Is your memory as good as you’d like it to be? If not do you know what you can do to improve that? Maybe you have a family member, mother, father, sister or brother whose memory is slipping. In this Newsletter I want to share with you, what appear to me to be the surest paths to a better memory. Obviously I can’t explain the whole process in much depth in this one article, but I will attempt to share the essence of what the latest research suggests.
It’s important to remember that there are two basic processes for improving memory. The first are what we call strategies. These are techniques, or methods to get the most out of our natural or organic brain and memory, i.e. the brain that we have grown – minus whatever cells we may have lost. The second, then is by improving the health and function of the organic brain. And as I noted last month there is a new approach out, that I was recently trained in, that is producing amazing results even in individuals with major memory issues due to ailments like Alzheimer’s. This is the cover story in the December issue of Discover magazine. You can read more about this new protocol and the remarkable results they are having by clicking here on Discovermagazine.com. I will also share a bit of this approach below. But first…
Memory Strategies
Memory strategies or techniques, are called mnemonics – which comes from a Greek word meaning “to remember.” These involve strategies, or what some might call “tricks,” to organize and store information in such as way as to make it easier to recall. Some such strategies include rhyming, acronyms, or icons, linking concepts, or objects that represent concepts, or associating new information with easier to remember info, and visualizing items together in familiar settings, or places. This is called the Loci system. So if you want to remember the name of a person you just met, you could picture or visually link or associate that person in your mind, with someone else you know who has that name. And it may help to visualize them doing something together in a familiar location where you might see this person again.
There are different acronyms that have been developed to remember different steps or principles for creating memorable images. One is AIR for Attention, Interest, Repetition. If you want to remember something new you’ve got to pay attention, show some extra interest in it, and then go over it, or repeat it periodically in your mind. My favorite is the ARECORD acronym. This stands for Attention, Relate (or associate this new information with something or someone you already know well.) Envision, or visualize this relationship. Make your images or reminders Concrete – something you can easily visualize, like a picture of a heart to represent love. Organize the information, in some way that would make it easier to recall. Two basic ways to organize are, sequentially, linked things together, or visualizing them together in the same location. The R stands for Rehearse or repeat the information, and D stands for Deliver, or share the information with others. This will help reinforce that info in your own mind.
However, if the natural or organic structures or processes of the brain are not healthy and functioning well, it will be more difficult to employ the above noted strategies. This will make it harder to recall difficult words, names, procedures, appointments, or conversations. So how do we go about improving that organic brain function?
Steps to Improve Organic Brain Health
Step 1 The research is quite clear, and you’ve heard me say this before, that one of the fastest way to improve organic memory, or brain health, is through improved nutrition. (This assumes you know how to relax and are sleeping well, etc., but nutritional modification is also one of the easiest ways to facilitate relaxation and sleep as well.) Fortunately, there are numerous formulations now available that might help. For those with minor issues, and perhaps not the best circulation, something as simple as Green tea, Ginkgo Biloba, Vinpocetin, or spearmint tea, may provide the mental boost they need.
But unfortunately there are at least a dozen things at the cellular level, which if lacking will result in sub-par memory. For example, we may be lacking the basic building block of memory, choline, required to form acetylcholine, the chemical transmitter of memories. Choline is found in egg yolk, peanuts, poultry, and fish. However, sometimes these have a hard time crossing the blood brain barrier into the brain. So for an extra boost the supplements GPC-choline and Citicoline have been shown to help. Other supplements aid this production as well, such as the amino acid Carnitine, and the B-vitamins 6, 9 & 12.
However, not only does the brain need these materials to make the requisite messengers, but our neuro receptor sites, and the dendrites and axons that connect cells also need to be healthy to receive these messengers, as well as the microtubules within these connecting branches, that transport these messengers from one cell to another. These all require healthy lipids or fats like DHA, from fish and fish oils, some seeds, soybeans, walnuts and grass fed animals, and PS (phosphatidylserine), made from DHA, lecithin, etc, as well as cholesterol. You may have been told cholesterol is bad, but it’s also thought to be the “glue” that holds brain cells together. These microtubules also require folic acid or folate from foliage, such as vegetables, nuts and seeds, to maintain their integrity and function.
And our brain cells need an abundance of antioxidants like Vitamins C and E, and the protein cysteine, to protect these cells from oxidation and deterioration.
However, often times, especially as we age, we don’t eat enough of these host foods, like fish, nuts, seeds and vegetables. Fortunately there are now many different supplements that contain these. Memoryze which I’ve mentioned here before, has therefore been shown to help many people with memory issues. But it’s not the only one if you go to Amazon and enter “memory formulas” you’ll find a plethora, simply because such formulations containing the above noted nutrients, have been shown to help.
When Brain Boosting Supplements Don’t Help
But what if you have tried one or more of these formulations and they didn’t help. What does that mean? Well it means one of two things, if your memory is definitely not what it used to be, and you took a memory supplement as directed for 2 months or more, but nothing got better, then either that did not contain the specific nutrients you are lacking, and you need to continue experimenting, or there is something else going on in your body and brain that will require some attention and fixing first.
Step 2 Identify Underlying Causes. If a good basic broad spectrum supplement, like Memoryze, does not help then as Dr. Bredesen and other experts note, you likely need to do some digging to identify the underlying cause of your decline. Why is your/their memory not as good as it once was? And don’t cop out of this scrutiny by chalking it up to old age. Old age alone does not cause memory loss. All of us know of people in their 90’s who still have good memories, often better than others who are in their 50’s. So it’s always going to be something other than just age that’s causing this decline or memory loss. And unfortunately there are more than 60 possibilities.
Medications can often be a major contributing factor. Recently I did an evaluation on a women in her mid 70’s with memory and bladder issues. When I reviewed her meds I found she was taking a medication for bladder control that inhibits acetylcholine – that basic building block of memories. Statins are another common offender. Most seniors are on a statin and all statins suppress CoQ10 which is essential to produce the mental energy we need to think, reason and remember, for some this is a bigger problem than for others.
John’s Hopkins medical Center has identified more than 200 such medications, including antacids, pain relievers, asthma meds, antibiotics, some heart and blood pressure medications, anti-epileptic drugs, allergy meds, estrogens or birth control pills, anti-Parkinson’s drugs, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories (NSAIDS), corticosteroids, antidepressants, anxiety meds, sleep meds, and some antidiabetic drugs, as well as prolonged anesthesia. Some, like antidepressants and alcohol, simply deplete the body of vitamins and other nutrients essential to brain health and memory, while others like anticholinergic meds directly inhibit memory making mechanisms.
Additionally there are environmental toxins like molds, solvents, tics, auto exhaust and insecticides, that can damage the brain, and of course head injuries, hearing difficulties, excessive stress, lack of sleep, lack of hormonal support, thyroid issues, vascular issues, a poor diet and sedentary lifestyle can all adversely affect the brain. And until the relevant issues are addressed it’s going to be hard to improve organic memory.
So it’s important to try to do some investigating, maybe some testing and experimenting to get a better idea as to what your particular brain needs to succeed, optimally. Perhaps you need to grow some new brain cells or extensions, but even that is now possible, with some of the new combinations.
To aid in this process I have prepared a questionnaire containing 70 risk factors for cognitive decline. If you’d like a copy simply email me and I’ll send it to you.
If you’d like to learn more about the ARECORD memory system and techniques, or the principles and requirements for improving organic memory, along with a list of medications and other things to avoid, as well as helpful things to eat and do, I would invite you to email me your request, and for a measly $10 I would be glad to send you a copy of our very encouraging and insightful 130 page User’s Guide for How To Maintain A Healthy Brain & Escape the Epidemic of Alzheimer’s. This will be sent as a pdf that you can download and print off, or electronically forward to any family member or friends who may be in need of this information.
I have no copyright restrictions. I would just like this information to get out there, with some modest compensation for my time and efforts to keep this blog alive.
And if you have tried different things, but now you’d like to do a deeper dive into the roots of your or a loved one’s issues, but you are not sure how to start or what to do next, feel free to contact me by email David@abcbrain.org or phone 801-529-8238 and I will share some new resources and tests, or link you to Dr. Bredesen’s amazing array of resources that can help you get to the roots of these issues, and enable you or your loved ones to finally achieve the improvements in memory and mood that you desire!
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Prevention Strategies 
