Gary Small: Keeping Our Brains Healthy as We Age
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Tami Simon speaks with Dr. Gary Small, the director of the UCLA memory and aging research center. For his work in the prevention of Alzheimer’s disease and brain aging, Scientific American magazine named him one of the world’s top 50 innovators in science and technology. In this episode of Insights at the Edge, Dr. Small explains which factors are in our control when it comes to preventing memory loss and even the onset of Alzheimer’s disease. He also talks about the importance of weight loss, good sleep, and diet for brain health as well as some of the latest research related to the prevention of Alzheimer’s disease. (42 minutes)
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What a very wonderful and educational interview. Dr. Small reminds us how important it is to live a balanced life. His insights of Alzheimer’s disease was very helpful. Both Tami and him also touched on the emotional issues that caregivers have to go through when caring for a loved one with this disease. They also spoke about lifestyles and I wonder how our fast paced lives in this modern era affects increases our ‘mental fog’? It is a challenge to slow down, in order to relax the brain. It is also a challenge to make the time to prepare healthy foods. Then there is the incorporation of social activities. As a young child growing up in the 70s, it appeared to me that people easily incorporated socialism into their regular routines. Why is it so much harder to make the time to have social gatherings? And yet this is so important to live happily and healthy. My last comment would be in the form of a question: How can we not see the connection between science and spirituality? Both feed into each other and nurture each other. It is just so very fascinating – looking a life in a holistic way. Oops, I almost forgot laughter which is another form of medicine, it is so neat the way how Tami and Dr. Small ended their conversation, on a humorous note! God Bless! Thank you both!
Comment by Salma — July 27, 2012 @ 8:44 pm
Nice interview.
I wonder if Dr. Small knows much about the Nun’s study where 678 Nuns all agreed to donate their brains for an Alzheimer’s study. The most interesting thing to me about that study is the Nuns who died and when their brains were disected showed that they should have had Alzheimers but didn’t seem to when they were alive. I’m also wondering about what he would have said about people who have advanced Alzheimers, but then have times when they are lucid. Those occurrences may provide a clue about the location of our mind; is it located in our brain, completely or maybe only partially?
Comment by Rich — July 28, 2012 @ 11:54 am
Dr. Small gives us a good prescription for brain health; exercise, reduce stress, sleep well, eat little, omega 3, be thin, talk with a friend. Thanks.
Comment by Cloud — November 22, 2012 @ 5:17 am