When he’s not on CNN to provide updates on the coronavirus, Sanjay Gupta is in his day job as a neurosurgeon. “I’ve had a long-term love affair with the brain,” he said.
“You’re a brain surgeon – what’s it like holding it in your hands?” CBS News chief medical correspondent Dr. Jon LaPook.
“The first time I ever operated on the brain, you know, almost 30 years ago now, it was a mystical experience,” replied Dr. Gupta. “You can’t believe those three and a half pounds is everything to us – all our pain, all our joy, all our memories, all our learning, everything.”
And in his spare time, Dr. Gupta wrote a book about the brain, “Keep Sharp” – specifically, how to keep it in shape. [The book is published by Simon & Schuster, a part of ViacomCBS.]
Simon & Schuster
For Dr. Gupta is it personal: “In many ways this story started when my grandfather got Alzheimer’s disease. I saw that as a teenage boy and, you know, it really stayed with me. This has probably been a lifetime journey to try and understand how I can prevent this from happening to me and anyone else. “
More than five million Americans have Alzheimer’s, the most common cause of dementia.
Dr. LaPook said, “One of the biggest fears my patients have is developing dementia. They’ll come in and say, ‘You know what? I couldn’t think of anyone’s name. I know them so well. Lost in the middle of a sentence. my train of thought. “So, how can people tell the difference between changes associated with normal aging and the onset of dementia?”
“This is a # 1 topic of conversation in our home,” said Dr. Gupta. ‘It used to be because my parents always asked me this question. And now my wife and I always ask each other this question: ‘Am I starting to become more forgetful? ‘
“When it comes to finding out if something is just a normal kind of amnesia or abnormal, people lose keys all the time. It gets more abnormal when you don’t know exactly what those keys are for.”
It turns out that the changes in the brain that lead to Alzheimer’s start decades before symptoms appear.
“There is a suggestion, right, that even if you are destined to develop Alzheimer’s in the future, if your blood vessels in your brain are wide open, if you do everything you can to keep the heart healthy, it will actually shut down. , it can even slow it down? ”asked Dr. LaPook.
“I think there is no doubt now that we can say – and I don’t think we could have said this five, ten years ago – but there are things we can do with lifestyle changes that absolutely can reduce the progression of dementia. slow down, and even reverse. “
Dr. Gupta said the key is to do activities that create “cognitive reserves” in the brain – areas of new nerve growth and wiring that can accommodate the slack when needed.
So let’s get into it. What is the recipe for fighting dementia without a panacea on the horizon?
Let’s start practicing. Put it this way: what’s good for the heart is good for the brain.
CBS News
Dr. Gupta said, “When you move, it’s almost like giving to the body and brain,” I want to be here. I am not ready to go! What the brain specifically releases [are] these things called neurotrophins; these good chemicals, as it were, feed the brain. “
“In the United States, many of us go 100 miles per hour, but so many of us do it while sitting and not moving,” said Dr. LaPook.
‘You know, people keep saying that’ sitting is the new smoking ‘. Every time you sit down, say, “I will need “And then just try to exercise moderately throughout the day. It’s so effective in terms of what it does to the brain and what we can measure it does to the brain.”
“And there are simple habits you can do – take the stairs instead of the elevator, for example.”
“It takes months, years to change the heart,” said Dr. Gupta. “The brain can change like this Which. ”
What about the diet? You’ve heard that before: Eat less red meat, less processed foods, more fruits and vegetables – especially, says Dr. Gupta, one kind of fruit: “They always say, Jon, ‘Apple a day keeps the doctor away.’ think when it comes to the brain, it’s berries. Berries, in terms of what they can do for the brain and some of these particular chemicals they release, will probably be one of your best foods. “
Berries? “Just about any berry … Dive in berries!”
How about working directly on your thinking skills? Crossword puzzles? Video games? What works if something is wrong?
Dr. Gupta said, “I have nothing against crosswords and even video games and brain training games and things like that. I think they can be great. We do crosswords, you play the piano, you do it over and over again. And practice makes perfect. That’s absolutely true, but it is change that provides resilience. You need the change.
So I wouldn’t just do crossword puzzles. The way I think about it is that if you can somehow get out of your comfort zone every day, you’re probably using different real estate in the brain that you don’t. Use often Do something that scares you every day Whatever the metaphor, whatever works, just do something different. Learning a new skill. I remember talking to these neuroscientists who said, “Eat dinner with your left hand tonight if you’re right-handed.” ”
Getting a good night’s sleep is another way to stay focused. There are so-called “garbage collection cells” that help remove toxins from the brain. And while you sleep, memories of the day are processed.
Dr. LaPook said, “Our understanding of the importance of sleep has really changed over the years. It’s not just a matter of getting our batteries charged, right?”
“Sleep is such a sophisticated activity that we spend a third of our lives on it,” replied Dr. Gupta. “The brain is a remarkably complicated organ. When you go to sleep at night, it takes the experiences you have had throughout the day and consolidates them in the memory. Why do we even have experiences when we are not going to do the things that need to be done? remember them, right? We learn that the brain constantly goes through this ‘flushing cycle’ at night. “
For one of the best ways to fight dementia, look no further than your friends and family.
“We know that social interaction is so crucial,” said Dr. Gupta. “We are social creatures. We know that there are certain neurochemicals that are released when we actually touch someone and look straight in the eye.
“Overall, the best thing you could do, in terms of putting everything together for brain health, is take a brisk walk with a good friend and talk about your problems.”
Why? “With the brisk walk you get the movement in. You do it with a friend: you get the social connection in. It will be something beautiful for the relationship, but also for the brain.”
The coronavirus, of course, means it’s a bit difficult to see friends up close and in person at the moment. But as Americans begin to get vaccinated against COVID, the time is approaching when we can get past the pandemic.
Dr. LaPook asked, “What people want to know is, when will we return, if not normal, to normal? What do you think?”
“I think we’re going to get back to normal a lot sooner than people realize, and I think maybe it will be mid-spring, it will start to feel a lot more normal,” said Dr. Gupta. “Things will start to open up. People will be out and about more.
‘I have three teenage girls. I think they will go back to school next fall. I could be wrong, but it seems to be the case. ‘
So, while we look forward to coming out of our isolation, here’s a New Year’s resolution for you: Think about doing something for your brain.
“Empathy and kindness, compassion — they do a lot for everyone’s brain, don’t they?” asked Dr. LaPook.
“They are the ultimate kind of brain nutrition,” replied Dr. Gupta. “Every sight you see, every sound you hear, everything you touch, feel, whatever it is, taste – and then the feelings, the experiences you have through empathy, through these connections with people – all also feed the brain It’s really good for the brain.
“That’s why we live.”
For more information:
Story produced by Alan Golds. Editor: Ed Givnish.