Hi, I was thinking about you last week when pbs aired a program done in Japan on aging brains. Electrodes were used to show brain activity. Men and women who learned new things had the largest, most active thinking portions of their brains. That's what reminded me of you. About a decade ago there was a publicized study involving nuns in Minnesota who tended to live to 100 and above, and who also had little dementia in the community as a whole. The article, which I think was in Life Magazine, talked about how these nuns tended to do puzzles everyday, crosswords and the like. The nuns had all agreed to let their brains be dissected and studied after they died, and that was what gave the researchers access to so much information. Basically, the researchers discovered that some of the nuns had brain tissue indicative of Alzheimer's, but had not exhibited the symptoms, at least not particularly. So, what the researchers learned was that by learning new things (apparently doing puzzles is like learning new things, according to this study) the nuns had grown new pathways in their brains that reduced the impact of the pathways that were lost to the disease. When I first learned about my brain injury, the therapist who was teaching me compensation techniques told me that I could regrow some of the nerve networks that I had lost, and that playing games that used memory and distinguishing functions of the mind helped. Also on the recent pbs program there was a man who had something near debilitating back pain. He started walking to address the pain, which went away and he began doing marathons and winning. The program used this to illustrate a relationship between physical activity and brain function. But I forget the particulars. Oh... there was one man who did 5 minutes of exercise each morning, that was it. And that amount was enough to keep his body and mind functioning very well. The exercises they showed were a bit Tai Chi like, only he was holding what looked like a cylindrical weight. (I didn't want you guys to think I forgot about you.)
There is some truth in the studies. I also heard of a study which concluded people who have been in education for a longer period of time on average have a longer life expectancy.
That was very nice of you, nkhoi. Thank you. I don't have any money left, though. (Darn it.) What made you all stand out so much in my mind was how many of you looked at my Revised Brief. That was so nice of you! Also, when no one made any kind of comment I figured there was something wrong with it, and that's how I found I'd weirded out quite large portions of it. (I had hit Control Z a few times, trying to go back, and then I realized I'd undone some of my corrections... so I hit it more times trying to undo what I'd undone... by the time I snapped it was too late to try and find all the unwanted changes. So I filed it, then redid it and filed again, and this time I left in the colors I used to keep it straight. If I could win I'd have money to trade again. The equity I lost was about $150,000. But I don't know... the more I listened to the hearing CDs the more I could see how the judge appeared determined not to let me have my condo back...) I'm so grateful to you guys. Today I have to work on getting a wood stove... or, more accurately, work on getting the money to get a wood stove. Here's my Corrected Revised Brief... http://www.health-boundaries-bite.com/Corrected-Revised-Brief.html
Hi Prince, I think the education thing relates to the status one attains... the fellow who wrote The Status Syndrome, and I cannot remember his name, discovered that the higher status one reaches, the longer one is likely to live. Marmot, I think it was Michael Marmot. He began his study in England in Whitehall, where everyone's job level is highly categorized. After some years he was able to show that the higher level a person reached, the greater longevity that person was going to have in relation to those on lower levels. The idea, if I remember correctly, was that the lowest levels have the most stress about which little if anything can be done. I may misunderstand, but I think that people who trade stocks are pretty much at the top level because they have control over what they do. They may not "win" on each trade, but they have the power to change their trading profile, no one is making them trade a specific way. I so want to be able to trade again!
The dependence of longevity on the attained status makes sense. I still dare to doubt that the trader is at the top. Don't you think that the stress factor in trading is bad influence and equals out the "having control over your life"? I might be proved wrong if we knew the average life expectancy of a trader.
While in University, I proved that alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana reduces your likelihood of developing Parkinsons or Alzheimers by over 50%... It may sound like a joke...but it's very true...
before saying anything I would like to first and foremost state that I sincerely do wish to see you regain everything in life and to see all your problems solved Quoting from this page http://www.health-boundaries-bite.com/new_folder/IRS-Stress.html on your site ... "But, the fact is that I felt a vast relief when I took the decision to kill myself in the event a certain point was reached." I think that is a natural and smart way of thinking ... I'm not trying to encourage you ... but just saying that the mind is relieved thinking that there is at least one more solution to the problem(s) ... usually humans go insane when the brain is incapable of finding a solution to a particular problem and being unable to ignore it at the same time (and so bound to finding a solution to it) ... if one tries to commit suicide there are two group of people who will try to prevent it .. first those who care for the person specially parents, which is obvious why they do try prevent it ... and second the governments, which is not because they care about us, because statistically if people find suicide a natural attempt, it will be most likely that the intelligent part of the society will be the ones committing the suicides, leaving the governments with stupid people like themselves to deal with ... plus everyone will find death a solution to most problems ... which it actually is .. anyhow I wasn't trying to reach a specific conclusion I was just killing time ... which is life ... I don't think it really matters what one does in life ... if (s)he even makes sense or not ... so long as (s)he kills time at a faster rate than how it would have passed in daily bordem
The way that the stress thing works, is that it has an overall good effect if the stress is related to something a person can "conquor" so to speak. Then there is a sense of personal power that has a rejuvenating effect on the body. There is a saying that mice that are chased by cats live longer than mice that are not. (assuming they don't get caught and eaten) The kind of stress that is bad for someone is related to a situation where the person has no control. A worker who cannot satisfy his superior is in a hopeless situation. No matter what he/she does, it's never right, never enough and the worker feels that quitting is not an option due to obligations... ***** I was sad that no one commented on my corrected brief. this time it was as good as it was possible for me to get it...