Is it possible to be a lifelong learner? Is forgetfulness a sure sign of dementia? Do cognitive and physical development have to end as we age? Is everyone destined to have some form of memory disorder? Join us for part 1 of a myth-busting series on the Exploring Aging Podcast, as Host Ray Sanders and Co-hosts Dr. Bill Pierce and Greg McNeece unpack myths associated with the aging process.
Is it possible to be a lifelong learner? Is forgetfulness a sure sign of dementia? Do cognitive and physical development have to end as we age? Is everyone destined to have some form of memory disorder? Join us for part 1 of a myth-busting series on the Exploring Aging Podcast, as Host Ray Sanders and Co-hosts Dr. Bill Pierce and Greg McNeece unpack myths associated with the aging process.
Is it possible to be a lifelong learner? Is forgetfulness a sure sign of dementia? Do cognitive and physical development have to end as we age? Is everyone destined to have some form of memory disorder? Join us for part 1 of a myth-busting series on the Exploring Aging Podcast, as Host Ray Sanders and Co-hosts Dr. Bill Pierce and Greg McNeece unpack myths associated with the aging process.
Exploring Aging
Is it possible to be a lifelong learner? As we age, are we guaranteed to lose our mental and physical abilities? Do you ever lose your train of thought? Many older adults worry about memory loss. Is forgetfulness a sure sign of dementia or Alzheimer's disease?
Ray:What is considered normal forgetfulness? We will unpack these and many other age related topics on this edition of the Exploring Aging podcast. Welcome back everyone to this edition of the Exploring Aging Podcast. I'm your host, Ray Sanders, and I'm joined by a couple of guys that I really love and care about, doctor Bill Pierce and Greg McNeese. Bill, Greg, thanks for joining me again on today's program.
Greg:We're glad to be here.
Ray:You know, guys, we have covered a lot of ground the last several podcasts, And today, we are unpacking a new series based on the myths about aging. Greg, this was something that you brought to my attention, and I think our listeners are really going to enjoy. It's gonna take us several episodes to get through all of these myths, because there's a lot of them out there. And so, you know, let's don't wait. Let's just jump right in there, and I'll give you guys the first myth that I'd like to unpack.
Ray:You ready?
Greg:We're ready.
Ray:All right. Here we go. Myth number 1, aging means the end of cognitive and physical development. Now I know you guys are true believers in lifelong learning and physical development. So tell me, why aging is not, I repeat, is not the end of cognitive and physical development?
Ray:Why is this a myth, guys?
Greg:Well, I will let me jump off and tell you that we see so much of our world that goes, man, you're older, You don't have anything to give. You know, there's a there's a saying out there, an old saying of you can't teach an old dog new tricks. You remember that?
Ray:Oh, yeah.
Greg:And I think that's where some of this idea of when you get to be older, you can't do anything new. And the reality is that is not true.
Ray:Yeah.
Greg:So you can learn new things, and you can be vibrant and active and learning and giving and nurturing new things in your world. And so it doesn't mean the end of cognitive development or physical abilities. It's life is really way more than that.
Ray:Cognitive is kind of an interesting word. What what do we mean by cognitive? What is what does that what does that mean?
Bill:Let's just make it simple and call it thinking.
Ray:Thinking. Okay.
Greg:Yes. That's a good word.
Ray:Alright. Great.
Bill:You know, you asked that question. You said the end of cognitive and physical development. That's a big word, the end, Ray. None of us want to be at the end. So we don't we wanna continue our cognitive and physical development.
Ray:Yeah. Well, you know, this whole thing about an old dog new tricks, I mean, if you've ever been to rescue a dog from that situation, I mean, a lot of times there are older dogs. And if we couldn't treat an old or teach an old dog new tricks, then a lot of those dogs probably wouldn't survive.
Greg:Sure.
Ray:And so we all can adapt and change as as life developments, develops. But so it's fair to say that, that you guys would say that this is definitely a myth. You guys are myth busters today. Anything else you would say about the cognitive side as to why that's a myth?
Bill:I'll just give you an example of something we did in our villages. We introduced these machines called IN2L machines, and they are they're electronic machines that that are big screens, And they no one had ever experienced them before. So we're talking about people who are 70 5, 80 5, 95 years old. And all of a sudden, we're able to show them where they used to live, the house they used to live in when they were 10 years old using Google Earth.
Ray:Wow.
Bill:And they're able to play all kinds of cognitive games on these things. And it it expanded their world. It opened a whole new adventure to them, and they loved it. So don't tell me it's the end. Right?
Ray:Okay. Now what was you said you I n what? What was
Bill:I n two l. Well, now what is is what it's
Ray:But did we know what that stands for? I n t l?
Bill:Yeah. We do, but I can't remember. But I have good news. They changed the name of it, so I don't even have to
Greg:find it. That's right. That's right.
Bill:They changed it to Life Loop.
Ray:Oh, I like that.
Bill:So Life Loop, you got a circle. Right? And you're you're on. It's a circle. A constant adventure of expanding and growing.
Ray:How cool, though, to be able to see your home from Google Earth and Explore. And, you know, you and I were together at a recent event and talking about seeing things the way they were. You guys did a really fun festival, I'm not sure what you call it. But 2 things I observed at this, One, Bill, you and I were standing together when a gentleman got in. Greg, I don't think you were there at that time.
Ray:An older gentleman got into this Model T vehicle, and one of the first things he did is he pushed the horn. You remember?
Greg:And he went, oh, yeah.
Ray:And he kind of turned around just real slowly and smirked and he said, I recognize that sound.
Bill:That's the memory, yes.
Ray:Yeah, exactly. So those memories, that cognitive, is still there. And then the other thing, Bill, you remember me saying this, you guys had a hayride going. And we didn't know who was on the hayride. Next thing I know, this woman, a 100 years old, she was riding that hayride.
Ray:And I mean, her cognitive and physical abilities, you wouldn't I would not have thought she was a 100 years old. Why? Why do I put some type of limitation on it? But here she is just having a heyday, you know, taking a hayride. And don't you know she was going down memory lane there as well.
Ray:So well, can you guys, you know, answer this question then, what are some tips for maintaining your cognitive, your thinking health? What are some tips that you would give someone that might be listening today when it comes to this category? If we're gonna bust this myth, what are some tips? What are some ideas?
Bill:I don't think you you ought to start maintaining your cognitive health when you're 80 years old. I think you should start when you're 30 years old. And the tips that you have when you're 30 are still pretty good at 80. And there are things like exercise and and a proper diet. There are things like that.
Ray:Okay. So we talked about this before the episode. Exercise, I can understand that's probably something that's age appropriate. You may or may not run a marathon. We know some older adults that are running marathons, But I was teasing you.
Ray:I said, okay. Proper diet. Does that mean I get to choose between McDonald's and Burger King?
Bill:Mhmm.
Ray:What what is a proper diet? I mean, that's a genuine question with paleo and keto and vegan and plant based. I mean, you know, what what what would be considered? I know you guys aren't nutritionists, but what do we mean? I mean, that's one of the benefits.
Ray:Is it not of being in one of the villages? Is that you guys are giving folks a nutritious diet? Yes. You're providing opportunities for exercise.
Bill:Yes. And you know what? We we most of us have access to the Internet. So what you you just type in what's a balanced diet? How many calories?
Bill:What you what you should eat? What is balanced? And you can find the answers to that relatively easily.
Ray:So I'm gonna try to stump you guys with 1. Which has more calories, a doughnut or I think it's a tablespoon of ketchup?
Bill:You know the answer, I guess.
Ray:I do.
Greg:You do. That's why you're asking us.
Bill:Since the doughnut sounds like it has so many calories, I'm gonna take the ketchup.
Greg:Okay. I would have gone the same thing.
Ray:Well, it's it's about the same. And so I'm thinking, you know, I'm gonna skip the ketchup on my fries and just grab a donut on the way home. But there you go.
Bill:It makes sense.
Ray:But see, that might be worth listening to the program today just to know you can pick up a donut instead of ketchup. We're joking, of course, but we want people to eat right. I think you're going to say something great.
Greg:You know, I was going to say it's important, and I agree with what Doctor. Pierce said, having a good dietary basis starts early on. Not just waiting till you're older adult and go, oh, I'm gonna flip the switch and I'm gonna now start eating healthy, and that means it's always a salad. Well, that's not always. I mean, if you know salads very well, salads can be unhealthy.
Greg:And by the time you put on all of the things you love, cheese and dressing, and you've got as more you've got as many calories in that salad, I mean, so it's important, I think, to have, to look at certain diets and go, okay, is this a diet I should work toward or follow? And so so it's important, I think, to have a good understanding. And just like you said, to go online and say, what are some good healthy diets to follow? So it's important. I think when we live in a fast paced world that we live in today, going through the drive through, there aren't many places that I would say, you can go through the drive through and eat here healthily.
Greg:That's that's a very small number of places that you can do that. So I think I think having a healthy diet is a it's it's something you have to plan toward. You can't just kinda react and go, I'm gonna I'm just gonna do this and think it's gonna happen. So you gotta plan. A healthy diet is a is a planned out diet.
Greg:And as you look at regular exercise, you know, the the studies there are recent studies that talk about the amount of exercise an older adult needs to have. Did you know that, Ray, it says, like, a 150 minutes a week? Okay. So in your mind, you're, oh my word. That's a lot of time More than 2 hours.
Greg:Exercising. You know? But the reality is if you break it down, well, that's kinda 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week. Well, there's your 150 hours, I mean, 150 minutes. But even some say say, you know what?
Greg:For some older adults, it was better to do 3 10 minute increments throughout the day to get your 30 minutes.
Bill:Makes sense.
Greg:Because what it does to your body, it allows your body to not only exercise, but to rejuvenate in those small incremental periods as opposed to one fell swoop kind of thing. And so regular exercise is important, again, at 30 or at 80.
Ray:Well, we've all heard about the mall walkers, people that go to the mall and walk. Right. One of the advantages of one of the the villages, I believe, is that you can walk the premises. You can walk in a safe environment outside. You can walk inside.
Ray:And not only that, you have exercise facilities, for people. So exercise is an option, and you don't have to what I'm hearing you say, Greg, is you don't have to do it all at once.
Greg:Correct.
Ray:And you can, navigate it into your day.
Bill:Have you driven by one of the senior wellness centers in Oklahoma City and seen the parking lot? Packed. Oh, they're packed. Yes. And there's a pickleball craze these days that everybody's getting into that.
Bill:And, and they're excited about winning too, not just playing. They wanna win.
Greg:Well, Ray, one more thing. I would say as we look at people listening to the 2, the podcast, Exploring Aging, they may not be living in Oklahoma City or in Tulsa Metro. They may not be in an area where there's a mall. But my encouragement is to, you know what, begin a walking program. Go to your church.
Greg:Guess what? There are hallways in your church. Mhmm. If you are plugged into a church somewhere, go to go to where you can be indoors. You've got safety inside, but there are hallways that you can traverse up and down kind of thing.
Greg:So it's it's doable. It certainly is doable.
Ray:Well, you're kinda leaning into another one of the things that I found in some of the research that we've been doing, and that's the social contacts.
Bill:Yeah.
Ray:You know, the social contacts you make, well, don't if you're going to go walk, take somebody with you.
Greg:Sure.
Ray:Go as a pack. Go with 2 or 3, you know, that aspect. The other thing that I've I've seen or heard mentioned is sleep. And sometimes that can be a challenge, but you know, there's nothing wrong with rest. You have to rest to be your best, and, we all need to do that.
Ray:Like you said, whether you're 30 or you're, you know, 90. Some of the other things that I know that we've we've talked about in before is the need to get water. I know that was a big one for you, Bill. I mean It
Bill:still is too. Right?
Ray:Yeah. We we need to drink more than we than we typically do.
Bill:We really do. I like the I like the social aspect of the cognitive plus in that when you're interacting with people and talking to people and engaging in conversations, it keeps you sharp. Mhmm. Helps you learn.
Ray:Well, one of the things that, some of the information you had provided me, Greg, in this topic was to challenge your brain. What are some ways that, you guys see to help people challenge their thinking, their cognitive abilities. How what are some ways that you see that playing out even in the villages? How are you challenging people to stay sharp, if you will?
Bill:Well, you know, I don't personally go in for these. Maybe I will one of these days, but I see these people with puzzle books all the time. And, you know, I started researching those puzzle books because so many were people were using them, and they're effective.
Ray:Oh, yeah.
Bill:And so to keep your mind sharp, those those puzzle books are good. Mhmm. And then reading, you know, reading books. My mother used to have a pile of books by her all the time. We had a library, and she lived at Baptist Village of Owasso.
Bill:And I believe she read every book in the library after the years that she was there, but, that's another way to challenge yourself cognitively.
Greg:I would also say and this is something I do. If you can if you can make your brain begin to just rethink patterns, most of us, when we get in our car, we're gonna go to a destination, going to the grocery store, going to the bank, and we do the same route if or where we go. But from time to time, I will go some different route just to exercise my brain in a different format to go, okay. I've got to still get to my destination, but I'm going a different way. So it causes your brain to rethink, where you're going and how do you get there, and do you turn right, do you turn left, do you go straight?
Greg:So even in, let's say, a person who may no longer be driving, let's say they live at Baptist Village and they don't drive their car very often, we want just walking on campus, walking in that community, walk a different pattern, go a different direction. That helps to re retrain your brain for your brain to exercise itself in a way that maybe you've not done that in a long time. So even doing the mundane, if you will, a different way helps your brain think differently. It helps in cognitive development.
Ray:Well, sure. Keeps you from being bored. That's for sure. You never know what you might see.
Greg:Right. Exactly.
Bill:I really like that, Greg, the the new patterns and and challenging yourself and and and go in a different direction. I like
Ray:that. So here's something you said, read a book.
Bill:Mhmm. Mhmm.
Ray:How about write a book?
Bill:Yeah. Write a book.
Ray:I think that you know, I I don't I'm gonna botch this. But every time every time somebody passes, unless they've written down what's what's on their mind, we lose a whole library of thought. And there are a lot of older adults. If we just had the time to listen to them, the stories, the lessons that they've learned, well, what would be the problem with some of the older adults that are may that may be listening to find some device, a recording device. Shoot.
Ray:You can even do it on your phone now. And if you did 1 a week, just tell a story. Mhmm. Just tell a story. Take a decade.
Ray:If you did 10 decades, you know, and you had and your kids and your grandkids had 10 stories about your life, what a joy.
Bill:I know a guy that wrote a book when he was in his eighties. He's my wife's uncle.
Ray:Mhmm.
Bill:Susan's uncle. His name was Oscar Thomas, and he was in the 45th Infantry Division in World War 2. He was a captain, and he was captured. He was a prisoner of war and the hardships that he went through, but he he wrote that book when he was in his eighties.
Ray:Well, that's pretty impressive. We talked a lot about the cognitive. I think we touched on the physical, but I I wanna give you guys the opportunity. Are there any other tips you would add for maintaining physical health? We kinda touched on that.
Ray:Anything else in that category?
Greg:No. I think we've talked about this a little bit off before we started, but it's just managing stress. Stress is a it sucks energy out of you. It detracts from flourishing in your own world. And so the most that we can do in a daily walk is to say, how do we de stress?
Greg:How do we pull some of the stress? Some of the stress we put on ourselves by overcommitting or whatever the case may be. But sometimes, if we can manage our stress, that gives our brain rest. We're not just worried. We're not focused on things that take away from us.
Greg:And so managing stress is huge. And I'm not good at that. I mean, my wife says, Greg, you need to kinda slow down and step back. I'm not a good stress manager in my own life, but it's important. It's important for us to be healthy and manage our stress.
Ray:Stress is a very personal thing. You know, something that stresses you out may not stress me out at all. I'm always I'm always amazed at some of my friends that are very wealthy, very wealthy friends. They they're stressing on certain things, and I go, you don't know what stress is.
Greg:Right. Right. You don't have
Ray:a link to they're worried about all their portfolios. I'm like, I don't think you got anything to stress about. This is a topic that's a hot one for me. I've recently, in my own devotion time, made a discovery, and that is what I call the power of 46. And Psalms 46 has become has become a real intimate passage for me in the sense that that passage starts off by saying, the lord is my refuge.
Ray:The lord is my strength, an ever present help in time of trouble or in some say need. So so that's that's the power of Psalms 46. And then it ends with be still. Be still. That that sounds tough, Lord.
Ray:I'm I wanna I'm a man of action. Be still. And then as I was sitting there meditating on that, I was the Lord brought Philippians 46 to mind.
Bill:So
Ray:here I was reading in Psalms 4 46, the Lord brought together in my mind Philippians 46 which basically says, don't be anxious, don't worry about anything. And the peace that surpasses understanding, which is the opposite of stress, right, will take over. And then there's a whole list of the things that you should be, you ready for this, thinking about. What are the things you should be thinking about? And so when we begin to stress this is a cognitive issue, what are the things that we should be thinking about?
Ray:So if we think about the power of 46, Psalms 46, Philippians 46, and then we get into verse 7 and on, we know the very first thing he says, think about what is true. And a lot of times we're stressing because the enemy wants to have us think about things that aren't true. Well, I've got to worry about this or I got to worry about that, and half of those things never come come to an end. Last thing I'll say, and then I thought, wow, what another connection. So I'm about to wrap up my little devotion time, and the Lord says, oh, but there's more fours and sixes.
Ray:Right? And do you guys remember Zechariah 46? That says, not by might, not by power, but by my spirit. What a beautiful what a beautiful way of thinking. A cognitive exercise is to rest in the Lord.
Ray:Mhmm. Be at peace about it. You know, our days are numbered. We will come to an end, and God knows, and that and that's okay. It's okay.
Greg:You know, I think as you were talking about that, Ray, the reality is is we when we turn to self, when we turn the focus on us, that's when the stress and that's what stress
Bill:is.
Greg:It's because we've turned it on us. But if we will if we listen to what you just said and where the Lord has shown you in in your own personal journey, it's trusting in him and it's letting go of self and letting the Lord take those things. And there's there's there's not stress. There's peace in that. So I just came to my mind.
Ray:Well, and it comes and it comes between our ears. Right? It's a thinking process. It's a way we think. Well, if you're listening today and if you're interested in lifelong learning opportunities, hey, reach out to us, and we'll be happy to share with you a list of, get this, free I'll say it again, free online courses for older adults.
Ray:And we have a resource that we can send you that's available, and there may be some things online that you could do that you could find fun and engaging. And if you want to do that, just reach out to us at info atbaptistvillage.org. Info atbaptistvillage.org. Okay guys, you're the Mythbusters. We have myth number 1, we just shot it down, we disprove it we've disproven it wrong.
Ray:There's another myth that I want to throw at you guys. It's this, aging means you will inevitably experience dementia or another memory disorder. You know, you guys believe this is a myth, and many older adults worry about their memory. If so, then let's talk about memory loss, forgetfulness as it relates to aging. Guys, give us some help here.
Ray:What's normal and what's not? How can we blow up this myth?
Greg:Doctor Pierce, you wanna take a stab, or you want me to go?
Bill:You know, Ray, I just this is just me personally, but when we talk about people who worry about this kind of thing, I don't. It could happen to me someday. It could happen to any of us, but I don't I don't really worry about this. And and so I don't think I don't I don't think, I don't think it's something that that we should dwell on at all as we get older. I don't think we should think that just because we're getting older, the 2 go hand in hand.
Bill:And there are it goes back to what we just talked about about exercising your brain, your cognitive, keeping yourself physically fit. Those are important things when we talk about about this also. But I do want everyone to know that this is a this is a huge challenge in our society. There are caregiver challenges. There are financial challenges.
Bill:These are real diseases that that are that run rampant in in the lives of some people. And for that, we need to pray for them. We need to continue to do research and that kind of thing as we as we seek to be able to better treat these diseases.
Ray:You know, the ones that I think that come up a lot, and I know I was just making a note here, I know of 4 people that have suffered from dementia. So I think there's people that are probably listening and thinking, I wonder if that's me or am I developing that. What can you guys tell us? What is dementia? And then I mean I'm just going ahead and throw it out there.
Ray:Another one that comes up a lot is Alzheimer's disease. What's the difference in these two these two things, dementia and Alzheimer's? And what what are they? What can you tell us about that?
Greg:Sure. You know, I would say, first of all, right, I think there's a misnomer out there in in our world that says, as you age, you're you're going to it's inevitable. I mean, just like we said in this myth, it's inevitable that you're going to have a dementia. And the reality is, is that's not true. I mean, there are many, many people who pass away, who who there's their life has been marked by unbelievable life fulfilled just living.
Greg:They didn't have dementia. They didn't have issues. So they they defy what the myth says. Now we could look at you could actually go back. There are studies that tell us that in early 2 2020 that we began to see a decrease, in the numbers of people with dementia.
Greg:But here's here's here's kind of the you gotta dig deeper into that because you began to see in 2011 that first baby boomer turn 65 in that calendar year. So the numbers might have been trailing off, but we're gonna see in years to come just with a larger cohort of people aging, we're gonna see those numbers increase in dementia, but it doesn't mean everybody's gonna get it, a a dementia. When I say get it, here's what I would say. Dementia is like an umbrella. It's an umbrella term that out of that umbrella falls different types of dementia.
Greg:So it could be Alzheimer's. It could be, Parkinson's. It could be Lewy bodies.
Ray:Alzheimer's is a type of dementia.
Greg:That's right. Parkinson's
Ray:is a type of dementia.
Greg:That is correct.
Ray:Interesting. Okay. I don't I don't know that a lot of people really picked up on that, but it is a disease of the of the of the brain.
Greg:It's a cognitive impairment. It is. There are things doctor Pierce might be able to talk about it because we see it probably more in our Baptist Village residents. There is there is something called a mild basically, a mild impairment, cognitive impairment. You know, and those those can be brought on by medication influences, dietary issues.
Greg:So it's there are some things that lend to cognitive impairment, but that doesn't mean it's a full blown dementia that people would wanna go in the myth that says, oh, you you're gonna have dementia. Well, that's just not true, kind of thing. But there are multiple dementias, underneath that umbrella.
Ray:What I'm hearing you say is we can live in fear of a lot of things. We can live in fear of getting hit by a Mack truck and never go outside. We can live in fear of falling down. We can live in fear of choking on Thanksgiving turkey stick. I mean, there's we can live in fear.
Ray:Dementia is out there in a certain segment of the population. Unfortunately, it's going to probably have it until we find a cure. But what are I'm I'm gonna I'm gonna probably not ask it the right way, so forgive me. But is there anything I can do to prevent dementia from happening? Is there anything that's, preventive measures?
Bill:I think one of the most important things you can do is is have a doctor who knows you and have the baselines. The doctor has your baselines. And I think that this is a pattern thing. When you begin to see different patterns in your life than you've experienced all your life, you're forgetting things in a new way. You forget how to use certain items that you've used all your life.
Bill:Those are those are definite pattern changes. And I think when people identify pattern changes, I think being honest with your doctor about that is very important.
Ray:So really just continue to do the things you're doing, continue to see your doctor. And maybe if your family observes it, maybe they accompany you or help you address it, but be willing to recognize there may be some changes in the way you're doing these things that you're mentioning. Right. Were you gonna say something, Greg? I was
Greg:gonna say, so a personal story here. So my dad, we began noticing in his late fifties, he was a man who was a mechanic by training, mechanic for the Campbell Soup Company. And so he had an unbelievable gift of mathematics. And I mean, he could just see numbers and he could quickly do numbers in his head. I mean, never, never was there an issue.
Greg:And then we began to notice as family, dad could no longer or there were beginning to be issues of his ability of of tracking numbers and doing small things like that. And that's where it kinda began. Now he again, he was in his mid to late fifties when that first began. We didn't think too much of it, but when there began to be other issues that we begin to see in his life exemplified, that's when we begin to okay. We need to spend more time with his physician Mhmm.
Greg:To begin tracking what do we have going on here. And so it it wound up being a very long, track, if you will, long not in terms of years, but it was a very difficult road as a family. So doctor Pierce is exactly right. Having that relationship with the physician, who can help you go to specialists that you might need is is imperative for us to to look at.
Bill:And, Ray, we need to we need to observe the older adults that we're around. We we we need to take care of each other all the time Sure. No matter what we age we are, but we need to observe. And when we go to a person's home, we're a relative, it's our parents, and we see that the place is dirty all the time all of a sudden, there is food in the refrigerator that is going bad, There's just patterns that are different than the than they used to be. We don't need to ignore that.
Bill:We need to think about what that might mean, and we need to observe even more.
Ray:You know, there were 5 things that I discovered in preparing for this podcast. I've learned so much from that and from you guys, but I'm gonna just kinda go through some of them. And if you guys wanna speak up, feel free to do so. The the first thing that, came up as might be the signs of needing to talk to a doctor included asking the same question over and over again. If somebody begins to do that, that might be a sign.
Ray:So if you're listening and you have a relative that you're seeing that pattern, it might be time to gently maybe consider going and seeing a doctor with your parent or someone you love. Getting lost in places a person knows well, that's that was a sign that you might need to speak to someone. Having trouble following recipes or directions. You know, recipes seem to be a little more complex, but if, you know, you can't put them together like you used to, just like your dad was a math addition, then maybe that's a sign. Another one is becoming more confused about time, people, and places.
Ray:This is probably one I think is the most painful, especially for relatives is when someone begins to forget their face. That's a that's a big one and probably a little more advanced. And then like you said, not taking care of oneself, eating poorly, not bathing, or behaving unsafely, or like you said, the refrigerator's got critters crawling all on it, you know, that's probably an issue. So that's that's dementia. Some people are out there probably breathing a little harder, some are probably breathing a little easier.
Ray:I wanna kinda bring it in a little for a little softer landing, maybe for all of us, a question that might help out. Tips for dealing with for for or with forgetfulness. What what would you guys say about this, I mean, just everyday good old good old good old forgetfulness? What would you all say about that?
Bill:You know, I I know that we talked about this one before the podcast and and this deal about putting your keys in the same place every time. You know, I've told my wife to do that all of our married life. We've been married 46 years, and she still doesn't do it. And so that's not one I worry about is putting your keys in the same place
Ray:You personally
Bill:every time, although I think you ought to do it.
Ray:Well, when I leave the house, I'm sorry. It's 1, 2, 3. I know exactly I know exactly do I have those three things, and now I can leave. But can I make a confession? My wife would probably be happy that I'm confessing this publicly, but I'm I'm big on these Apple tags now.
Ray:My wallet has an Apple tag on it. My keys have an Apple tag on it. And as best I can try, I still sometimes forget where they're at or what I've done with them. Who hasn't I love the feature on the Apple Watch. Okay?
Ray:Where did I put my phone?
Bill:Right.
Ray:I mean, Apple gets it, and this is young kids that have they're forgetful too. And so you can swipe up your Apple Watch, push a button, and your phone says, Hey, it's me over here. So I mean, forgetfulness is, I mean, we all forget. Right? We're all forget.
Bill:Right.
Ray:So any other any other thoughts that come to mind?
Greg:I think a good, go back to the exercise thing, go back to a healthy diet, those things contribute to so many other things. I mean, it's all interconnected. Healthy eating, exercise really does lend to good thinking and clarity. And so, those are important. Getting rest, we talked about that a little bit earlier.
Greg:That helps you. Studies show over and over, the amount of sleep you get, it gives our brain a chance to recharge. Some of us, my daughter, she loves I mean, she'll tell you, I do best with 12 up and 12 down. I mean, she's one of those world her little world is if I can get 12 hours of sleep, it's a great thing. Now she's in university and doesn't get that.
Greg:But it's amazing to me how she can come home and just flip a switch, and she's 12 up and 12 down for days on end. And so there's something to be said about plenty of good sleep.
Ray:Well, this has been an interesting topic. We're gonna talk about more myths, but I hate to tell you guys this. I could talk to you guys all day long, but, hey, guys. We had to put a limit on somehow we're out of time. And we'll continue this series on myths.
Ray:And if people are listening, I mean, they ought to find comfort in knowing guys like you are thinking about these kind of things. You're being very cognitive. You're being very intentional. And, BVC offers, memory services, dementia type services. You're constantly caring and taking care of people in this regards.
Ray:So hey, you the listener, if you would like to learn more about today's topics or if you or a loved one wants to experience life at Baptist Village, hey, come see what they're doing, what they have to offer. Give them a call. Give them a call at 866-887 2872, or visit them online atbaptistvillage.org. You can even catch some of our podcasts from the past there. And if you haven't heard, BBC publishes a really cool, nice publication called Thrive.
Ray:Excellent. It's very well done. Each issue includes many of the topics we discuss on the podcast and more. And if you'd like a copy, well, be sure to let us know. You can catch our podcast on all your favorite platforms.
Ray:Simply search for the Exploring Aging Podcast. Hey. Until next time, stay active and stay informed as we explore the realities of aging on the Exploring Aging podcast.