Book on Brain longevity

[Guest guest]

For those who love to read, like me, here is another recommendation for an interesting book that addresses our cognitive dysfunction problems.

Brain Longevity: The Breakthrough Medical Program That Improves Your Mind and MemoryDharma S. Khalsa Cameron StauthDr. Khalsa claims overproduction of cortisol is to blame for "fuzzy brain" and provides a protocol that has had miraculous results.

Synopsis This revolutionary (and fascinating) book explains how we can postpone the aging of our brains and instead develop extraordinary brain longevity, with memory, concentration, energy, and learning ability even better than what we enjoy in our youth. The BRAIN LONGEVITY program is a four-step plan using modern complementary medicine, from Eastern and Western traditions, and including nutritional therapy, stress management, exercise therapy, and pharmacology, all designed to overcome "normal" brain aging. The program is designed to control a specific adrenal hormone, cortisol, which clinical testing has shown to be toxic to the brain and to become present in excessive levels as we age. Excess cortisol (which is often caused by stress as well as "normal" aging) diminishes the abilities of our brain cells and savages the body & apos;s production of hormones, including those that regulate our mood and our sex drive. Dr. Khalsa & apos;s holistic program reverses this toxicity and allows the brain to return to vibrancy and optimum mental ability. This is an easy-to-follow plan that can change the lives of millions.

From the PublisherBrain Longevity shows us how we can work to improve memory and diminish the effects of age-associated memory loss, keeping our minds youthful, creative, and dynamic. Brain Longevity offers a four-step plan based on both Eastern and Western medical traditions, including the latest research on brain chemistry. It reveals how the right diet, exercise, meditation, and supplements can revitalize and regenerate your mind and memory. Most of all, it is the only program to use Dr. Khalsa's own findings on cortisol, an adrenal hormone produced both in reaction to stress and as part of the aging process, a substance proven to be toxic to human brain cells. In Brain Longevity you'll learn how cortisol accelerates the aging of the mind - and how to reverse this condition.

From the CriticsFrom Journal of Longevity Research Makes a strong cse that degeneration of the brain from aging is not inevitable. From Library Journal Khalsa believes that the excess production of cortisol, a hormone secreted by the adrenal gland, causes much of the deterioration exhibited by his patients, who suffer from Alzheimer's and age-associated memory impairment. He also believes that these conditions can be prevented or delayed with aggressive intervention. An anesthesiologist and former director of the University of Arizona's Acupuncture, Stress Medicine and Chronic Pain program, Khalsa advocates a multimodal approach that incorporates traditional with alternative therapies, emphasizing nutrition (with hefty doses of vitamins and minerals), stress management, mental and physical exercise, and prescription drugs. He describes the research supporting his methods and offers anecdotal evidence of their efficacy. Despite a tendency to hyperbole, this book is recommended for public libraries, where it should be quite popular.Laurie Bartolini, Legislative Research Unit, Springfield, Ill. From Publisher's Weekly - Publishers Weekly Deepak Chopra, Weil and... Dharma Singh Khalsa? Warner is betting on this little-known physician, a graduate from Creighton Univ. School of Medicine, as the next big healer. Judging by Khalsa's first book, that's not a bad wager. Khalsa works out of the increasingly popular field of complementary medicinecombining Western orthodox with alternative, usually Eastern, methods of healingand has a charming bookside manner, in part courtesy of veteran health journalist Stauth. He also aims his message at the huge book-buying readership of baby boomers, and isn't afraid to make jaw-dropping claims: "I believe that Alzheimer's disease can be delayed and prevented. I believe that age-associated memory impairment can be eradicated." He also says that he has helped people with very mild or no cognitive impairment "to develop `super minds.'" Khalsa attributes much of his alleged success to his lowering of levels in patients of the hormone cortisol, which is secreted in response to stress and which he says is toxic to the brain. To support and complement this lowering, he advises what looks like a wonderfully sensible regimen of diet, exercise and meditation that incorporates many principles of Yoga. Diagrammed mind-body exercises are included, and the book wraps up with a concise program, "Forty Days to a Better Brain." Whether or not readers will, or can, find themselves fulfilling Khalsa's claims, there's little doubt that they will find in his book an accessible, smart and expertly packaged guide to living a healthier life. 100,000 first printing; major ad/promo; BOMC, QPB, One Spirit and Money Book Club selections; simultaneous Time Warner audio; foreign rights sold in the U.K., Brazil, Israel, Spain and Latin America. (June)