HOUSTON – We get caught in our routines and our brain gets used to doing things a certain way. So, it’s important to change it!
Taking time to think about daily activities is one dementia prevention strategy, according to The Amazing Place. The latest stats show 1 in 9 people are destined for dementia by 65 years old and older.
The Amazing Place offers a day program, family support, and resources.
Maintaining healthy sleep, diet, managing stress, and brain exercises are among the pillars of good brain health.
“Simple things like changing your everyday routines: the way you drive to work, just change it up once a week. Moving your watch from one wrist to the other once a week. When you brush your teeth, if you’re right-handed and you’re using your right hand, change it up once a week and use your left hand. That’s exercising your brain. These are very, very simple things that people can do in their everyday lives, they don’t even have to download any games online to do it but really, it’s very, very effective,” said Mehrnaz Gill, clinical training manager at The Amazing Place.
Examples of mind games:
- Change the hand you wear your watch
- Brush your teeth with your non-dominant hand
- Drive a different route home
- Mind games (puzzles, crosswords, etc)
“There are all kinds of apps you can use, and there’s a lot of good apps out there for brain exercises. What I would tell people is to always look at the research behind these apps because some of them are research-based or based on longitudinal studies, they’re done by universities, and those are the ones that I would focus on if I’m going to download something and use it because they figured out how to use both sides of the brain so that’s really important,” Gill said.
The best age to start exercising your mind is in your 40s and 50s; approximately 20 years before the typical onset of Alzheimer’s and dementia.