Archive for April 29th, 2010

Posted on April 29, 2010 - by Nurse Virginia

THE MIND, THE BRAIN AND ALZHEIEMER’S DISEASE

Brain cells need a constant supply of glucose to live

Brain cells live on oxygen and glucose supplied by the bloodstream. Cut these off and the cell dies. (Stroke) The supply of glucose has to be constant because even when the individual is sleeping, those cells keep working and need food. Brain cells use twice the amount of energy than other cells use. A healthy person has few problems providing this delivery of glucose. Stress and a high level of focus and concentration will easily deplete levels of glucose.  Even a young college student can attest to the fact that intense concentration takes a lot of energy and is tiring.

Persons living with Alzheimer’s disease are always trying to understand their environment, understand what people are saying to them and trying to fit in. This mental stress also requires a large amount of energy available to brain cells.

The key to feeding brain cells is eating foods that give a constant flow of glucose. A quick surge of high sugar foods or beverages produce the opposite effect. They may make the individual feel very alert but when insulin kicks in to compensate for the sugar surge.  Insulin brings the glucose down starving the brain cells.  Diabetes is very hard on brain cells due to the constant high and lows of blood sugar that eventually take their toll.

The Mediterranean diet is strongly encouraged for heart health. For the brain those complex carbs from large amounts of vegetables and whole grains combined with healthy fat obtained from oil, create a constant flow of safe glucose to the brain as well as the heart, avoiding those highs and lows.

(A “Glycemic Index” can be easily found on line, to find the foods that will regulate blood sugar as well as those that will more easily cause sugar surges)

Brain cell need challenges and stimulation to grow new branches

Brain cells (or neurons) look like little trees; they have branches at one end of the cell, called dendrites. When a baby is born they have all their brain cells, but few “branches” or connections. As the baby learns, they grow more and more branches. It is through these branches that the cells talk to each other. A person with Alzheimer’s disease is losing those branches, and those cells have a harder and harder time talking or connecting to each other. The individual with Alzheimer’s goes through this disease process of dying brain cells. In the late stage of the disease, their brain cells will resemble a very young baby’s who is just starting to grow connections.

Virginia Garberding, R.N.

Director of Education, The Wealshire, Lincolnshire, Illinois

Author: Please Get To Know Me – Aging with Dignity and Relevance

www.pleasegettoknowme.com