Omega 3s and Blueberries

Five months and two weeks, feeling well, in Bright Sun

El sol está brillando hoy. Tenemos un clima muy agradable.  Tá an ghrian ag soilsiú inniu. Tá aimsir an-deas againn.

I am five months and two weeks into recovery from two strokes I had in late September.  It has been an interesting road I have travelled in recovery.  As all stroke survivors and neurologists will tell you, every stroke is different and the recovery can be different as well.

I begin this blog post in Castellano and Gaeilge (Gaelic) as prior to my stroke I used both of these languages.  I could not use them, or English for that matter, after the strokes.  I had aphasia.  Aphasia is the inability to formulate and comprehend language due to an injury to the brain, in my case from a blot clot in the base of my brain.  Due to the correct decision being made by my son Conar and then the medical people attending me, the treatment and care I was given allowed me to recover well.  I would characterise the recovery as rapid. Within a couple of weeks my speech and language comprehension came back.  Three months into recovery I hit a plateau... but slowly, it is finally all coming back.  I can function again in three languages.  I focused, for obvious reasons, on English, but I am now spending more and more time, using Castellano and Gaeilge. 

Doing Well!

 In the last five months I have studied neurogenesis.  Neurogenesis is the process of birth of neurons generated from neural stem cells.  This is a new field of science.  As recently as 1998 the phenomenon was not known and in the old paradigm there was a belief that one could not grow new brain cells.  This was incorrect however.  In the last eighteen years the research on neurogenesis has made great progress.  The process is now well documented and there are methods and protocols in place that encourage the neurogenesis process.

In short, there are things one can do to greatly enhance brain function.  The neurologists have identified how to improve and increase neurogenesis and conversely, they know behaviours that decrease the process.  One's diet, nutrition, sleep habits, exercise, and other factors, greatly enhance and speed up neurogenesis.  These last few months I have consumed truck loads of Omega 3 fish oil supplements, blueberries, cold water fish, and other items to feed my old hippocampus.

Now this is good news for anyone with a brain injury, be it stroke, concussion, a head blow, and even age related cognition issues, such as Alzheimer's and dementia.  These medical issues can be treated and in some cases there is a complete recovery... and even recovery to the point of being better before the problem developed.  Alzheimer's for example, often is a form of Diabetes III, this type of Alzheimer's responds well to treatment.

back when the old beard was Red

Neurogenesis is a complex topic and is still a relatively new field of medical science.  Much too complex for me to write about it on my McCain's Corner blog.  I do encourage anyone interested to read on the topic.  There are some very good video talks and lectures on neurogenesis on Youtube.   A good place to start is with Dr Brant Cortright and Dr Sandrine Thuret.   This is good data to have even if you are in the pink and Bristol fashion... and just want to make sure the ole brain stays hummin' along.  It is in short, it is Good Stuff.

I gave myself six months to recover.  This is only two weeks away now.  I am doing well.  I am writing again and doing a lot of research reading, for my next projects.  I can say, with confidence; estoy de vuelta en la sillín de nuevo, el sillín del escritor que es.

the tea... Darjeeling, my fave

© 2018 Barry R McCain