Saving Your Brain: The Revolutionary Plan to Boost Brain Power, Improve Memory, and Protect Yourself Against Aging and Alzheimer's » (Reprint)

Dr. Jeff Victoroff is a neurologist and neuropsychiatrist who trained at Harvard in both neurology and psychiatry and is currently Associate Professor of Clinical neurology at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California. He has published numerous scientific articles on brain aging and behavior in such journals as Neurology, Archives of Neurology, and the American Journal of Psychiatry and has received the distinguished Faculty Scholar Award from the Alzheimer’s Association.

In this groundbreaking new book, a Harvard-trained neurologist shows how you can attain lifelong mental fitness. Utilizing the latest breakthroughs in research, Dr. Jeff Victoroff has developed a definitive, life-changing plan that provides you with the powerful, scientifically based methods you need to protect your brain from aging and memory loss. Starting today, you too can save your brain.

If you are over forty years old, you already know the bad news: names may be harder to remember; a word may sometimes elude you as you speak; you may sometimes misplace your glasses, your car keys (or even your car!). But medical research is lifting the veil of mystery off the process of brain aging and offering up strong evidence that you do not necessarily have to accept deteriorating brain function as you get older. From the benefits of exercise to the effects of stress relief, from what you eat and drink to the kind of work you do, from the natural substances that are most likely to help to the new medications your doctor can prescribe, this book outlines literally hundreds of preventive measures you can take to keep your mind sharper, stronger, and healthier your whole life. Among the many topics covered in this book are:

• Amazing new studies revealing who is most likely to get Alzheimer’s disease—and how we can all reduce our risk
• Powerful evidence showing how the Brain-Saving Diet can boost your defenses against memory loss
• How stress, depression, anger, and low self-esteem can literally threaten the structure of our brains, and what we should all be doing about it
• The surprising discovery that inflammation is slowly cooking our brain cells, and how we can stop it
• The two ways you can literally add new brain cells!

A book that will change the way you live, eat, and work, Saving Your Brain is a wake-up call to those people who have long since learned the wonders of taking care of their body—and now have the very real chance to provide the same lifesaving care for their brain.

Publishers Weekly

The author, an associate professor of clinical neurology at the Keck School of Medicine at the Univ. of Southern California, argues that it is possible to slow the rate of brain aging by making lifestyle changes. According to Victoroff, the latest studies in brain deterioration indicate that aging-related neurodegeneration of the Alzheimer's type (ARNAT) is not as distinct from normal aging as previously thought. The presence of plaques and tangles traditionally associated with ARNAT have been found in the brains of elderly people who were functioning well until their death. Victoroff details here his "relativity theory" of brain deterioration, positing that environmental as well as genetic factors are responsible for memory loss and dementia, which are, hence, partially preventable. Of greater interest than the author's complex recounting of scientific research are his suggestions for maximizing mental fitness. Based on many reputable studies, his recommendations for brain fitness include following a healthy diet, exercising, staying mentally active, avoiding neurotoxicants (such as aluminum), reducing stress and controlling blood pressure and cholesterol. In this encouraging and informative volume, Victoroff also advocates forming a relationship with an informed physician who can support positive behavior changes. (July) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.