news...Looking after yourself
Modern day life is busy. Young adults often have to juggle many things – studying, long work hours, relationships, family commitments, social lives. It’s very easy to get caught up in the momentum of life and to forget to step back and think “where am I in all of this? Who is looking after me?”
General principles of looking after yourself apply to everyone. We’ve all heard the mantras ‘eat healthily’, ‘get enough exercise’, ‘use your brain’, ‘sleep well’, ‘take time for relaxation’, and so on. However, did you know that these principles can be especially relevant for young people who are at risk of having the HD gene?
Healthy living can benefit everyone in the short-term, leading to better mental health, a greater sense of control over one’s life, and a better ability to cope when the going gets tough. It’s very important to take time out for relaxation and ‘me time’. And if things do start to get too much, there are people who can help, such as your GP, a counsellor or a HDA Care Adviser. The long-term benefits of healthy living are where people at risk of HD can also really see the advantages.
There is a phrase you’ve probably heard: ‘use it or lose it’. A less familiar term is ‘neural reserve’. How do these link together? The ‘use it or lose it’ principle refers to doing things now so you build them up to be strong into the future. Imagine a man who has a go riding a unicycle. His first try is ridiculous, he manages a few rotations of the pedals before falling off. This difficult action of unicycling has results in different cells throughout the brain firing, which leads to a kind of circuit of neurons firing together. Mr Unicyclist then decides to have a go the next day, and again this network of neurons fire together and connect a bit more strongly. He then decides that he will train in unicycling and does it for an hour each day, in the hope of qualifying for the Olympics. OK, well maybe he’s dreaming! But one thing is for sure – this neuronal network has strengthened every single time he has ridden his unicycle.
How is this man’s unicycling relevant to us? Well, an increasing number of studies have shown that an ‘engaged lifestyle’ has considerable long-term benefits. The fun part is that ‘engaged lifestyle’ refers to anything that uses the brain, from unicycling to studying, seeing a new film, playing X-Box, travelling, having a belly laugh with a friend, doing a new dance class. The list goes on. Any time you do something that activates your brain, you are training it to be stronger.
There is a connection between how we engage our brains now and the strength of our brains in the future. Knowing this can empower us to make changes to our lives today that will help us later on down the track.
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