This blog is about the entrants in the year 1960, to the Faculty of Medicine, University of Ceylon, Colombo. The email address for communications is, 1960batch@gmail.com. Please BOOKMARK this page for easier access later.Photo is the entrance porch of the old General Hospital, Colombo, still in existence. Please use the search box below to look for your requirement.
Whether or not you are a country music fan, words of wisdom from that famous philosopher , iconic country and western singer, on his 75th birthday below his esteemed portrait."I have outlived my pecker."The Penis Poem--by Willie NelsonMy nookie days are over,My pilot light is out.What used to be my sex appeal,Is now my water spout.Time was when, on its own accord,From my trousers it would spring.But now I've got a full time job,To find the f***in' thing.It used to be embarrassing,The way it would behave.For every single morning,It would stand and watch me shave.Now as old age approaches,It sure gives me the blues.To see it hang its little head,And watch me tie my shoes!!
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People begin to have balance problems starting at the age of 40 years. The older you get, the weaker your physical body and sensory abilities will be, which are all factors in having poor balance.
In Japan, more than 7,000 people a year die from falling accidents## Test Your Balance by Standing on One Leg You can determine how good your balance is by measuring the length of time that you can stand on one leg.
The following table shows the average balance time by age group in a study conducted at a Japanese health institute. Average time with eyes open 20-39 years old: 110 seconds
40-49: 64 seconds50-59: 36 seconds
60-69: 25 seconds Average time with eyes closed 20-39 years old: 12 seconds
40-49: 7 seconds50-59: 5 seconds
60-69: less than 3 secondswomen tend to lose their balance more than men but only by a small margin (1-2%).From this study,it is also evident that there's a sudden significant decrease in the ability to maintain balance among middle-aged people (40 years and above).## The Soles of Your Feet Have Sensors The skins all throughout your body have significant amount of tiny pressure sensors or mechanoreceptors. Some areas have few pressure sensors, while other areas have thousands, like on the soles of your feet.
The pressure sensors on the foot soles provide information to your brain to help balance your body.As you get older, the sensors will get weaker and your foot sole lose sensitivity.But there are also other factors that can lead to weaker pressure sensors. ## Poor Blood Circulation Can Disrupt the Pressure Sensors In our study, people are almost twice as likely to be in a fall accident caused by poor blood circulation. This can be simulated by soaking your feet into ice cold water for about 3 minutes. Because of the cold temperature, the pressure sensors on the foot sole begin to lose sensitivity.
## Pay Attention to Your Forward-Moving Foot If your forward-moving foot hit something, your body will be off-balance causing you to fall or trip. Well, it's a matter of common sense to always have your eyes on path and watch where you are going. But that's not the only problem.Here are the other two major reasons why you stumble while walking. 1. Your forward-moving foot is pointed down. If your foot is pointed down while making a step, then you are more prone to falling. To avoid this, your forefoot or toes should be flexed upwards as shown on the image below.
2. You walk like a pendulum. The height of your step can greatly increase your risk of falling. To prevent this, your forward-moving foot must be higher off the ground (at least 5 cm) while the knee is raised high as shown on the image below.A bit highstepping is good.
## How to Prevent Yourself from a Fall, Trip, or Slip 1. Keep Your House Clean . Always make sure to put away or store properly all personal belongings and other unnecessary things even if it is only a newspaper, remote control, and laundries scattered on the floor or carpet.
2. Stretch Your Feet and Ankles Foot exercising is good.
in reality, feet stretching exercise can really help your feet maintain balance.3. Keep Your House Warm and Ensure Adequate Lighting Cold muscles and pressure sensors work less well and are less responsive to signals. A decreased temperature will also cause your muscles to have less strength and less flexible, which can lead to accidents. Always try to keep your house warm or wear proper clothes and footwear, especially during winter. Since most falls occur indoors, make sure your house has adequate lighting.
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------------------------------------------------------------And now for senior Sri Lankans, counting ladies in their 50s.Walk often, often on grass, barefoot is preferred. Toning up your balance and foot senses.Wearing glasses decrease range of vision, especially down below near your feet, and stepping downstairs. Note down your ‘blind’areas.Watch out for wet floors, especially toilets and bathrooms. Older people need non slip floors- not tiles- and a few hand railsaround help. In humid climes, water dries up slowly.Try to have both hands free walking stairs. One hand on railing.Beware slipping, crumply carpets.If in doubt, sit on bed as you pull your underwear, socks on. Sooner or later you will need to.Beware cats and dogs and animals like children who may bash into you.Think of having taller chair seating, avoiding deep low suites.Getting off a low car seat could be tricky.When on unfamiliar ground or house floor, take care. Beware varying floor levels in the same house, or as you walk on roads.At night in the dark, a quick first step off the bed can cause a fall, the mosquito net may trip you too. Keep a small torch.Walking on roads without pavements can be tricky. Potholes are common.A sudden beach wave you could tackle when young at the beach may be a disaster.Be aware, that your muscle/bone strength is far less than at say 30 years.Be aware that as you age the muscles around bones thin down, reducing your muscle padding effect, making even mildbone/floor contact prone to more factures, like falling to a side.And lastly, don’t ever sleep walk or get chased by a leopard.jksw
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 17:55 (12 hours ago) | | |||
Senior Consultant Neurologist Dr. J.B. Peiris suggests some simple ways to keep your mental faculties healthy.;
A few days ago a friend of mine asked me how best to remember names. Having faced the problem myself (possibly, a familial trait) I could not think of a suitable answer immediately. So, I did some thinking, reading and surfing and here are some interesting facts, myths and food for thought.
By the time you are 65 years, your brain isn't what it used to be- you will start to notice the signs: you forget people's names and you cannot remember where you left your keys or mobile phone. Clearly not everyone ages in the same way.
Reaction time is slower and it takes us longer to learn new information. Sometimes it takes longer to retrieve information, resulting in that tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon — where you almost have that word or that thought. That's typical of the middle-age brain.
There is a good reason why our memories start to let us down. At this stage of life we are steadily losing brain cells in critical areas such as the hippocampus - the area where memories are processed. This is not too much of a problem at first; even in old age the brain is flexible enough to compensate.
At some point though, losses start to make themselves felt. It's true that by midlife our brains can show some fraying. Brain processing speed slows down. Faced with new information, we often cannot master it as quickly as our younger peers. And there's little question that our short-term memories suffer.
There are, however, some brain functions which improve with age. We actually grow smarter in key areas in middle age which, with longer life spans, now stretches from our mid 40s to our mid to late 60s. In areas as diverse as vocabulary and inductive reasoning, our brains function better than they did in our 20s. As we age, we more easily get the "gist" of arguments. Even our judgment of others improves. Often, we simply "know'' if someone — or some idea — is to be trusted. We also get better at knowing what to ignore and when to hold our tongues.
Fresh thinking about the brain
An old myth in neuroscience is that once a brain cell dies off you can't replace it. But many studies have now shown, that there is, in fact, brain cell growth throughout life. It continues to develop, and even continues to grow new brain cells. So the brain can continue to learn throughout the middle age years and beyond.
Plasticity of the brain
The brain can be changed or moulded to suit the needs – the concept of "Plasticity" which relates to changes by adding or removing connections, or adding cells. Research has shown that in fact the brain never stops changing through learning.
In a recent study referred to as "your brain on Google," healthy, middle-aged volunteers, all novices on the computer, were taught how to do a Google search. They were told then to practise doing online searches for an hour a day, for seven days. After the week's practice, the volunteers came back into the lab and had their brains scanned while doing a Google search. The scans revealed significant increases in brain activity in the areas that control memory and decision-making.
The area of the brain that showed the increases was the frontal lobe, the thinking brain, especially in areas that control decision making and working memory.
With practice, a middle-age brain can very quickly alter its neuron-circuitry; can strengthen the neuron circuits that control short-term memory and decision making.
It is also known that other areas of the brain also increase in size with usage. For example, the finger area in the motor cortex in Braille readers and professional string instrument players is more extensive than in a normal individual.
The ability of the brain to change with learning is what is known as Neuro-plasticity.
Remembering names and numbers
Let me now try to answer the question I posed at the beginning – how to remember names and numbers.
Repeat it 7 seconds later
Train your mind frequently by repeating to yourself anything you need to remember as quickly as you learn it. This is very useful especially when remembering phone numbers and dates. Repetition is a simple system on how to improve memory power, but it works even for long term memory. Recall it after 7 seconds to store it in memory.
Write it down
Let the paper remember for you. The point is to have use of the information later, and if that's more easily done by way of an "external memory device" like pen and paper, why not take advantage of these tools? Also, writing things down is another way to more strongly "fix" something in our minds.
Imagine the future use
If you think about how you will use information, you're more likely to remember it. For example if after learning a new algorithm in a math class you imagine using it during a test, you'll probably remember it better - particularly when taking a test.
How to improve ‘brain fitness’
Consider the brain a muscle. Variety and curiosity is the basis. When anything you do becomes second nature, you need to make a change. If you can do the crossword puzzle in your sleep, it's time for you to move on to a new challenge in order to get the best workout for your brain.
Brain aerobics
What exactly constitutes a brain aerobic exercise? To qualify as a brain aerobic exercise, the activity
Needs to engage your attention
Play games
Sudoku, crosswords, playing chess or bridge, dancing regularly and electronic games can all improve your brain's speed and memory. These games rely on logic, word skills, math and more. These games are also fun. You'll get benefit more by doing these games a little bit every day -- spend 15 minutes or so, not hours.
Meditation
Daily meditation is perhaps the single greatest thing you can do for your mind/body health. Meditation not only relaxes you, it gives your brain a workout. By creating a different mental state, you engage your brain in new and interesting ways while increasing your brain fitness.
Turn off your television
Television can stand in the way of relationships, life and more. Turn off your TV and spend more time living and exercising your mind and body.
Exercise your body to exercise your brain
Physical exercise is great brain exercise too. By moving your body, your brain has to learn new muscle skills, estimate distance and practise balance. Choose a variety of exercises to challenge your brain.
Read something different
Branch out from familiar reading topics. If you usually read history books, try a contemporary novel. Read foreign authors, the classics and random books.
Learn a new skill
Learning a new skill works multiple areas of the brain. Your memory comes into play, you learn new movements and you associate things differently. Learning a new language or becoming computer literate is equally good. Reading Shakespeare, learning to cook and building an airplane out of toothpicks all will challenge your brain and give you something to think about.
Make simple changes
We love our routines. We have hobbies and pastimes that we could do for hours on end. To really help your brain stay young, challenge it.
Change routes to your destinations, use your opposite hand to open doors, and eat dessert, shave, and brush teeth, texting, using the computer mouse. Writing with the other hand is a useful way of using the non dominant hemisphere to do a component associated with speech – usually located in the dominant hemisphere.
The brain is an organ like no other. You can ‘exercise’ it in many different ways and this is the best way to make the best use of it. Use it or lose it, is true of the brain; importantly you can use it in many different ways.
