A Dementia Exercise

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I do this exercise daily and it is my hope that someone finds it useful. I am 68yo and have done this exercise for years. I had one parent die having dementia and it is not the way I want to go. I will explain my regimen and the logic behind it. I have an incline board (I use mine at about a 80% incline); I use it for a few minutes each day


The logic is as we get older more cholesterol (in the form of plaque) accumulates on our artery walls. Two of the main arteries in the body are the carotid arteries which provide oxygen-rich blood to the brain. These too collect cholesterol(plaque) and prevents the brain from receiving 100% of the oxygen-rich blood it is used to getting. By hanging upside down you allow more of this blood to reach the brain. As a side effect bonus hanging upside down also allows you to counter some of the effects of gravity which is always pulling you down ( you are shorter at 60 than you were as a young adult) and it also improves your balance

Interesting. A yoga teacher once said that the yoga headstand makes you younger. I always thought that was magical thinking, but it's starting to look like there's a bit of method in his madness. Head-standing won't stop anybody getting shorter of course, but it might stop the body sagging, though I doubt the difference would be all that noticeable.

I guess hanging upside down might be a tad better than head-standing.

Another thing that's said to be helpful is cognitive mental exercises. That's great for me because I'm always thinking hard so I don't have to force myself to do it, in fact I'd have a lot of trouble trying to stop.