{"id":3684,"date":"2014-10-10T12:26:46","date_gmt":"2014-10-10T18:26:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.keloland.com\/lund\/?p=3684"},"modified":"2023-07-20T21:00:03","modified_gmt":"2023-07-20T21:00:03","slug":"ill-never-forget-ol-whats-her-name","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jodystaples.com\/main\/ill-never-forget-ol-whats-her-name\/","title":{"rendered":"I’ll Never Forget Ol What’s Her Name"},"content":{"rendered":"

I had quite a scare the other day.<\/p>\n

After waking up from, what has become my regular afternoon siesta, I couldn\u2019t remember the president\u2019s first name.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know why I wanted to remember the president\u2019s first name but apparently I did and \u00a0couldn\u2019t.\u00a0 (Please don\u2019t read anything political into this.) Obama was no problem. I also had no trouble recalling the name of Obama\u2019s wife, Michelle, but..what the hell?? This is the President of the United States and I\u2019m drawing a blank.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve had these..what I call brain farts..before. I\u2019ve gone into rooms on a mission only to completely forget what that mission is once I get there. I\u2019ve had to call my own cell phone more times than I can count in order to hear the ring and disclose its location. I go to the store and forget one or more of the main items I went to the store for in the first place. I think these are pretty common episodes in most people\u2019s lives no matter how far advanced in age they are.<\/p>\n

But this was a doozy for me because it lasted for several minutes; almost to the point of where I was going to check Google on the computer under U.S. Presidents. \u00a0\u00a0Then, as mysteriously as the name \u201cBarack\u201d left my mind, it popped back in.<\/p>\n

The incident upset me so much that I started wondering if this was an early warning sign of Alzheimer\u2019s which claimed my cousin Bob\u2019s life last spring. \u00a0So, back to Google. Turns out, It could be\u2026but most likely, according to a recent report on National Public Radio, \u00a0it\u2019s nothing to be terribly concerned about.\u00a0 If you start forgetting the names of close friends and family members or get lost in familiar places or words that used to be important no longer have meaning..well, then get yourself checked post haste.<\/p>\n

\"I<\/a>

I think (hope) this couple is just kidding around.<\/p><\/div>\n

Dr. Kirk Daffner, a Harvard Brain Specialist, says What’s common as people age, is that the speed at which information can be retrieved on demand is slowed. Through much of our lives, it was this wonderful gift; we wanted information and bang, it came to us.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 He says there are lots of reasons why our brains get sluggish.\u00a0 High blood pressure damages the wiring that connects different parts of the brain. Poor sleep or excess alcohol are enemies of a nimble brain. And many medicines \u2014 including common drugs to reduce stomach acid, control asthma or treat depression \u2014 can slow the brain down. Hmmm, I take meds for high blood pressure, have goofy sleep habits and have been on Prozac for many years.\u00a0 Strike one, two and three right? Well..not necessarily.\u00a0 It turns out you can reduce the risk of losing your marbles by keeping the old brain ACTIVE and CHALLENGED.<\/p>\n

So now, I can consider those hours spent in the porcelain reading room doing crosswords as a healthy time of both physical AND mental multi-tasking. Research has also found that social networks (having lots of friends) and stimulating activities are also vital to good cognitive function.\u00a0\u00a0 I have that covered; 825 friends on Facebook where I spend so much of my time. It\u2019s\u00a0 not a waste of time, It\u2019s brain therapy.\u00a0 \u00a0And for stimulating activities..what can be more stimulating than watching the Minnesota Vikings or \u201cBlue Bloods\u201d \u201cHell on Wheels\u201d \u201cDownton Abbey\u201dor any one of a hundred favorite television programs?\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u201cI\u2019ve gotta watch TV, honey. Doctor\u2019s orders.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is one other thing people can do,\u201d Dr Daffner says, \u201cphysical exercise.\u201d “Some of the best converging data about successful memory or cognition is linked to exercise.”<\/p>\n

Damn. I was almost in the clear.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I had quite a scare the other day. After waking up from, what has become my regular afternoon siesta, I couldn\u2019t remember the president\u2019s first name.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know why I wanted to remember the president\u2019s first name but apparently I did and \u00a0couldn\u2019t.\u00a0 (Please don\u2019t read anything political into this.) Obama was no problem.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[60],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jodystaples.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3684"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jodystaples.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jodystaples.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jodystaples.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jodystaples.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3684"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.jodystaples.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3684\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11593,"href":"https:\/\/www.jodystaples.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3684\/revisions\/11593"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jodystaples.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3684"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jodystaples.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3684"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jodystaples.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3684"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}