Longevity Health

As you continue to prod along the road to longevity, your memory may also begin to decline. In daily life, remembering names and faces may become increasingly difficult. The good news is that there are tips on remembering names. If you have the know-how, remembering names may not be such a daunting task.

Some of us have to encounter many people everyday, and it is an advantage if we can easily place names and faces together. Learn some of the tips on remembering names and faces.

Memory has everything to do with mental associations. You must be able to associate the name with the face, and input the information in your brain, so that you can retrieve the information later. To facilitate the mental processing of the information, you need to visualize the name and the face in your mind’s eye, which is essentially the process of remembering. Remember,  a picture is worth a thousand words. You can enhance such visual process by using your imagination to make the image more vivid, and also giving it a sound so that you can hear it as well as see it. Finally, you need to store the information in an organized and systematic way in a mental folder in your memory.

On being introduced to someone for the first time, you take the following steps to remember the name of that individual:

1. Verbalize the name. Say it out loud. Articulate the name syllable by syllable, especially if the name is a long one. This will give yourself time to remember the name. Wherever possible, repeat the name, such as commenting on the name. Repeat the name again in the course of the conversation, and repeat the name when you say goodbye. Repetition holds the key to efficient remembering.

2. Meanwhile, set up eye contact with that individual, and observe any unique features of the face (e.g. outstanding facial features, such as the eyes, the nose, the mouth, or the ears) or of that individual in general (e.g. the physical makeup, the stature, or the way that someone is dressed). Paying attention to details is important to visualization and imagination.

3. Mentally, associate the name with something outrageous or ridiculous to form a more vivid mental picture. The more outrageous the picture you have created, the easier it is for you to remember.

4. Reinforce your memory of that name by linking it to something real in life, such as an event, a person, or just about anything that comes to your mind. You have to make up your own links, just as you have to create your own ridiculous mental images to help you remember the name.

Is it too complicated to apply these tips to remembering names and faces? Not really, with a little practice, you can master these basic memory tools. Remember, use it or lose it: you need to make your brain functional at all times.

Awaken Your Photographic Memory to sharpen your memory. Learn how to have a photographic memory even as you age. This is a resourceful book for those who wish to have a quality anti-aging life.

Also, visit my blog: Increase Mind Power.

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau

Many heart attack survivors face subsequent crippling emotional problems—in particular, mental depression.

Their experiences of traumatic emotions are due to the sudden realization of their own frailty and mortality. This realization is typical of what is experienced by the elderly when they are confronted with the approach of death. Like many seniors, these heart attack survivors may also drift into mental depression.

In addition to the realization of their mortality, most heart attack survivors experience a feeling of helplessness and hopelessness. They feel that life is over for them, and that there is little they can do to get better again. It is this feeling of resignation and abandonment of hope that further deepens their mental depression.

Individuals suffering from mental depression often become unmotivated to care for themselves, and this lack of motivation creates roadblocks for rehabilitation, and thus slowing down the recovery process. Remember, tissue that has been damaged can never be replaced. The heart not only must repair itself by replacing the dead tissue with scar tissue, but also must adapt itself to pumping blood to the heart with less muscle mass. This adaptation generally takes several weeks. Neither is mental depression conducive to an environment for speedy recovery from a heart attack, nor does it help in preventing future heart attacks.

Heart attack survivors may swing through an exhausting range of emotions, from anger, anxiety, fear to hopelessness, leading to mental depression down the road. To make matters worse, they may not even be aware of their depressive mental conditions. Remember, depression is a crippling disorder. The initial symptoms may not be too obvious to themselves or to their family members. Watch out for the following:

• anxiety and agitation
• failure to return to work
• loss of appetite, and sudden change in body weight
• significant loss of interest in anything, especially in social interactions
• tearfulness

If these symptoms persist, seek medical and professional help. Recovery from mental depression is critical to recuperation of the heart attack.

Visit my blog: Rethink Your Depression.

Remember, heart disease is not just a disease of the heart: it involves the mind as well.

The Great Cholesterol Lie shows you what really causes heart disease.

Learn how to prevent and even cure heart disease—of course, naturally without drugs.

Copyright© by Stephen Lau

Exercise cannot make you live longer. It is only a myth that exercise can extend life. Exercise, at best, can enhance the quality of life, but exercise does not guarantee longevity.

On waking up in the morning, many people, as they age, would look into the mirror, and they don’t like what they see—the changes in their skin, and their muscle tone. They have aged, and the years have taken their toll on their overall physical appearance.

These changes are more physiological than psychological. No matter how positive you may be, or how diligent you may have adhered to your daily exercise regimen—you have undergone changes in the interaction, in the coordination of bones and joints, muscles, and ligaments. Essentially, the weakness of your nervous system is reflected in you mental and bodily inefficiency.

Basically, men lose about 3 percent of their total skeletal mass, while women lose as much as 8 percent per decade. In addition, there is a reduction of mineral density—as much as 30 percent in women, and 15 percent in men. It is this complex interplay between nutrients uptake, bone density, and mineral levels that bring about degeneration of skeletal tissues. In the human body, many kinds of tissues are responsible for the smooth functioning of human joints. As we age, changes in the joints begin to take place, causing ligaments and tendons to fracture. This fragmentation means the ligaments and tendons have become less capable of handling stressful forces brought about by body movements. That is to say, they are less resilient and more prone to injury. Further injury only further cripples the flexibility and elasticity of the tissues, resulting in less mobility.

Although your muscles are more age-resistant tissues, there is a significant decline in muscular abilities as you age. No matter how hard you may want to exercise your muscles, you cannot halt the decline of muscular strength and muscular activity. This is because your muscle mass decreases with age. Muscle mass dies due to lack of use, and loss of blood flow.

That said, exercise has the benefits of stimulating the nervous system, enhancing the functioning of the immune system, increasing body metabolism to main optimum body weight, and promoting muscle flexibility to prevent falls. All these advantages may significantly improve the quality of life as we age, but they may not make us live longer.

Use Better Balance Exercise to promote flexibility and prevent falls.

Visit my blog: Weight Training.

Copyright© by Stephen Lau