原文: Keep your mind sharp

With all the advances made in health care, people on the average are living longer. With this increase in the quantity of a normal lifespan, many individuals are working to maintain their health to ensure a good quality of life. This means exercise, not only of the body but also of the mind. Keeping the memory sharp is even more important than ever.
One important reminder is that any technique undertaken to perk up one’s memory will probably not do much to the development of Alzheimer’s disease, which is a progressive physical deterioration of the brain. However, doctors have noticed that patients who routinely work on their memory skills often progress to the serious stages more slowly. Research has also statistically demonstrated that patient loneliness speeds diseases progression.

Activities that keep your mind active will retain your memory skills. One of the best ways to do this is to learn a foreign language. This activity requires keeping memory skills intact to learn the vocabulary and nuances of the language. It also comes in useful if you decide to travel to foreign countries, which is another way to improve you memory. Travel in general keeps the mind alert since the traveller is placed in an unfamiliar place and must rely upon memory skills to move about. Travel is a large puzzle, which the traveller uses memory, maps, guides, schedules and other tools to solve. This seems more interesting than memorizing vocabulary, but both are effective ways to retain memory skills. Actually, learning any new skill will exercise the brain and keep it fit. Many people learn crafts or other new hobbies, and in turn teach them to others, which is also a great exercise.
Participating in puzzle solving, like sudoku and crosswords is an activity popular with many. Word puzzles are effective since they draw upon the memory of words for their solution and sudoku puzzles target the logic portion of the brain. Card games require both memory and logic.

Many health care providers believe that super nutrition and supplements may also keep brainpower at a peak and help maintain memory skills. Certainly, nutritional deficiencies and overuse of drugs and alcohol are harmful to the memory. But ingesting enough folic acid (vitamin B 6) can be effective in slowing the declines in memory that can occur with age and overindulgence. In studies, participants who took folic acid for a month long time period did much better on memory tests that the group that did not.

Other vitamins and minerals that have demonstrated to be beneficial to memory are Vitamins C and E, and Omega 3 fatty acid, which is usually found in fish oils and flax seeds. Anthocyanin, the blue pigment in blueberries, is a powerful antioxidant that is beneficial to brainpower. For centuries, practitioners of Ayurvedic medicine have used Bacopa (Bacopa monnieri), an herb native to India that is appearing in western stores, as a memory and concentration enhancer.

Studies repeatedly show that memory is affected by the person’s state of mind at the time information is introduced. Stress and distraction negatively affect the ability to remember things since they interfere with the ability to absorb and process the information. Try to clear your mind when you are introduced to new people and you may find that you can remember names better.

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译文: 保持你记忆力的敏锐（如何预防老年痴呆症的发生）

随着推进保健事业的成功发展，人们的平均寿命也在增长。以标准寿命的岁数增长，许多个人工作，以维持其健康，以确保一个良好的生活品质。这意味着运动不但对身体而且对记忆力都有极大的好处。保持你记忆的敏锐度比其他什么都重要。

一个重要的提醒是：任何技术想振作起来一个的记忆将对老年痴呆症不会有很大的帮助，老年痴呆症是由大脑衰退导致生活不能自理。然而，医生注意到老年痴呆病人在常规的工作下，对他们的记忆能力，往往进度严重阶段较为缓慢。研究还统计表明，老年痴呆病人寂寞速度症状的进展。

活动保持你的心态积极将维持你的记忆能力。其中最好的方式是学习一门外语。这项活动需要保存你完好的记忆能力去学习词汇和学习语言的音调。它也有其他用处，如果你决定前往国外，这也是一种改善你记忆的方式。旅行通常要保持警觉心，因为旅客是呆在一个完全陌生的地方而且必须依靠你自身的记忆能力到达想去的地方。旅游是一个大难题，而旅行者利用记忆、地图、指南针、日程安排表和其他工具来解决。这似乎比记忆词汇来的更有趣，但对维持记忆都是有效的方法。实际上，学习任何新技能，都可以锻炼大脑并且使其适应。许多人学习手工艺或其他新的爱好，从而他们去教导他人，这也是一个很伟大的练习。

参与解谜，像数独游戏和纵横填字谜是一个深受很多人欢迎的活动。拼字图游戏是很有效的，因为它们利用大脑对字的记忆来解决，并且数独游戏是针对逻辑性思维的大脑。纸牌都需要记忆和逻辑。许多保健提供商认为超级营养补充剂，也可以保持脑力处于高峰，并且帮助你维持记忆能力。当然，营养不足和过度使用毒品和酒精，都会对你的记忆造成损害。摄取足够的叶酸（维他命B6），随着年龄的增长和对自己过分的放纵能有效的缓解记忆力下降。研究证实，参与者摄取叶酸一个多月的时间内，记忆力测试的确好很多并没有忘记很多。

其他维生素和矿物质已证明对记忆是有意的，如维他命C和E，和Omega3脂肪酸，通常在发现鱼油和亚麻种子中提取的。花青素，蓝色颜料的蓝霉，是一个强有力的抗氧化剂，有利于脑力。数百年来，印度草医学从业者使用（马齿苋），印度本土草本出现在西方的药店，作为集中加强者的记忆。研究一再表明，在当时的资料介绍中记忆是受人的精神状态的影响。压力和分心，负面影响到你记东西的能力，因为它们扰乱你吸收事物的能力和处理信息的方法。当你与新认识的人互相介绍时，试着让你的头脑变得清醒，你可以找到更好的方式去记住别人的名字。