This past Friday, RCSE welcomed our new GRSP student, Julio! President Kim Campbell reminded everyone to pick up a Rotary t-shirt if they still needed one to wear to service projects. Once all Rotary items were discussed and Happy dollars collected, Cheri Dean introduced our speaker, Dr. Mary Kay Ross.
Dr. Ross said that neurocognitive disorders are on the rise. She shared a fun fact that the brain only occupies 2% of our body but uses 20% of our energy. She has been studying patients over the past eight years and has noticed that by making lifestyle changes, you can improve cognitive function. She presented a few studies about this and mentioned that young people can also be affected by dementia.
There are many tools available to evaluate cognitive function and many factors that can impact cognitive function. Some of the factors that can influence function are gut health, diabetes, cortisol levels, hormones, and toxins in our environment. Dr. Ross encouraged everyone to do a self evaluation to see where we can improve aspects of our lives. She ended her presentation by discussing five things we can do to help our brain which are 1. Brain Exercises (http://brainhq.com), 2. Diet, 3. Sleep Hygiene (practices to improve quality of sleep), 4. Mindfulness (how to decrease stress through meditation, etc) and 5. Exercise (moving the body is crucial!).