Lesson 5 -Staying Mentally Alert

Brain power: The harder you use it - the more it grows

If you ask men and women what their primary goal is when they get older, almost without fail, their answer is, "I want to remain mentally alert". Physical, social, or economic power is pretty useless without intact mental facilities.

One of the most common myths about aging is that age inevitably brings a rapid loss of brain power. This fear of age-related loss is often unnecessarily exaggerated. In fact, probably the worst aspect of memory loss is the fear of it. We forget a name or where we put the car keys (things we did as a teenager also) and we immediately think: "Is this an early sign of dementia? Am I getting Alzheimer’s disease?" Probably not. Current estimates are that only 10% of people of all elderly people, ages 65 to one hundred or more, will get Alzheimer’s.

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