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WHAT’S VERNON SMITH been doing since he won the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics at age 75, and why should you care?
At 97, Smith is still on the faculty of the business and law schools at Chapman University. When he’s not traveling the country delivering lectures, he usually spends 10 hours a week writing and researching.
I read about Smith in a recent article in the AARP Bulletin devoted to super-agers, defined as those over age 80 with the brain of a person 20 to 30 years younger. A group of 1,600 over 90-year-olds are being studied at the University of California, Irvine, to better understand this phenomenon.
While the study’s findings will undoubtedly be informative, here are eight things that the AARP article and other sources say you can do right now to increase your odds of a healthy brain for as long as possible.
While we’re talking about super-agers, there’s Ruth Westheimer, the sex therapist known as Dr. Ruth, who is now age 95. She’s quoted in the AARP article saying that, in addition to physical exercise, she uses her mouth a lot—and that helps to exercise her brain.
In addition to just exercising, search out exercises that help address issues you may face. Go beyond the two main areas of focus – cardio/aerobic and weights. If you have a bad back, stretching, back arching, and doing “planks” will help. If you have balance issues, there are a number of exercises that will help you become better at basic things like putting on a pair of pants, or stepping over obstacles. All of these can really help maintain “quality of life” for a longer period of time.
“The Washington Post reported on a study published in The Lancet that encourages the use of hearing aids, which can reduce the risk of cognitive decline by 48% for those with other risk factors.”
But yet Medicare refuses to pay for hearing aids, instead choosing to pay an exorbitant amount of money to treat dementia!
“Get enough sleep. But don’t rely on prescription medicine. A study found that sleep drugs increase the risk of dementia.”
As is often typical, it’s a bit more complicated than that. Here a recent study of studies on the use of taking Trazodone off-label as a sleep hypnotic concluded, in part, the following:
“Nevertheless, 12 of 16 clinical studies demonstrated a neutral or even a beneficial effect on cognition. This indicates that trazodone has no long-term detrimental effect on cognitive function, thus suggesting that despite being FDA-approved only for the treatment of depression [3], trazodone can be safely used in the treatment of comorbid conditions of patients with dementia, such as insomnia, agitation, and other behavioural symptoms.”
source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8182348/
So yes, getting enough good sleep is essential to maintaining health but if you must take a sleep aid, as many do, then know that it isn’t necessarily a ticket to dementia.
I took a low dose of trazodone for five years (first half of my 40s) to combat insomnia, prescribed by my primary care doctor.
Trazodone is one of the safer sleep aids, typically non-habit forming with typically minimal side effects. Really sort of amazing considering it wasn’t developed with the intention of being a sleep aid. The fact that you took it for so long at a low dose( I’m guessing 50mg at bedtime?) is a good example of its effectiveness. If you don’t mind my asking, what did you do to no longer require it’s services, CBT-I or ?
Thanks everyone for your kind words. Happy New Year!
Sonja, Good article and great advice. My wife and I have been discoing most of these in conjunction with our own aging, and that of friends and family. We have some friends and family with hearing issues, and it can be very isolating. If they can’t participate they tend to zone out.
The link between eyesight and dementia was new to me. Happy New Year.
Rick, it would probably be good for you both to lift some weight in addition to the discoing. 😉
LOL Michael. If you knew me, you would know I am about the last person to be discoing! I’m much more comfortable throwing around some weights. I’m really enjoying my adjustable dumbbells (and no jokes about who is the dumbbell).
LOL Michael. But seriously we should dance more. When dancing you use all your body’s muscles. Are we afraid of looking foolish or perhaps some think it too frivolous? It’s so joyful. Good for body and soul!
Yes! Dancing is wonderful. I only wish we had more of a chance to go to a dance venue.
Great piece, thanks very much Sonja. My dad and grandfather had late onset dementia in their 70s when they passed. I did ‘23 and me’ recently which showed I have one copy of the APOE4 gene. Two would be a huge headwind, but one is easier to deal with thru healthy habits.
Demanding exercise absolutely — https://www.foundmyfitness.com/episodes/how-vigorous-exercise-improves-cognition-longevity
Sonja, great advice in your article. As for exercise for us old folks, one of my favorite lines was from the great Betty White, who lived to be almost 100 and was sharp as a tack till the end.
An interviewer asked, “Betty, you’re so active and so fit—how do you do it? Do you go to the gym or have a personal trainer or….?” “Oh, nothing like that, dear,” she replied. “But I have a two story house and a terrible memory!”
Have missed your articles, Sonja.
We all age at a different pace. Dr. Ruth is a good example of someone who is positive and has a lot of chutzpah—it’s kept her going.
There are so many good examples of older people who defy ageism..discrimination against older people because of negative and inaccurate stereotypes—and it’s so ingrained in our culture.
Hi Marjorie, I really enjoy your articles.
At 80;if someone tells me I’m acting childish, is that a good thing? 😃
Absolutely!
Heck yes!
It does have a negative connotation. It simply means that You are acting badly, in a way that would be expected of a child.
But now who could possibly think that of you, Dick?☺️
That’s an interesting point. My mom is 83, and while she’s never been especially easy to get along with, my siblings and I have noted over the past couple of years that she seems to have removed any filters she had, just saying/doing whatever she wants to without regard for how hurtful or offensive it might be. We have compared it to emotional regression (or, to put it another way, acting like a child). It’s been an interesting challenge. You don’t want to fight with someone who’s 83, and they’re not likely to change, so do you put up with it, distance yourself, or…?
I read that AARP article and found it very interesting. As for your final paragraph…. Hilarious!