Benefitting from reading and writing

By Paula Crozier

Why Reading, writing and arithmetic are still essential for your overall health.

We know as we get older that we are all lifelong learners, but with all the technology and as the generation of the “boob tube,” we are not as well read anymore. We understand that; we know our parents and grandparents relied upon reading as their chosen form of entertainment so why not us?

There are several studies published about the benefits of daily reading of course, for children. The obvious benefit is increased literacy, but it goes beyond that. Reading books expands one’s vocabulary, excites the imaginative areas of the brain and aids in comprehension by connecting neurons in our brains that put logic and imagination both to work.

Reading 15-30 minutes a day has been shown to release dopamine, the hormone that increases happiness. Reading also calms things down as well, and the choice of reading media doesn’t seem to matter much on the brain’s side of connectivity.

Whether one is reading a physical book, a magazine or even on a tablet, reading is essential to our ability to take in information, sort it, make instant judgments on the information presented and also to increase the activity of neurons both in the brain and on our body.

It seems so easy to just turn a page, but there is a lot going on in the brain that allows us to physically decide to turn a page, or “swipe up, down, left and right.”

The actions we take through both our hands, eyes, even our body postures help to create an increase of calmness, destressing, and increasing memory circuits.

“A study of 294 seniors published in Neurology found that those who engaged in mentally stimulating activities such as reading across their lifespan had slower rates of memory decline compared to those who did not. Engaging in frequent cognitive activity later in life reduced the rate of decline by 32 percent.”

(Life-span cognitive activity, neuropathologic burden, and cognitive aging

Robert S. Wilson, Patricia A. Boyle, Lei Yu, Lisa L. Barnes, Julie A. Schneider, David A. Bennett Neurology Jul 2013).

Additionally, reading has been shown to help release melatonin, a natural sleep hormone that allows us to fall asleep and keep us asleep. How many times have you read something only to realize you dozed off? Proof positive that some topics can really put you to sleep.

But what about those adventures, those page turners that you just can’t seem to put down? Well, subject matter does help determine which brain activity happens: Melatonin or dopamine. An exciting story excites us of course, while something else may just help us to become drowsy.

Becoming older doesn’t mean that we have to give up on our favorite past times, even when it becomes more difficult. Audio books have equal benefits to visual reading as well. So does reading with a partner. Book clubs are incredible social events that bring us together to discuss a plot and story line and how those books affect us in our everyday lives. And reading an old favorite doesn’t mean that you won’t find anything new. Those are the best because when you read through the same story over again, not only does your memory kick in with the storyline, but you also just might remember smells, weather, a warm blanket, or a sun-dripped tree in a park where you first discovered the story.

So write down those favorites and read them again!

Mine are many, from my beginning, “The Poky Little Puppy”, all the Winnie-thePooh books, to Dragonwyk, Little Women, Jane Eyre, The Bobbsey Twins series, to The Joy Luck Club, Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle stop Café and any Encyclopaedia Brittanica or biography of Saints. Share yours with loved ones. Form a book club or reach out to your family and friends to find existing ones. And of course, discover the “new classics” too!

“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies . . . The man who never reads lives only one.”

George R.R. Martin (American novelist and short-story writer, screenwriter, and television producer. He is the author of the series of epic fantasy novels A Song of Ice and Fire, which was adapted into the Emmy Awardwinning HBO series Game of Thrones).

Paula is the Director of Marketing and Development at Florence Home Healthcare Center, Royale Oaks Assisted Living and House of Hope Assisted Living and Memory Care. In her spare time, Paula is rediscovering all the things she did as a child that she can still do like painting, coloring, hiking and bike riding. She also trips and fails forward happily at gardening.

Volunteers needed for research study

Researchers at Boys Town National Research Hospital are looking for healthy participants and those with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) or mild cognitive impairment (MCI) to participate in a brain imaging study.

The DICoN lab at Boys Town is looking to identify differences between healthy participants, those with mild cognitive impairment, and those with Alzheimer’s disease using a series of brain imaging tests.

This study will involve three (or four) visits, each lasting about 2.5-3 hours. The visits will include completion of: Several mental tasks (some during brain imaging), questionnaires, interview about your medical history, MRI scan, blood draw and you will wear an activity/sleep monitor on your wrist between visits. Additionally, those

ENOA is recruiting volunteers to become Ombudsman Advocates

The Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging is looking for men and women ages 21 and older to join its Long-term Care Ombudsman Program, which is co-sponsored by the Nebraska State Ombudsman Program.

ENOA’s Ombudsman advocates visit residents in local long-term care facilities and assisted living communities to protect the residents’ rights, wellbeing, and quality of life.

Long-term Care Ombudsmen advocates must complete 20 hours of initial classroom training and 18 hours per year after the first year to remain certified.

During the training, the volunteers learn about residents’ rights, aging issues, Medicare, Medicaid, communication skills, how to investigate residents’ complaints, the importance of confidentiality, and federal and state rules, regulations, and laws regarding Nebraska’s longterm care facilities and assisted living communities.

Before being assigned to a long-term care facility or an assisted living community, new volunteers will make four visits to a site with an experienced Ombudsman Advocate to learn more about what the program entails. After a three-month probationary period, the new volunteers are certified as Ombudsman Advocates. Certified Ombudsman Advocates will be assigned to a long-term care facility or an assisted living community where they’ll visit for two hours a week to meet with administrators, residents, and the residents’ family members to address concerns.

For more information about ENOA’s Long-term Care Ombudsman Program, please call Marsha Peters at 402444-6536.

Omaha Fire Department

The Omaha Fire Department’s Public Education and Affairs Department will install free smoke and/or carbon monoxide detectors inside the residences of area homeowners.

To have a free smoke and/or carbon monoxide detector installed inside your home, send your name, address, and telephone number to: Omaha Fire Department Smoke/ Carbon Monoxide Requests at 1516 Jackson St. Omaha, Neb. 68102.

For more information, please call 402-444-3560.

with AD or MCI would also receive a PET/ CT scan which is valuable to confirm the disorder and is not often covered by insurance. There are no costs to participants in the study and they will also receive compensation. To be eligible for the study, you must be at least 55 years old and have not had a stroke or been diagnosed with any neurological or psychological disorders (other than Alzheimer’s disease or mild cognitive impairment).

For more information about the study or to participate, please contact Cindy Beaumont at cindy.beaumont@boystown.org or by phone at 531-355-8945, or Grant Garrison at grant.garrison@boystown.org or by phone at 531-355-8929 or visit https:// diconlab.org/participate

1-833-422-1751