When he is not on CNN giving updates on the coronavirus, Sanjay Gupta is on his day job as a neurosurgeon. “I had a long-standing love affair with the brain,” he said.
“You are a neurosurgeon – what is it like to hold you in your hands?” asked CBS News chief medical correspondent Dr. Jon LaPook.
“The first time I operated on the brain, you know, about 30 years ago, it was a mystical experience,” replied Dr. Gupta. “You can’t believe that three and a half pounds are everything to us – all of our pain, all of our joy, all of our memories, all of 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, it’s personal: “In many ways, this story started when my grandfather developed Alzheimer’s. I saw it when I was a teenager and, you know, it really stuck with me. This was probably a lifelong journey to try and understand how I could 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 come in and say, ‘You know what? I couldn’t think of anyone’s name. I know them so well. I was in the middle of a I lost my train of thought. ‘So how can people know the difference between the changes that come with normal aging and the onset of dementia? “
“This is the topic of conversation # 1 in our home,” said Dr. Gupta. “It used to be because my parents always asked me that question. And now my wife and I are always asking ourselves, ‘Am I starting to get more forgetful?’
“When it comes to finding out if something is just a normal type of memory loss versus abnormal: people lose keys all the time. It becomes more abnormal when you don’t remember exactly what those keys are for.”
It turns out that changes in the brain that lead to Alzheimer’s disease begin decades before symptoms appear.
“There is some 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 are doing everything you can to keep your heart healthy, it can really push you out, can it really slow you down? “asked Dr. LaPook.
“I think there is now no doubt that we can say – and I don’t think we could have said that five, ten years ago – but there are things that we can do that involve lifestyle changes that can totally slow the progression of dementia, and even even reverse it. “
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 compensate for slack, if necessary.
So let’s do this. With no miracle drugs on the horizon, what is the recipe for fighting dementia?
Let’s start with exercises. Put it this way: what is good for the heart is good for the brain.
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Dr. Gupta said: “When you move, it is almost as if you are signaling to the body and the 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 nourish the brain. “
“In the United States, many of us are going at 100 miles an hour, but many of us do it sitting, without moving,” said Dr. LaPook.
“You know, people keep saying that ‘sitting is the new way to smoke’. Every time you are about to sit down, say, ‘I need be seated ‘”And then try to move moderately throughout the day. It’s so effective in terms of what it does to the brain and what we can measure by doing to the brain.
“And there are simple habits that you can follow – for example, using the stairs instead of the elevator.”
“It takes months, years to change the heart,” said Dr. Gupta. “The brain can change how This one. ”
How about diet? You’ve also heard about it: Eat less red meat, less processed foods, more vegetables and fruits – especially, says Dr. Gupta, a type of fruit: “They always say, Jon, ‘Apple a day keeps the doctor away “I think that, as far as the brain is concerned, it’s the berries. The berries, in terms of what they can do for the brain and some of the chemicals they release, are likely to be one of your best foods.”
Any fruit? “Virtually any berry. … Dip the berries!”
How about working directly on your thinking skills? Crosswords? Video games? What works, if anything?
Dr. Gupta said, “I have nothing against crossword puzzles and even video games, brain training games and things like that. I think they can be great. We do crossword puzzles, you play the piano, you repeat continuously and practice makes perfect This is absolutely true, but it is change that builds resilience. You need the change.
“So, I wouldn’t just do a crossword puzzle. The way I think about it, if you can get out of your comfort zone somehow every day, you’re probably taking advantage of other real estate in the brain that you wouldn’t otherwise use with a lot of Do something that scares you every day! Whatever the metaphor, whatever works, just do something different. Learn a new skill. I remember talking to these neuroscientists who said, ‘Dinner with your left hand tonight, if you’re right-handed.’ “
Having a good night’s sleep is another way to stay alert. There are so-called “waste-collecting cells” that help remove toxins from the brain. And while you are sleeping, the memories of the day are processed.
Dr. LaPook said, “Our knowledge of the importance of sleep has really changed over the years. It’s not just a matter of letting our batteries recharge, right?”
“Sleep is such a sophisticated activity that we spend a third of our lives doing it,” replied Dr. Gupta. “The brain is an extremely complicated organ. When you go to sleep at night, it takes the experiences you had throughout the day and consolidates them in your memory. Why do we have experiences if we are not going to do the necessary things to remember them, right? We are learning that the brain is constantly going through this ‘rinse cycle’ at night. “
To discover one of the best ways to fight dementia, look no further than your friends and family.
“We know that this social interaction is extremely important,” said Dr. Gupta. “We are social creatures. We know that there are certain neurochemicals that are released when we actually touch and look someone directly in the eye.
“The best thing you could do overall, in terms of putting everything together for brain health, would be to take a brisk walk with a close friend and talk about your problems.”
Because? “With the brisk walk, you are getting movement. You are doing this with a friend: you are achieving social connection. It becomes a beautiful thing for the relationship, but also for the brain.”
Of course, coronavirus means that seeing friends up close and in person is a little difficult now. But with Americans starting to get vaccinated against COVID, the time when we can overcome the pandemic may be approaching.
Dr. LaPook asked, “What people want to know is when we get back, if not back to normal, back to normal? What do you think?”
“I think we are going to start getting back to normal much earlier than people realize, and I think maybe it will be in the middle, in late spring, it will start to look a lot more normal,” said Dr. Gupta. “Things will start to open up. People will go out and more.
“I have three teenagers. I think they are going back to school next fall. I may be wrong, but this is where things seem to be going.”
So, as we look forward to getting out of 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 brains, don’t they?” asked Dr. LaPook.
“They are the best type of food for the brain,” replied Gupta. “Every sight you see, every sound you hear, everything you touch, feel, whatever it is, taste it – and then the feelings, the experiences you have through empathy, through these connections with people – everything feeds the brain too It’s very good for the brain.
“That’s why we live.”
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Story produced by Alan Golds. Editor: Ed Givnish.