Mental discipline versus dementia

[budgiefan]

First of all, at least for the purposes of this post, can we catagorize things like Nerve Force and Chi Power under the heading of Mental Discipline.

I'm wondering if there is any scientific evidence, or even scientific belief, that developing one's mental discipline can help prevent or delay the onset of dementia. Does anyone out there know anything about this, or have a strong belief?

I know they say that staying "mentally active" is supposed to be helpful - things like reading, crosswords, soduku, etc. but I'm wondering if mental activity of a more, for lack of a better word, spiritual nature can be helpful.

[Alan_OldStudent]

Hi Budgiefan

.......I'm wondering if there is any scientific evidence, or even scientific belief, that developing one's mental discipline can help prevent or delay the onset of dementia. Does anyone out there know anything about this, or have a strong belief?....


There does seem to be correlation between mitigation of various types of dementia and a lifestyle that includes mental, social, and physical stimulation.

Does that healthy lifestyle help prevent or delay dementia? Likely, but there does not seem to be absolutely compelling scientific evidence that I know of.

Here is an article callled Dementia Prevention: Brain Exercise (http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=23705) that I found on MedicineNet.com that summarizes some academic findings. WebMD, a very good site, has this section called Living With Alzheimer's (http://www.webmd.com/alzheimers/living-with-08/). It has lots of links to useful information of benefit to both the sufferer of Alzheimer's, the caretakers, and those wishing to learn more about this terribly tragic disease.

Being a senior citizen, I am very concerned about this, and I feel deep within me that the type of exercise advocated here helps keep me sharp, along with having a loving wife, my cat, and other human friends.

.......I know they say that staying "mentally active" is supposed to be helpful - things like reading, crosswords, soduku, etc. but I'm wondering if mental activity of a more, for lack of a better word, spiritual nature can be helpful.

I wonder about that too. I regard our dynamic-tension approach to exercise to be a form of meditation in that we attempt to focus on the muscles involved and gently bring our mind back when something else intrudes into our thought process. So one could say concentrating on the brain-muscle connection takes the place of a mantra.

Regards,

Alan

[Kevin Nickerson]

My mom is 73 she has a lifelong habit of reading,working with numbers(She works at a car rental company)where she takes care of the finances so although she shows age in her body her mind is very active.My uncle on the other hand suffers from alshiimers(I know I did not spell it right)He retired and quit doing everything he is 71 but thinks he is 65.There mother my grandmother had alshiemers so it in the family history.So does it mean that a person wont get this disease from staying mentally active I don't know I've just observed the difference in a person who stays active and one who did not,again it is just my observation and not scientific proof and that my uncle started to decline w2hen he stopped doing everything accept watch TV(nothing against watching TV)Kevin

[Andy62]

In an interview at the Shaolin Temple during the recent Olympics in China the current head of the Shaolin Temple said. "Kung Fu tensing exercises are moving meditation." Kung Fu Tensing Exercises are DVR/VRT exercises. All of the mind based internal projection exercises DVR/VRT, Isometrics and Isometric Tensing Exercises are a form of meditaion. Since they build strength from the inside out they have to be superior to other types of exercises who are externally based.