Without the brain we are nothing. An adult is reduced to a bed-ridden infant in a moment after suffering a stroke. A bedridden athlete can lose 50% of their muscle mass in a week. Because we can’t measure depression, we often don’t believe it is there.The longer a brain suffers from anxiety, the more the anxiety damages the brain and the more likely that the brain becomes permanently anxious.
On the other hand, we now know that the brain is plastic and elastic. If an adult has a stroke, they will rebuild the damaged brain tissue. If we are depressed, studies show that brain tissue is damaged, however if we need to take anti-depressants, other studies show that this will stimulate new brain tissue.
We can take this concept of the brain’s plasticity further. We are able not just to heal from brain traumas, but we can actually maximize our brain health for optimal brain performance.
At the IHASA we have questionnaires for brain health, do blood tests for brain hormones and offer brainwave measurements via Neuro-feedback. This will give a comprehensive picture and show how stress is affecting our lives, our hormones and our brainwaves.
Correcting the hormones will provide protection to the brain from the stresses of life. Neuro-feedback will give us brain-training exercises to re-direct our brains back to healthy brain patterns. Stress hormones have been shown to damage our DNA and accelerate amongst other things our hair going grey. Mindfulness and brain calming exercises have been shown to prevent DNA damage.
If we want to take longevity seriously and let go of the negativities of life, then we need to spend time looking after the brain
