentary lifestyle in which you sit all day).
Maybe you thought that solving puzzles or doing sudoku would be the best tool to keep your brain alert and healthy? It is good as well, but when you walk (or run), you are using way more than just a certain part of your brain looking for words. As you walk, your eyes are in use, you smell, you measure distance with your head, your blood is pumping faster, and it simply uses more of your body.
We already know that when you move (especially if you reach a pulse of 130), it will help the growth of your frontal lobe and hippocampus, and it will cause the blood flow between the different parts of your brain to go smoother. As a result, your memory is strengthened as well. So, when you walk on a daily basis, you are strengthening your heart, which should then be able to pump the blood around in your body in a better way, and at the same time, you strengthen your brain and the bloodflow there... and the end result is the most effective tool available today against dementia.
