Age-Proof Your Mind: Detect, Delay, and Prevent Memory Loss – Before It’s Too Late
by Zaldy S. Tan M.D., M.P.H.
reviewed by Mike Tyrrel
After I’d finished reading Age Proof Your Mind, I kept forgetting to write its review — something I’d assigned myself months ago. Being 50ish, I occasionally find myself in a room trying to remember what I had come in there for; or sometimes when I try to call-up simple addition in my head, I stumble and become frustrated, recalling how easily I could do square roots in my head during my high school years.
Was I on my way to the big “A,” Alzheimer’s?
So I read this book selfishly, to research my condition, and to find out if the big “A” was down the road.
Dr. Tan (the author) is an expert in dementia and, thankfully, he writes so that anyone without a medical background can understand the issues. This is frequently accomplished through his use of analogies that help us grasp basic medical situations (without all the medical gobbledygook.)
The first quarter of the book describes the brain — in layman’s terms — and its functions. The next quarter documents the studies that nutrition plays in helping maintain our gray matter. Then we get some self-administered tests that alert us to potential problems down the road. Lastly, he gives us exercises that will keep our memories and other faculties functioning long into our advancing years.
Dr. Tan describes the six categories of brain-power and shows us how we lose about one percent of it every year. And at a certain age, generally 50, we realize something’s missing, and we begin to worry that we've lost some skill we once had during our more formative years (Significant side note: I work for a very-large Japanese company that relieves managers — in Japan — of direct management responsibilities at age 50. These ex-managers do advisory work, while younger people take over their areas.)
I’ve heard many people who’ve had heart surgery say that they “now know what they should have done before the problem became critical,” so I’m sold on Dr. Tan’s nutrition and exercises for the brain. I’ve experienced memory improvement thanks to his advice — but don’t ask my wife if she’s seen it!
It is my opinion that this book should be on multiple bestseller lists. I know I’m recommending it to everyone I know. And if you don’t read it, don’t blame me when you can’t find your keys or end up in an Alzheimer’s care facility. Do you care about your brain’s health? Don’t wait for some futuristic medical breakthrough that may never come. The prevention is here, now, in this book.
Why risk not recognizing your children, something I wish I could do today! Highly recommended reading for those who want to grow old gracefully ...and remember it.