Body & Spirit
12
BOOMER CORNER
Mind - When toabout WorryThe 120 Club? If not Changes Immortality what How often do you walk into a room and wonder why you’re there? focus hard, grit died your in teeth, try My good friendYou Alexander Everett 2005and aged to remember, but come up blank. You retrace your 85 on his ranch in Oregon. It wasn’t really a ranch, steps like and an somewhere on thatjust journey it dawns more Ark. Alexander likedback, to hang out on you why you wantednot to go the room in first with animals, certainly eattothem. Hewas an place. A niggling thought knocks on the inside of educationalist and an English eccentric much your head, “I hope I’m not losing my memory”. influenced by Rudolf Steiner and Huxley’s Perennial Philosophy, who decamped Oregon in the 1960s You start to notice that wordstoescape you - words or becoming a leading in asthe personal names that you know you figure know. Try you might, you development movement that sometime became popular can’t dredge them up. Then later, oratinthat the time. As a young he had crippled by polio wee hours of the man morning, thebeen elusive word pops into yourclaimed head unannounced, but to have cured completely himself. Hespontaneously. was, he told Relief floods of you. ‘Nope, I’malldefinitely not getting me a member the 120 Club, of whom committed dementia.’ to live to be over 120 years old. Alas, themselves Alexander didn’t make it. He died 35 years short You’ve just been aged 85, which is respectable. using an object, like your favorite pen, Somewhere around the age of 18 or 19 our bodies cease your glasses, or developing and from that moment on the various keys, when body your clocks that comprise what is us, start their remoseless attention springs to countdown to our eventual demise.something How else and long we last from that point on depends onit snaps back, when you can’t for the life good luck, our genes, our lifestyle and how of you find the much money we have. The process doesn’t darned usually start to manifest visibly until our thing. You look mid-30s or so and, given good genes,high and low and then you look psychologically we don’t usually start to high and low again. feel old until our early 70s. Sometime during the day, you stumble across it, right where you’d laid it down, and wonder if you’re getting Here’s what we’re all up against: Alzheimer’s. Chronic Inflammation If it isn’t enough that we doubt our own brain function, we hear or read more and more stories about memory loss. And there’s goodan reason for that. There are nearly 45 Aging peopleasuffer epidemic of outward million people worldwide with Alzheimer’s inflammatory diseases such as arthritis, and related dementias, unless a also cure damages is found, that number but chronic and inflammation couldcells, easilyarterial triple by 2050. brain walls, heart valves and
other structures in the body. Heart attack, What’s the Difference Between Dementia and stroke, heart valve failure, and Alzheimer’s Alzheimer’s Disease? have all been linked to the chronic inflammatory Dementia is acascade. general term for a decline in mental ability - a decline severe enough to interfere with the functioning Glycosylation of daily life. Dementia is not a disease, but rather a symptom, much like a fever is not a disease but a symptom age of illness. Diabetics prematurely, but even non-diabetics suffer from this chemical reaction, where protein molecules Sometodiseases dementiaforming as a symptom, such as bind glucosewith molecules non-functioning thyroid problems, vitamin deficiencies, and depression structures. Glycosylation is most evident in senile can be reversed if diagnosed early enough. But dementia dementia, stiffening of the arteries, and degenerative is most commonly associated with Alzheimer’s. diseases of the eye.
Alzheimer’s is an incurable terminal disease that Methylation Deficit damages the brain, breaking down the physical connections that are necessary to store new information, Our cellular requires constant enzymaticbe action retrieve oldDNA information, feel compassion, ablefor to reason, and toand problem solve. It progresses relentlessly, maintenance repair. Aging cripples methylation until finally, causing if something else doesn’t get manifest the person, metabolism DNA damage that can as they dieliver of starvation because the degeneration. brain can no longer cancer, damage and brain cell communicate to the body the need to swallow. Mitochondrial Energy Depletion By now you’re probably squirming in your seat wondering what the symptoms of Alzheimer’s are? This is perfectly The cellular energy the more mitochondria, normal. Studies showpowerhouse, that people are afraid of requires a complex series of chemicals getting Alzheimer’s than cancer. At least to youmaintain have a critical such as transporting nutrients through chancefunctions with cancer.
Ten Warning Signs the cell membrane and purging the cell of toxic debris. According to the American Alzheimer’s Organization, there Mitochondrial depletion lead to congestive heart failure, are 10 weakness, warning signs of possible Alzheimer’s Disease. All muscle fatigue and neurological disease. of these characteristics may not be present. It takes only one to suggest a trip to a geriatric neurologist. Hormone Imbalance 1. Memory Loss that Disrupts Daily Life - not being able Trillions of cells in information, the human body are synchronised to to remember new forgetting important dates function byasking chemical signalsquestions called hormones. Aging or events, the same over and over. In creates hormonal can lead to be depression, contrast, a typicalimbalance age-relatedthat change would forgetting osteoporosis, coronary heart and loss of libido. names or appointments but disease remembering them later. In other words, you know that you’ve forgotten. Excess Calcification 2. Challenges in Planning or Problem Solving – losing the ability to do math, into solving organizing Calcium ions aresimple transported andproblems, out of cells through things, keeping track of recipes or monthly bills. calcium channels into the membrane. Aging disruptsSome this people may experience changes in their ability to develop process and the result is excess calcium in the cells of the and follow a plan or work with numbers. In contrast, a brain, valves change and arterial that can lead to typicalheart age-related wouldwalls be making occasional arteriosclerosis and Alzheimer’s. errors when balancing a checkbook or adding up numbers. 3. Difficulty Completing Familiar Tasks - sometimes people have trouble driving a familiar route or forgetting the rules of a game. My husband, Bob, was in year five of Alzheimer’s when he went out to do grocery shopping and didn’t come home for four hours. He was so scared when he found me again, he was shaking. The car was strewn with open maps he couldn’t make heads or tails of. A natural age-related change would be missing a street or freeway exit, but knowing you have. Or you may occasionally need tech help with your computer. 4. Confusion with Time or Place – people with Alzheimer’s can lose track of dates, places or seasons. Sometimes they forget where they are or how they got there. One night, Bob and I were in bed. He started to get up. “Where are you going,” I asked? I have to go home to my wife, he said. “I am your wife.” He sheepishly replied, “Oh” and crawled back into bed. A natural age-related change might be forgetting someone’s birthday but figuring it out later. 5. Trouble Understanding Visual Images and Spatial Relationships - for some people, having vision problems is a sign of Alzheimer’s. They may have difficulty reading, Fatty Acid Imbalance judging distance and determining color or contrast, which may cause problems with driving. A natural age-related change could be visual changes to cataracts or other The body requires essential fattydue acids to maintain cell eye problems. energy output. Aging causes alterations in the enzymes required to convert dietary fats into specific fatty acids the 6. Problems Speaking or Writing - people body requires.with The Words effect ofinfatty acid imbalance manifests with Alzheimer’s may have difficulty following a as irregular heartbeat, joint degeneration, low energy, conversation. They stop in the middle and are not be sure hyper-coagulation, dry may skin and a host of other conditions. how to continue. The struggle with words, forgetting
the names of things. I started to notice that Bob used the DNA wordMutation ‘thing’ a lot instead of the object’s name. He would say, “Pass me that thing to stir this stuff with,” when what Numerous synthetic and natural compounds mutate he wanted was a spoon to stir his iced tea. A natural agerelated DNA change sometimes notform. finding thecells right cellular andwould causebecancer cells to Aging wordtheir or temporarily a word. and the result is lose DNA geneforgetting repair mechanisms DNA genetic damage causes cells to proliferate out of 7. Misplacing and Losing control, i.e., turnThings into cancer cells. the Ability to Retrace Steps - a person with Alzheimer’s might put things in strange places. They may lose things and not be able to Immune Dysfunction find them. They may accuse others of stealing from them. This was a biggie for us. I would find towels rolled up with For a variety of bathroom reasons, the aging immune loses things from the I’d searched for. In system his mind, Bob its ability to attack bacteria, viruses and cancer cells. In was packing to be ready to travel because traveling was
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such a big part of our life together. A natural age-related change would be occasionally something but aging humans, excessive levelsmisplacing of dangerous cytokines being able to that retrace steps find it. system to turn on its are produced cause the to immune host and create auto-immune diseases,, such as allergies, lupus, anemia, rheumatoid heart disease and arthritis. 8. Decreased or Poor Judgment – people with Alzheimer’s might experience changes in judgment or Non-Digestive Enzyme Imbalance decision-making. They may be duped into giving money to telemarketers or pay less attention to grooming or Internal functions depend on multiple enzymatic keepingcellular themselves clean. A natural age-related change reactions precise timing. Aging causes might be occurring making a with bad decision from time to time, like enzyme disturbances the brain and liver, which result in buying something youindidn’t need. severe neurological diseases such as Parkinson’s or persistent memory loss. Impaired liver function results in 9. Withdrawal from Work or Social Activities - a person toxic to every in the body. themselves from with damage Alzheimer’s maycell start to remove hobbies, social activities, work projects or sports. They may haveEnzyme trouble following Digestive Deficit TV programs. A natural agerelated change might be sometimes tiring of work, family andaging socialpancreas situations andfails needing more enough alone time. The often to secrete digestive enzymes, while the aging liver does not secrete enough 10. acids. Changes in Mood Personality – sometimes bile The results are and the chronic digestive problems people with Alzheimer’s become confused, suspicious, many face as they age. depressed, fearful, or anxious. They may be easily upset with others when they are out of their comfort zone. A Excitotoxicity normal age-related change might come from developing specific ways of doing things and becoming irritable when The aging brain loses control of its that routine is disrupted. release of neurotransmitters such as glutamate and dopamine, and this results When to Get Help in devastating brain cell damage and The Alzheimer’sdestruction. Organization suggests that if you or a loved one has any of these characteristics to get it checked out, sooner rather than later. Circulatory Deficit It’s important toMicrocapillary find a specialist who understands the flow of blood to the brain, elder brain. Bob and I were given misinformation by eye and skin is impaired as a part ofa psychiatrist and neurologist because they didn’t know normal aging. The result is that disorders much about dementia. Both said they hoped their brain of the eye (such as cataract, macular would be in as good a shape as Bob’s when they were his degeneration, theusNo.1 age. This plunged us back intoglaucoma) denial andare kept from age-related degenerative disease. Major getting help early on. and mini-strokes are common problems *** associated circulatory deficit the The next time you go into awith room and forget why to you’re brain. there, or a good friends’ name escapes you, or you misplace your glasses for the umpteenth time in a day, just chalk Stress it up to natural age-related changes Oxidative unless you can’t retrace your steps, the friend’s name not only radicals doesn’t are come back molecules but the that have been Free unstable person looks unfamiliar, and you’re implicated in most diseases associated with aging. sure someone stolebecome those missing Antioxidants have popular supplements to glasses. protect against free-radical-induced cell damage, but few people take the proper combination of antioxidant Susan’s book Piece by Piece: Love in supplements needed to do any good. the Land of Alzheimer’s is available at Ubud’s Ganesha Book Store, Threads of Life, or on Amazon. ByTereba Shari By Susan By Adrian The Boomer Corner isis aaa column column dedicated toto people people over The Boomer Boomer Corner Corner is column dedicated dedicated to people over over The practicalities, 60living livingininBali. Bali. Its Itsmandate mandateisistotocover covertopics, topics,practicalities, practicalities, 60 life inin activities,issues, issues,concerns concernsand andevents eventsrelated relatedtotosenior seniorlife lifein activities, Bali. Bali.We Wewelcome welcomesuggestions suggestionsfrom fromreaders. readers. E-mail E-mailus usatat: :Baliboomers@gmail.com Baliboomers@gmail.com Copyright ©©2019 2019 Boomer Corner Copyright© 2019Boomer BoomerCorner Corner Copyright You can read all past articles ofof Youcan canread readall allpast pastarticles articlesof You Boomer Corner atatwww.BaliAdvertiser.biz www.BaliAdvertiser.biz BoomerCorner Cornerat www.BaliAdvertiser.biz Boomer
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