Books for Brains!

Keeping Your Wits Sharp May Keep Alzheimer’s At Bay. This is probably one of those statements that can be filed into the same category with the rest of the 'no shit sherlock' preventive medical procedures. You know the old saying, 'Use it, or lose it'. Well, no kidding. It is also a well known fact that women tend to outlive men by nearly 15 years, and, are also healthier during the last 15 years of their lives than most men are for half of their lives. I've come up with theories on some reasonings for this, but I'll keep those to myself. Ok, no I won't.

Most men would probably pay millions of dollars to be a stay at home mother and/or house wife. However, this personal paradise would only last for a short time before they started feeling the pressures and daily physical strains that these women go through. By the way, anyone out there who wants to try and be stupid enough to tell me that being a stay at home mother and house wife is easy, has obviously never been a stay at home mother and house wife. Because it is NOT 'easy'. Ok? Get this thought out of your silly little heads right now. Doesn't work that way, so stop thinking it does.

Men who are lucky enough to be able to be independently wealthy, and/or have enough money to keep themselves healthy and active throughout their lives, with a good balance of work and play, also tend to live longer, healthier lives and enjoy retirement and old age alot more than the average man does. Again, this is not the 'norm' for the male population of this world. While some men would argue that 'we work for you dammit, of course we're going to die first! We do more work!', they too can throw that crap idea right out the window.

While no one will argue that jobs are often strenuous, painful and completely exhausting, it is also very easy for people to sit back and pin point every single little thing that's 'wrong' with the corporate way of life. For example, after a long day at work, the last thing that someone normally wants to do is come home and dive head first into any type of physical activity that involves anything more physically challenging than sinking into a soft chair or sofa. They do not want to cook, clean, hear screaming kids, do yard work, run errands or finish laundry. They have no tolerance for even reading the paper, watching any television shows that forces them to actually pay close attention, much less want to get dressed up and run out for a night on the town.

And then these people's families wonder why they develop Alzheimer's Disease and/or Dimentia later in life? Granted a bit of genetics does play a part in this wretched portion of the aging program, but still, let's think about this in a more common sense light. Stay at home mothers and house wives are under pressure daily. Screaming kids, errands to run, budgets to balance, sibling fights to settle, house work, labor intensive yard work, doctor appointments, dental appointments, balancing schedules, cooking meals, keeping themselves as physically healthy as possible, dealing with monthly period cycles, medical issues with the kids, parent/teacher meetings, taxs, sometimes unruly neighbors, traffic jams while running errands....and they live LONGER.

The difference is that most house wives and stay at home mothers do not take breaks, sick days, 'true' vacations or get holidays. They start their 'work' when they wake up in the morning, and it does not stop until they go to bed at night. Their spouses see this as "getting to stay home and lounge around the house all day, doing whatever they want, whenever they want". To all those spouses out there....here is a memo: bite me. That's about as far from the truth as it gets. But why do these types of people live longer? This should also be a 'no brainer' (pun intended). While raising kids, these people are also forcing their minds to work over time.

Help in problem solving. Teaching their children how to walk, talk, ride bikes, function, read and be socially polite and have good sound ethics and morals. Their minds are always active. Always. Even when their children leave the home and go out on their own, there is the inevitable phone calls for help, that render said parent to dive once again into the cook books, medical books, encyclopaedias and such. So by the time that these people retire, they almost literally have no clue what it means to 'slow down and relax'. They simply can't. It's second nature to them. It's habit. It's as if they are addicted to mental activity, and guess what? Good for them! It will spare them the pain and suffering of those who have to and have had to live through horrible ailments like Dimentia and Alzheimer's.

Keep on reading folks.... a read a day keeps the Alzheimer's away!