New research has shown that patients with chronic lung disease have an 87% higher chance of experiencing mild cognitive impairment, compared to people without chronic lung disease.
Mild cognitive impairment as defined by The Mayo Clinic as "a intermediate stage between the expected cognitive decline of language, memory, judgment, and thinking which you can expect of normal aging, or a more serious decline of dementia".
If you have been living with chronic lung disease for sometime you may have already begun to notice a decrease in cognitive function, or that you are not as witty and sharp as you once were.
Which is why we have prepared a list of helpful tips that can help you increase your memory as well as other cognitive functions, these tips will also help you delay your cognitive impairment from getting worse.
How to Prevent a Decrease in Your Cognitive Function
Napping
Everything you must remember on a daily basis can become overwhelming at times, which is why taking a quick nap for even 20 minutes can boost your memory.
The benefits from a quick nap are noticeable almost immediately after waking up, and this improved cognitive function can be felt for 1-3 hours!
Eat Fruits and Veggies
Try switching up your diet to be loaded with fruits, veggies, nuts, and fish.
These foods have been shown to provide helpful factors in minimizing cognitive impairment.
Adding the vitamin B12 into your diet can also reduce cognitive impairment, which research also suggest that a lack B12 may be associated with cognitive impairment.
It's Never too Late to Learn Something New
Learning new skills can help your brain produce new brain cells as well as build connectors, which are called synapses.
It doesn't matter if you are learning pottery, a new yoga routine, or even cooking can lead to an improvement of cognitive function.
Yoga is a fantastic exercise for patients with chronic lung disease, when practicing yoga it can help you breathe and move better, in addition to helping you better manage your condition.
Interact with Individuals Alike
Communication with other individuals can help improve your short-term memory in as little as 10 minutes!
Joining a support group of individuals who suffer from chronic lung disease is a great way to connect with others who understand what you are going through, share stories, as well as exchange treatment options that work best for their chronic lung disease.
Attendance to these support groups is made possible with the help of a feather like portable oxygen concentrator!
Challenge Your Brain
Word searches and crossword puzzles are a fantastic way of challenging your brain in a fun way!
By doing a quick search online you will easily be able to find puzzles that will challenge your cognitive performance, a great website for improving brain function based off of proven neuroscience research is Lumosity.com.
Naturally cognitive function decreases as we all age, but if you suffer from chronic lung disease then you're at a higher risk for further decrease in cognitive function.
By using the previous tips in your daily lifestyle you can reduce your cognitive impairment and more importantly delay it from getting worse.
