Antidotes to Memory Loss

Physical fitness of the brain should be one of our prime considerations, especially as we approach 40. Midlife crisis besets people who worry about those dreaded gray hairs, memory loss, and cognitive decline.
Must memory lost be part of it? Sanity is an awful reality to face. Cast your anxieties aside regarding cognitive decline, as Dr. Singh Khalsa has tried a formula that’s doing wonders for a lot of aging people, many of them with the Alzheimer’s disease.
Khalsa regimen consists of nutritional therapy, stress management, exercise and prescription of some drugs for those on the more advanced stage.
Stress causes cognitive decline. Chronic stress result in the over-production of a hormone called cortisol, which causes the death of the brain cells. Stress management not only halts the over-production of cortisol, it also enhances the cerebral circulation.
An efficient brain circulation is achieved by lowering blood pressure, encouraging the adequate production of neurotransmitters and helping the brain waves to shift from the common “beta” mode to the more relaxed “alpha” and “theta” mode.
A cruel irony regarding cognitive decline is that the more damage to the brain the person has suffered, the harder it is to control the biological production of the cortisol. The area of the brain that shuts off cortisol production often deteriorates with age, sitting in motion a whole digestive spiral.
To control stress, you can adopt a positive attitude and not think that you have to set aside your desires to get along with people. A helpful reminder is that although you can’t always control what happens to you, you can control how you react to it.
A little help from our friends is an important tool in coping with stress. Even contact with relative strangers also help. Robert Sapolsky, a Stanford neurologist, conducted studies measuring the cortisol levels of patients undergoing a painful cardiac catherization. Those who did not voice out their fears to the doctors had higher cortisol levels than those who did.
Meditation and prayers are also very potent antidotes to stress. Meditation evokes what Harvard stress management expert Herbert Benson calls the “relaxation response”. The opposite of the cortisol-producing stress response, it lowers blood pressure, relax and brings on the alpha and theta waves, decrease oxygen consumption and cortisol output, increase alertness and improves memory. Ten to 20 minutes of meditation twice a day gives you an edge over stress.
Exercise is not only an excellent way to relieve stress, but also to increase blood flow to the brain, providing more oxygen and glucose and aiding in the removal of toxins. Aerobic exercise also increases the production of certain neurotransmitter for carrying memories to “long-term storage.” In addition exercise heightens the output of the “feel good” chemicals known as endorphins. It increases the production of hormone called “nerve growth factor”, which helps stimulate the repair and regeneration of neuros.
A half hour moderate exercise – like walking, biking, swimming, stair climbing, golf or tennis – is very helpful. Excellent exercise that mobilize the chi or internal energy are chi kung, tai chi and hatha yoga. Mental exercise such as reading, playing word or board games, conversing or engaging in stimulating activities, is equally important.
Recent experiments of Marian Diamond at the University of California at Berkeley show that just by using the brain increases its size and the number of certain kinds of brain cells. If the brain is not regularly engage in mental exercises, it begins to atrophy physically, just like muscle that is not used. Atrophy of up to 25% can occur in the hippocampus, the part of the brain most responsible for memory.
Yogic mind/body exercises form another part of the program. Khalsa says that such exercise help restore the brain’s ability to access existing memories, create new memories and concentrate more intensely.
Brain care is vital to our health. At any stage of our life, age-old precautions have to be remembered always. Smoking, drinking and drugs, eating and other activities must be considered carefully. Care for your brain – it’s the only one you’ve got.

Breathing Lessons

We may not be aware of it, but we breathe at a rate of 15 times per minute. When we are happy, we breathe in a rhythmic, deep and slow manner; when we are sad, we do so in a tense or depressed, gasping, sighing, shallow, fast and uneven way. Actually, we can control our breathing. A closer look at how nature designed our bodies reveals that man was meant to breathe primarily with his diaphragm, not his ribcage and clavicles.

Laziness, ignorance, smoking, pollution, constipation, and other factors have turned us into shallow chest breathers. Chest breathing uses the intercostals muscles between the ribs to forcibly expand the upper ribcage, lowering the air pressure in the chest so that the air enters by suction. This process leaves the lower lungs immobilized. Nothing is wrong with this, except that it takes about three times more of chest breathing to get the same amount of air into the lungs one can get from a single diaphragmatic breathing.

Clavicle breathing is even far worse than chest breathing. The clavicles of the collar bones are used to open up the upper portion of the lungs. Those with asthma or emphysema try to pant or breathe rapidly to get sufficient quantities of air pumping in the narrow little top pockets of the lungs controlled by the clavicles. This affects the heart which has too rapidly pump more blood through the lungs to compensate for the small surface area covered by the clavicle breathing.
We also do some clavicle breathing every time we are anxious or stressed out. Irregular, tense breathing can be caused by and lead to disorganized mental activity and chaotic thinking patterns, as well as physical, emotional and mental disease. Next time you feel uptight, change your breathing pattern. Take a few abdominal breaths, hold for a few seconds, then exhale long and slow. Your anxieties will melt away! Unfortunately, most of us forget how to do abdominal breathing.
Balanced Breathing
Two hemispheres of are responsible for different abilities and characteristic mode of expression of human individuality. The right side of the brains assumes the responsibility for the spatial, artistic, holistic, intuitive, and psychic side of our conception. The left side is responsible for our logical, rational, and analytical faculties and sequential and linear mode of the thoughts.
The left brain has the centers for verbal communication – reading, writing, talking and hearing. Our formal education uses more verbal than non-verbal communication, making much use of the left side of the cerebral lobe. The left side has the qualities of competitiveness, selfishness, and aggression or the male (yang) energy. The right side has the feminine (yin) qualities of love, compassion, and nurturing. Alternate breathing, or inhaling in one nostril as we close the other nostril with our finger, stimulates the opposite of the brain. This means that when we inhale through the right nostril, covering the left nostril, we stimulate the functions or qualities of the left side of the brain. Balance breathing through the right and left nostrils creates a balanced personality.

Dr. I.N. Rega, an EENT specialist in Bucharest, Romania conducted studies concerning nasal obstruction. One such study involved 200 patients suffering from one-sided nasal obstruction due to distortions and malformations of the nasal septum since birth. Dr. Rega found that 87% of those patients whose breath flowed predominantly on the left nostril suffered a higher than average incidence of a wide variety of respiratory disorders, including chronic sinusitis, middle and inner ear infections, partial or total loss of the sense of smell, hearing and taste, recurrent pharyngitis, laryngitis and tonsillitis, chronic bronchitis, and bronchiectasis.
He found that they eventually were more likely to suffer from one or more of these disorders; amnesia, intellectual weakness, headaches, hyperthyroidism (with associated irritability), cardiopulmonary weakness (manifesting in palpitations asthma-like-attacks, and chronic heart failure), insufficiency of liver and gallbladder, persistently altered cellular constituents of the blood and lymphatic fluid, chronic gastritis and enter-colitis (with symptoms of heartburn, gastric reflux, peptic ulcer and constipation), sexual and reproductive disorders (symptoms of dimunition of libido, menstrual irregularities, and diminished virility).

Twenty-six-percent of those whose breathing flowed predominantly through the right nostril were found to be predisposed to arterial hypertension and it’s numerous consequences.
Breathing Techniques
In his commentaries on the Tao Te Ching, Chuang Tzu, the second great Taoist master aster Lao Tzu, explains how the vital energy can flow through the body, giving its multiplicity of the benefits. “(Those) who attain longevity with the management (of breath), who forget all things and yet possess all things; whose placidity is unlimited, while all things to be valued attend them – such men pursue the way of heaven and earth, and display the characteristics of sages”. The whole body must be involved in the breathing process as this makes the blood circulate better, bringing oxygen to the extremities. To do so, a person can either use his mind to mobilize and bring the breath to the different vital energy centers along the spinal column or he can use movement. By doing Hatha yoga, chi kung or tai chi chuan exercises, a person mobilizes his energy around the body. It is said that men of ancient times used their heels to breathe.
Breathing through the heels is done standing with your feet apart as wide as your shoulders. Raise your arms forward as high as your shoulders while you inhale. Get the energy from the heels, by pushing your arms up against the pressure from the ground. This brings the energy you have gotten from the earth up the legs to the body and finally your arms. Exhale and press your hand down. The breathing must synchronize with the movement of your arms.

For asthma attacks or difficulty in breathing, do some deep abdominal breathing, as well as the following simple but effective breathing technique, which helps the constricted bronchi-oles of asthmatic patients.

Lie down on your back, your body straight. Put your palms on the floor, besides your body. Bring your legs together and relax your legs. Look straight forward. Exhale all the air from your body through the mouth in a continuous manner, as fast as, when you are whistling. The abdominal muscles should contract when you are exhaling.
Inhale slowly through the nose, expanding the abdomen. Keep the air in while stretching the toes forward, tightening the legs. Pull the stomach inwards and keep your hands stretched. There should be a mild tightening of the whole body. Hold this position for three to four seconds during the first week. Gradually increase to six to eight seconds during the second and third weeks. Retain air as long as it is comfortable for you. Then exhale again through the mouth. Repeat the exercise during inhalation. You can do three repetitions for the first time, gradually increasing, but don’t do over five repetitions. The stomach must be empty when doing this.

In Remembrance of CORY

In August 1, 2009, as early as 3:18 am, my president, Mrs.President Cory Aquino passed away due to cardio-respiratory arrest after an 18 month of battle with colon cancer. She was 76.

I know that Cory passed away happy and satisfied, cause she had her children and countrymen with open eyes a clear mind of what democracy is. Her mission of toppling the Marcos regime and retaining democracy was well-done and after her presidency, as a private citizen, she continuous to battle the ones who abuse democracy. She is a true "democratic icon" not only in our nation but the world.
And even the event of her passing away, she awakens, she rocks and reminded us not to put into languish what she started fighting for. Her death awakens me and I hope it does to others.

I do not know how to thank her and Ninoy, but I think the only the way I could thank her is to continue maintaining the democracy she and Ninoy brought us. Bringing back democracy becomes her life and to maintain it, I know will make her happy wherever she is.

She is truly the Mother of Democracy, the nation's mother.

She is a true heroine, a perfect example, and a religious icon too.

I got no words to described and how to thank my president, but I will offer all my respects to her till my last breath and hopefully maintain what she had been fighting for, so that I can proved to her and Ninoy that "WE ARE WORTH IT".

SALAMAT PRESIDENT CORY, PAALAM PO.

Care is the Best Medicine

Back in the days when penicillin and sophisticated technology were not yet discovered, how old western doctors cure their patients? Many believe they were armed with the Big C, or CARE. They stood by the bedside of their dying patients, patting their hands, offering their support. Their knowledge of curing diseases may have been very limited, but their hearts were big and caring.
Care is the best medicine which cannot be merely substituted with powerful drugs or the latest hi-tech invention. Caring may not produce quantifiable results that can be seen and scrutinized in the laboratory, but its results should not be underestimated.
An endangered patient who is finally equipped yet has no one who sincerely cares for him, may not be able to heal as fast as a person who is battling an infectious disease and has the loving support of his family.
Many people recuperate very fast because of their caring relationships. Caring for someone, infuse in them the understanding that you really want the best for them, opens wide the road to recovery. This is also very true in practical life. No matter how stubborn and hard a person may be his wall of antagonism and cynicism would melt down when he realizes your sincere desire for his well-being.
Listening is vital. If the patient is assured that when he talks someone is interested enough to listen and help him, he feels very fortunate and full of hope. If the doctors really cares and knows how to listen, then he gets to learn about the values of his patient. Do his patients want to be hooked up onto so many machines, holding on to the fortress of the body even if it’s falling apart? Or does he want to preserve his dignity and let just nature takes its course? Otherwise, the doctor would be imposing his own value system on the patient, which is preserving life at all cost.
Each person is part of mosaic. Each has his own special way of connecting with himself, his family, and his community. The art of understanding the whole person and not just the physiology process involve in curing the disease is more important. This integral appreciation of the person makes the doctor deal with the spirit, an essential part of body-mind medicine.
There are people who may have been diagnosed for terminal illness like cancer and are given, to say, six months to live. Yet, since some of them whose spirits are whole and are determine to live strangely so live longer than expected. Some who are low in spirit, bereft of love and care in the family, suffer from depression and die in a couple of months. Still, some old people like the Native American Indians can die at their own will with no apparent physiological reason.
In body-mind medicine, suggestion and belief system have a very strong bearing just like the placebo effect, which demonstrate the impact of belief on the physical body. When a person firmly believes that he could get better according to the doctor does or gives him, and then his body responds accordingly. But what actually happens is that his endorphins, dopamine, and serotonin doing the job as a result of the healing and mind act.
Some may think that they can skip the part of caring for someone’s pain and just administer placebos. In the sense, this is being dishonest to the patient and would not help anyone who should be confronting the problem, which is dealing with the real pain. Perhaps pain is symptomatic of the person asking for your time or attention.
Dr. Ron Anderson, chair and CEO of Parkland Hospital in Dallas, Texas, which is rated among the 25 best hospitals in the US, has used the principles of body-mind medicine in his work. Dr. Anderson co-authored Medical Apartheid – An American Perspective. He has this to say about hospital care; “It’s like preventive medicine if I deal with the patient’s problems and anxieties and concern ahead of time; I actually made the therapy plan and the outcome better for both of us. We beat out our medical students and our
House staff officers of compassion and empathy and a lot staff willingness to understand the person. They are told to understand the disease and that’s what they’ve tested on.
“Traditionally, hospitals have been organized for doctors, for auxiliaries, for insurance companies – everybody but the patient. Hospitals have taken in the total institution format. The total institution is like a concentration camp or a jail or even a place created to service a need, but that is overwhelmed with volume, stress, strain, and people not dealing with their own feelings. Public school systems may be the same way. Hospitals should be places created for the service of the patients. We ought to deliver care as best as we can within a very clear value system. Doctors should be customers of a hospital, but not the only customers.
“When people get to the wards and see a harried faculty member of a senior house staff, they may develop the attitude that the patient is the enemy. One of the reasons that many physically don’t want to do primary care in this country is that they’re trained in hospitals where they don’t understand the patients as that patient lives in a family and a community. They don’t have any continuity with the patient over time.
“Any physician who takes care of patients for 10 or 15 years cherishes that relationship. Medical students don’t see that. They just see an intensive care unit with the technology. It’s easier to write a prescription instead of stooping to talk to the patient. One of the things I tell medical students is that writing a prescription is not the end of the social contact with the patients. They need you to visit them, particularly the elderly person. Somehow that offends the house staff, who says, ‘She just wants social contact. What’s wrong with that if it’s healing’?”
Dr. Ron Anderson has hit the nail on its head with his perspective on effective healing environment. His perspective in medicine is nothing neither new nor common. A vital key to the healing process of a person is care which anyone has a heart could give. Care enhances the power of medicine, medical technology, and doctors’ guidance. Care could help the diseased not to be deceased easily.

The Greatest Love

Maria was very concerned with how she looked, especially her teeth. She was just not pleased with her image on the mirror. She had gone dentist hoping, feeling that each had only made her look worse. She went to have her nose fix, but they did a poor job. Each professional only mirrored her belief that she was ugly. Actually there is nothing wrong with how she looked.
Tina had a terrible breath that made people uncomfortable being around her. She was a theology student so her outer demeanor vibrated with piety and spirituality. Beneath this was a raging current of anger and jealousy that exploded from time to time, when thoughts of how a certain person was threatening her position. Her inner thoughts were expressed through her breath, and she was offensive even when she pretended to love. No one threaten her but herself.
We may know of people in similar situation – we may even be in it. We may scold and criticize ourselves endlessly. There could have been a time when praises and compliments surprised us, even made us feel uncomfortable. Again, criticism or reprimand seemed be safer water to tread. And if someone else expressed their love, sometimes we may have felt, “Why me?” – Or “You might be mistaking me for someone you know.” The belief that we are unlovable seems to be prevalent.
There is a litany of other negativities that could be included: we procrastinate on things that could benefit us. We are quite afraid to charge a decent price for our services. We create illness or pain in our body. We live in chaos and disorder, as reflected in how our house is arranged or how we work. We may even be attracting lovers and mates who belittle us.
By denying ourselves of our good, we show how we regard ourselves. Try to see these examples:
The husband is grouchy and tired; the wife wonders what she could have done to cause it.
A friend takes you out once or twice and never calls again. You think something must be wrong with you.
The marriage ends and one feels he/she is a failure.
An employee is afraid to ask for a raise.
We don’t close the sale or get the position we aim for and we are sure we are not good enough.
We mistreat our body with food, alcohol, or drugs.
A person is afraid of intimacy and allowing anyone to get close, so he/she has superficial friendships.
We can’t seem to make decisions and put other people on the spot to make decisions for us because we are quite sure that if we make them they will be wrong.
What about you, how do you show your lack of self-worth?
Problems and situations may be different but at the root of all these is how much we love ourselves. Some of you might even react on this, thinking that loving yourself is vanity or some kind of arrogance, an utter to conceit. These are beliefs that have nothing to do with love, but springs from fear. When we love ourselves, we respect ourselves and express gratitude for the miracle of our body and mind.
Loving ourselves can burst and overflow in all directions. Consequently, we feel love for the very process of life itself. We feel joy in being alive so we see beauty everywhere, in another person. We are curious and strive to learn more about how the universe works in us. Love is the miracle cure. Loving ourselves cures and transforms our lives.
Thanks to Marilitz "thoughts".