How to Rescue Your Memory

Ever misplace your phone? Yes. Forget someone’s name, yes, or struggle to find the right words. Of course you have. It happens to all of us, but if you find it happening more and more, it may predict trouble, especially if your memory is worse than it was 10 years ago. People who complain about memory loss have an 80% chance it will get worse unless they do something about it. Memory makes us who we are. It allows us to keep our loved ones close even when they’re far away. Memory is the treasure chest that holds our most precious moments. From your first kiss to the births of your babies and grand babies. A healthy memory is imperative for success at work and in relationships. Just forget your anniversary one time and see what happens. Memory is also essential for staying independent. I love my four children, but honestly, I never want to have to end up living with them. I never wanna be a burden and I don’t want them telling me what to eat, what to wear, or trying to take my driver’s license away from me. If you value your independence, pay attention. Memory Rescue is based on one very simple idea to strengthen your memory or get it back if you think it’s headed for trouble. You have to prevent or treat the 11 major risk factors that destroy your brain. And the good news is that almost all of them are either preventable or treatable. Of course, not everyone can prevent memory loss, but there are so many things you can to help your brain. I believe it’s critical for you to have this information. In talking about memory, it’s important to learn about a special part of your brain called the hippocampus, which is Greek for seahorse because it’s shaped like one. In fact, you have two of them. Throughout this show, I’ll refer to them as Scarlet and Sam, the Seahorse Twins. They’re involved with learning memory and your mood, and they’re one of the first areas of the brain that die in Alzheimer’s disease. But did you know that your hippocampus makes up to 700 new cells every day, which I think of as baby seahorses. And there are specific things you can do to help them survive and thrive, such as taking fish oil or listening to the right type of music, which we’ll Discuss. And there are things you can do to hurt them, such as drinking fruit juice because it’s concentrated sugar. The lessons in memory rescue come from the brain. SPECT imaging work we do at Amen Clinics. SPECT measures blood flow and activity. It looks at how your brain works. Over the past three decades, we’ve performed more than 135,000 scans on patients from 111 countries. Here is a healthy scan showing full even symmetrical activity compared to someone with Alzheimer’s disease. The holes indicate areas of very low blood flow. One of the most frightening lessons we’ve learned from SPECT is that these negative changes happen in the brain years before you notice any trouble. Scarlet and Sam literally start dying long before you can’t find your way home. But the exciting news is that you can do something about it. Your brain’s history is not your destiny. You can make your brain better, which is a message that is deeply personal to me.