Ways to Brain Tune Up


1) Eat Almonds

2) Drink Apple Juice

3) Sleep well

4) Enjoy simple Pleasures

5) Fast for a day

6) Exercise your mind

7) Practice Yoga or Meditation

8 ) Eat whole wheat

9) Develop imagination

10 ) Control your temper

6.Brain games don’t do any good for your brain’s computational or memorizational health. In a recent study, 11,430 volunteers aged 18 to 60 completed a series of online tasks for a minimum of 10 minutes a day, three times a week, for six weeks. Even though participants improved at the tasks, researchers believe that there wasn’t a boost in general memory and learning abilities. Want to get sharp in your downtime? Listen to more music: Stanford University researchers found that it helps me better organize chaos, pay attention, make predictions, and update memory

7.New research from the National Institute of Health showed that less than an hour of cellphone use can speed up brain activity in the area closest to the phone antenna. Although the verdict isn’t out yet on cell phone usage and cancer, many more studies reveal cellphone radiation to be linked with other disturbances, like sleep problems

8.A recent report found that those who meditated for about 30 minutes a day for eight weeks showed significant changes in my parts linked to memory, sense of self, empathy, and stress. Try silently repeating a calming word again and again to prevent distracting thoughts from inundating your brain, or focus on your breathing to be more in the moment

9.Amygdala and hippocampus (two parts linked to depression) light up when we hear laughter, as does the brain nucleus accumbens, which is a key player in pleasurable feelings. Chuckling reduces stress hormones and lowers blood pressure too, decreasing your chance of heart attack and stroke. In one 2012 study, researchers found an increase in oxytocin (also known as the “love hormone”, which enhances brain’s reward centers), when subjects listened to infant laughter

10.A study from Columbia University found that people have been relying more on the Internet, less on their brains. That means your brain is going to forget more things over time


 

Rare Diagnosis Saves Girl Thought to Have Brain Tumor


One day, 6-year-old Keira Vidikan developed a minor headache just before heading off to her ballet class in Dayton, Ohio. Less than two weeks later, she was in a coma at the Cleveland Clinic, nearly paralyzed and unable to speak.

"I think this was the darkest night we will ever have," said her mother, Michelle Vidikan.

After scanning Keira's brain, emergency room doctors suspected a glioma, an aggressive form of brain cancer. As Vidikan and her husband, Mario, waited out the night at the local hospital, their daughter was slowly dying.

But in the morning, after six hours of tests, there was a ray of hope. An MRI showed the mass was more vascular in nature, and Keira was referred to the Cleveland Clinic for an evaluation.

Keira was diagnosed with cavernoma, a rare form of a family of conditions known as arteriovenous malformations or AVMs. A cluster of extra blood vessels had formed on her brain stem and had hemorrhaged. It was not cancer.

In December, Keira was a breath away from death, but today, she has returned to school thanks to prompt attention from her parents, both optometrists, and surgeons at Cleveland Clinic.

"She is back to running, dancing, jumping, and skipped her way out of the clinic today," Vidikan told ABCNews.com today after Keira's latest follow-up visit.

About 300,000 Americans suffer from AVMs, which are defects of the circulatory system that are generally believed to arise during embryonic or fetal development or soon after birth, according to the Cleveland Clinic. Although they can develop anywhere in the body, those in the brain or spinal cord can have devastating effects on the body.

"She was pretty bad off," said her neurosurgeon, Dr. Peter Rasmussen, director of Cleveland Clinic's Cerebrovascular Center.

"No one really understands these cavernomas very well," he said. "A lot of them grow and stabilize at a small size. She also had an unusual subset that was progressively enlarging over time. She was four or five weeks into this, and hers was just growing and growing like an aggressive tumor."

Keira's condition only occurs at a rate of about 1 in 500,000 in the general population, according to Rasmussen.

"It's a lot more common in women in their early 40s," Rasmussen said. "It's relatively rare in children."

Usually, the patient is treated with steroids and observation, but Keira was "clearly deteriorating," he said.

The greatest danger, as in Keira's case, is bleeding, which happens only in about 2 to 4 percent of all AVMs. Without prompt treatment, she could have also suffered a stroke, according to Rasmussen.

Surgery is the only treatment, but that, too, can be risky.

"The brain stem sits right smack dab in the middle of your head, and you've got to get into that area," he said. "The brain stem is sort of like an octopus with arms and nerves that provide movement to the face, eyes, mouth and lips, so you have to be able to work in between the nerves to get in to the substance of the brain itself and move it and pull it out of there.

"She's absolutely a real fire plug and the clearly the darling of her parents," said Rasmussen, who was happily surprised with Keira's quick bounce-back. "She's an absolute gem."

Keira had been a healthy child, so when she first started complaining about a headache, her parents thought it was just nerves.

"She had never complained about one before and we blew it off," said her mother. "But the next day, she came home from school and complained about the same thing."

Brain images show complete removal of the lesion.

"She should be cured and neurologically recovered almost completely," Rasmussen said. "The last time I saw her she was dragging her right foot, but it wasn't even noticeable two weeks after surgery."

That, according to her mother after the latest visit, has disappeared.

"Literally within hours, she was regaining neurological function," she said. "It's amazing how quickly it was. We thought she would always have a limp and slow speech, and maybe not have use of her arm again. But Christmas Eve, hour by hour, she was moving her fingertips and moving her arm.

"My husband and I talk about the irony of it," said Vidikan. "We met in optometry school and in neuroanatomy lab evaluating brain slices. I never dreamt that 13 years later it would come to any use."

Improving Nurses Health: Brain Fog is a Legit Diagnosis!

How many times have you heard someone say, “I must have brain fog, I misplaced my cell phone or car keys”? Have you had ongoing symptoms of feeling hazy, spacey, difficulty processing information, unable to pay attention, cloudy thoughts, poor concentration, lack of energy, you just don’t feel quite yourself and our nurses health is gradually deteriorating? Your short term memory and long term memory seem affected?

These same symptoms can mirror other diagnosis such as depression, mental illness, severe stress and other serious illnesses. Also, these symptoms might be side effects due to medications. Always alert your physician about the changes you are noticing.

Ask your physician to perform tests for hormonal levels, thyroid function and blood pressure to rule out medical conditions. Also consider having a screen for food allergies (sugar, wheat, peanuts and dairy products). If you have not had a complete physical, consider having that done as well.

Some might ask if these emerging problems on nurses health is part of normal aging or brain fog? Often times, brain fog is overlooked. The great news is we can do something about it.

Brain Fog is described by the Sjogrens Syndrome Foundation as, “a lay term used to describe fluctuating memory loss that is inappropriate for a person’s age.”

The Sjogrens Syndrome Foundation recommends the following lifestyle changes. This includes but not limited to: 

 

■Minimize nursing burnout, stress and anxiety

 

■Get plenty of sleep of 8 to 10 hours

 

■Take breaks throughout the day

 

■Learn relaxation exercises and practice throughout the day

 

■Limit multi tasking and work on one task at a time

 

■Balance work and leisure. Develop a hobby if you don’t have one which can be something as simple as reading or learning to play golf

 

■Relieve nursing humor and let yourself laugh

 

■Talk about your feelings

 

■Set realistic expectations

 

■Plan ahead

 

■Reduce caffeine, alcohol and sugar

 

■Manage pain and joint pain

 

■Join the support group blog at the Sjogrens Syndrome Foundation

 

■Seek therapy or a local support group

 

■Exercise. Start by walking five minutes and gradually work your way up

 

■Boost your brain power by training your brain

 

Make use of brain games that are found in the local paper, online, book stores, the checkout line at the grocery store. These include, but are not limited to, cross word puzzles, word games, riddles, trivia and Math games.

Read a book or begin a nursing journal and write in it every day. Other examples of brain fitness games are scrabble and chess.

Other suggestions are listening to classical music. Some people also use Aroma Therapy. When you inhale rosemary, it may wake up your brain. Watch for scientific studies on this.

Innovative Cognitive Wellness Services such as Dynamic Senior Solutions out of Ohio provide services for all ages to deal with the different facets of brain fitness and wellness through assessments, scientifically developed programs, support systems, and innovative cognitive exercises.

Stress can only add to brain fog. There is good stress and bad stress and all of it is stressful. Other than the obvious stresses related to illness, family dynamics, loss of job or home, the one stress that is common to many of us is income.

Really examine the things that are causing you the most stress and see what changes you can implement to make this a more enjoyable year.

According to Albert Einstein, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, expecting different results.” So, start by making a Brain Power plan for your life changes, get educated about Brain Fog, create new habits and pay a visit to your doctor. This does not have to be a life long illness and nurses are literally in charge of reversing brain fog and improving nurses health.

~~~Brain Power Esercises~~~~

 

 

 

Here you have a number of exercises which you can use to get started right away.

 

1. Playing games and solving puzzles: Any activity that requires us to use the brain to find solutions to problems have been proven to be a great way of sparking creativity. This does not only mean classic games such as chess and sudoku puzzles but also video games that include puzzle solving.

 

Generally the rule appplies, the harder it is to find the solution, the more our brain will work to find it. This stimulates the creating of more neural connections in order to cope with the demand of processing complex information. There is such a huge variety of games consoles that have problem solving games that all you have to do is take your pick. Other than that you can stick to the traditional sudoku and crosswords.

 

2. Work at becoming ambidexterous: The reason for why we are right handed of left handed is simply comfort. During our childhood we started using only the one hand and since we would only use that hand, it was the hand we got better at handling things with. As we were better with it we would use it more often and so the cylce goes on and on. That people don't konw is that we can train to use the other hand just as well as the dominant had, and improve our brain power while we are at it. Next time you write, draw, brush your teeth, etc. use the other hand. Sure you won't become ambidexterous over night just as it takes some time to master a decent golf swing. But stick with it and you will notice how much effort the brain will put into achieving this unusual task. The secret is in always trying to learn something new all the time.

 

3. Go for variety: Why do you always order the same dish when you go out to a restaurant? People like routine. We feel comfortable doing things we know how to do, and tend to avoid new things or things we dont know. This creates stagnation in our brain however and to overcome this laziness of the mind we need to challenge it with variety. I am not saying you have to go and try grilled cockroaches right away, but I do encourage you to try that other dish on the menu that you never tried out.

 

4. Mind mapping: If you have a bit of a chaotic mind that jumbles thoughts and ideas, you might want to give mind mapping a go. Basically, all mind maps are is diagrams on which you connect a number of ideas between each other. It allows you to manage your ideas in a coherent manner. You can rearrange the concepts and ideas or even idea clusters to represent your thoughts more accurately. It also allows you to interrelate all the ideas and their subcategories.

 

It is possible to connect any number of ideas in a coherent manner and offering you the opportunity to go through with what you had thought of systematically and efficiently. Just as a means of an example, the organization of a birthday party can be mapped out into different parts of the event with logistics, invitations, food, entertainment etc. and the relation between them all.

 

Ultimately you want to keep doing new things and forcing the brain to learn on a constant basis. Challenging the brain on a consistently will make it improve.