The Secrets of Staying Sharp

Did you miss our recent Teletown Hall on “The Secrets of Staying Sharp?” More than 12,000 AARP members in Washington state joined in on the call with leading neuroscientists, Doctors Marilyn Albert and Guy McKhann from the John Hopkins University School of Medicine. Now’s your chance to listen in by downloading our free podcast.

Learn the four simple factors for brain health that research tells us we can undertake now, regardless of our age, to reduce the risk of age-related diseases – and to optimize our chances for maintaining our cognitive abilities.

Here’s just a taste of what you’ll learn:

1) Mental activity means exercising your brain, learning new things and pursuing intellectually stimulating activities. The activities should be enjoyable and interesting.

2) Physical activity is as important as mental activity. People need to start moving. Aim for 15 minutes a day and increase incrementally. Find an activity you like and be consistent.

3) Social engagement means getting involved such as volunteering, clubs and faith-based organizations, maintaining friendships or even animal companionship.

4) Vascular health and stress management means not smoking, controlling weight and diet, monitoring your blood pressure and cholesterol, exercise and the wise use of medications.

The evidence suggests that if you do more than one of these things in combination, your protection increases. So if you’re both mentally and physically active, or you do three or four of these things, it decreases your risk of mental decline even more.

Find out more downloading our free podcast.

The Staying Sharp teletown hall on brain health was sponsored by AARP, the AARP Foundation, NRTA: AARP’s Educator Community, and the Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives.

For more information on staying sharp, visit the Dana Alliance for Brian Initiatives, AARP  or the National Retired Teachers Association.