We dream with are retirement and enjoying this stage depends mainly on our health state.
we use to think on our future economy, once we are retired: insurance contracts and retirement plans.
We all agree that this is a key question. No doubt about it: you have to prevent from economical issues in this stage.
but…. what about our health? Most of us never think on investing to be healthy elders
We can strength our body to avoid diseases only by practicing good habits when younger. This is specially interesting to prevent from suffering neurodegenerative diseases.
Only in Spain there are almost half a million people older than 90 years old, what will get to more than 4 million people by 2050, as National Statistics Institute assures.
About 20% of people will suffer from a neurodegenerative disease. Therefore, a personal and social awareness is imposed on the adoption of healthy lifestyles and habits that allow “life to be very long but also wide and abundant”, in the words of the MD. Agustín Acebes.
Decálogo para un cerebro saludable
To aim this goal, a “DECALOGUE for A HEALTHY BRAIN” was developed, by “Fundación Cerebro” with the support of the Spanish Neurology Society.
These are the ten tips to consider:
1.- Moderate physical exercise has to be practice daily, avoiding sedentary lifestyle.
2.- Avoid obesity.
3.- Keep intelectual activity: reading, dancing, listening to music, going to the cinema or theatre, talking, learning new languages, traveling or attending to the news.
4.- Mantain Social interactions.
5.- Diet low in refined sugar and saturated oils, increasing the quantity of fish and vegetables.
6.- Prevent accidents, especially traffic accidents, by wearing helmet on motorcycles and seat belt in the car.
7.- Avoid toxic substances, give up tobacco and consume alcohol in moderation.
8.- Maintain a positive attitude towards life. Good humor whenever possible, laugh openly and reduce stress.
9.- Control blood pressure.
10.- Avoid diabetes and hyperglucemia.
For a better understanding of these tips and how their absence affects the brain, we recommend reading the book that has inspired this publication, a text that is very easy to read and at the same time, with scientifically supported, in which Dr. Agustín Acebes explains the correct or incorrect functioning of a brain, which he colloquially calls ‘the organ in the gray suit’.
“El órgano del traje gris”, obra original del Dr. Agustín Acebes publicada con ISBN 9781537023328.
our proposals
In i4life (España), we are aware of the interest of carrying out these tips on our daily lives since young.
Undoubtedly, most of the points in the decalogue are depend on the individual’s responsibility. But, tips number 9 and 10 have to do with monitoring of vital signs such as blood glucose, uric acid, cholesterol, weight … In order to make it easier and more attractive, at i4life we are working on the definition of easy-to-use solutions that increase adherence to the measurement. That is our goal.
By now we have launched two products: pauto and i4park. i4park, a free mobile application that provides a diary of Parkinson’s symptoms, which is very useful to go to the neurologist with ‘homework done’ on the time between consultations; pauto, a geolocated cane that records and measures the physical activity and symptoms of its users.
- i4park, una aplicación móvil gratuita, que facilita un diario de síntomas del parkinson muy útil para ir al neurólogo con ‘los deberes hechos’ sobre cómo ha sido el tiempo entre consultas;
- pauto, un bastón geolocalizado que registra y mide la actividad física y los síntomas de sus usuarios,
We are also developing other two solutions: i4case and i4gluco that allow the user to integrate eHealth devices into their daily life. Devices connected to their physicians, what is really interesting for remote monitoring during this COVID era.
Autora: Marián García Prieto, CEO y Fundadora de i4life. Artículo basado en un texto extraído de “El órgano del traje gris”, obra original del Dr. Agustín Acebes publicada con ISBN 9781537023328.
