Power of One

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I feel a bit like a proud mama – you know that feeling we all got the first time we saw our kid walk across a stage dressed as green eggs holding hands with the ham taking their place in the spotlight.  That swelling in your heart that reaffirms that somehow you’ve done your job!

I experienced that feeling again last week at three separate events held by Women of Baycrest.  Power of One was a new spin on an old idea.  Membership is the life-blood of any movement and we are trying to build a movement.  The ground swell that we’ve described as a tsunami with over 250 women joining our ranks couldn’t come to a grinding halt just because we were all busy patting ourselves on the back.  Our success is dependent on growth – one woman who tells two friends, who tells two friends and so on and so on.

Back to Power of One – a great little idea to invite current members to bring a guest to hear all about what we’ve been doing – and of course because Women of Baycrest does things with dash and élan – these events were hosted by some of Toronto’s finest eateries and hot spots.  Lunch at grano’s; cocktails at Sassafraz; and a girl’s night out at Brassaii complete with mini-mani bar!

So why am I popping my buttons?  Because the heart of these events was a very informal talk by our Founder and Chair Lynn Posluns.  Lynn is a most accomplished and professional speaker and Women of Baycrest is her passion.  Lynn often speaks in public and she does it very well – but what made these events different, was her raw emotion and enthusiasm.  Unlike most of her formal addresses, she spoke without notes, without microphone, without visual aids – it was a real conversation; a chance for her to tell it like it is.  A side I often see, but one that isn’t her public persona.  She literally blew them away.  I sat at the back of the room and watched the faces of the women watching her.  It was nothing short of magic.  And as she spoke about the scope of our projects and what we’ve accomplished in less than two years – it sounded impossible that we’ve come so far.

A few highlights:

  • Raised over $1.5 million (a far cry from our first year’s goal of $250,000)
  • Over 275 members (our goal for year one was 100)
  • Funding Dr. Tiffany Chow, Scientist-Clinician, Sam and Ida Ross Memory Clinic, Baycrest
  • Funding Post Doctoral Fellow Dr. Norman Farb for the next two years
  • Well on our way to establishing a $3 million Research Chair in Women’s Brain Health and Aging
  • Creating and funding an Academic Symposium in April, 2011 featuring 5 scientists from around North America to discuss issues of women’s brain health and thereby define the field
  • Creating and funding a one-day women’s conference featuring 14 scientists and mid-life experts to discuss current findings and discuss the future of women’s brain health with the 1,000 anticipated participants
  • Developing and producing the first Brain Health Cookbook
  • Connecting with an array of amazing corporate partners
  • The addition of our Young Women of Baycrest division to include and empower women under 35
  • And of course the long list of the amazing experiences we’ve hosted from educational to culinary to entertainment!

It’s pretty overwhelming.  The past 18 months are now a blur and we don’t stop long enough to look back – because we’re already on to the next project.  Except for one thing – our members.

The other component of our Power of One events was the three members who spoke about their own involvement.  They were nothing short of amazing.  They talked about what I like to call their WBness.  Why becoming a member was important to them.  And what they said was inspiring.

Irene Berkowitz talked about Women of Baycrest’s specificity – that we were single-minded and totally focused on our goal and that all the money we raise is going to one cause – not into a generic pool.  That was the hook for her.

Anita Lapidus spoke about the empowerment of women.  She said, “Is there anyone in this room who has not, in some way, contributed to the on-going Pink Ribbon campaign? This work has profoundly changed the landscape of breast cancer from a disease that was once only whispered to one that raises hundreds of millions for research and treatment. What started as an initiative by a small group of courageous women is now a mega-movement  – all through the power of women who thought it important.  When I envision the potential of Women of Baycrest, I see legions of women who care deeply about being able to age with the dignity of cognition; women getting involved in raising the profile and supporting the research that can make that possible for all. We do this for ourselves and the women in our lives that we love.”

Natalie Gee – a Young Woman of Baycrest – explained that she had never stopped to think about the fact that her brain, her mind was her essence and what would become of her or her mother or her sister if that was lost to her.  As a woman and an entrepreneur in the beauty industry, she spoke to her need to focus not just on body and beauty but especially on brains.

Each event was unique, each event attracted women of totally different demographics and each event made me proud to be associated with these astonishing women.  And the good news – in one short week we welcomed 7 new Women of Baycrest and 9 new Young Women of Baycrest.  We can now boast of over 300 members who are empowered and engaged.

My heart swells with pride!

 Margi Oksner

Announcing the Women of Baycrest Academic Symposium

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I have been delinquent in my duties as a blogger.  Not so much a case of shirking my responsibilities, but more a case of not being able to reveal some of the amazing things we’re working on.  But now I have the go ahead and want to share some very exciting developments on the Women of Baycrest Academic Symposium that is being held on April 6, 2011 in Toronto.

This has been in the planning stages since early June, and now its official enough that I can divulge what we have been working on.

Just a little background info.

In the spring, our fearless leader, Lynn Posluns pointed out that what we know is what we don’t know.  And it was time to find out where we stood in terms of women’s brain health – globally.  She quite rightly determined that what we really needed to do was define the field of women’s brain health by establishing the base line for where research and science currently stand and then share that information with both the scientific and general communities.   The question became how?  The original plan was to find a scientist to research and write a review of existing literature that Women of Baycrest could then publish in both medical journals (in its scientific format) and also translate into “lay speak” for general consumption. Yes, an ambition undertaking.

As we discussed the project with the expert researchers at Baycrest, it became clear that the best way to accomplish our goals for defining the field of study for women’s brain health, would be to bring the leading thinkers in the area together and have them discuss it in a conference setting and use the outcomes of their discussions as the basis for our magazine and medical journal articles.

Hence, the Women of Baycrest Academic Symposium was born – as an idea.  The really impressive part is how seemingly easy it was to reach out to the scientist to make this a reality.

Our Academic Symposium is now booked for April 6, 2011 – place still to be determined.  It will be open to 250-300 researchers, scientists, allied health care professionals and students who are interested in current thinking and research about women’s brain health.

Here are some of the Symposium details:

 

The day will be made up of morning and afternoon panel discussions to be followed by individual presentations by the participating speakers. The morning session will feature a panel discussion on “The biological bases for sex differences in brain health and aging,” and the afternoon session will focus on “Sex differences in clinical syndromes.” The day will be moderated by Dr. Randy McIntosh, Vice President Research, Baycrest Centre, and Director of the Rotman Research Institute.

Speakers include

  • Dr. Walter Rocca, Professor of Epidemiology and Neurology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota;
  • Dr. Robert Handa, Professor, Department of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Arizona;
  • Dr. Tomas Paus, Anne and Max Tanenbaum, Professor and Chair of Population Neuroscience, Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest;
  • Dr. Gillian Einstein, Director of the Collaborative Graduate Program in Women’s Health, University of Toronto;
  • Dr. Pauline M. Maki, Associate Professor in the Departments of Psychiatry and Psychology at the University of Illinois at Chicago;
  • Dr. Tiffany Chow, Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto and Clinician-Scientist at Baycrest’s Sam and Ida Ross Memory Clinic.

Are you impressed with the lineup?  I am!  Sadly, when I read each of the scientist’s individual presentation headings, I didn’t exactly understand what they are going to talk about – but that’s why we are going to translate these documents for the general public.  I’m very excited about the prospects of what we are going to achieve.  Think about it – we are actually going to define the area of women’s brain health so that when we have raised the dollars required to hire our Baycrest Chair in Women’s Brain Health and Aging, we will have created a template of science from which to move forward.  Now we just have to raise the rest of the money….and that is for another blog.

Margi Oksner

One step forward…and then what?

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When I started writing this entry last week, I was elated. We had just had two wonderful days with my mother Frida.  As you can imagine, the holiday season can be very trying.  But during Rosh Hashanah Frida was engaged and interactive.  We spent time together at synagogue, reading from our prayer books, singing and following along.  Both afternoons were filled with family visits where she  busily talked to different people, looked interested, seemed to be very much a part of the conversations.  I was so happy to see her in such a good state.

I discussed this with my siblings about this and they agreed that the new memory medication in the form of a transdermal patch was really effective.  There seemed to be a marked improvement in her attitude, her ability to carry on a conversation, in general, she seemed quite lucid.

Flash forward to the next of the High Holidays – Yom Kippur – a mere 8 days later.

Frida spent the day waffling back and forth as to whether or not she would come for dinner.  Once she arrived, there was the endless question of why there was no one else at the party besides my husband and me.  The explanation that it was not a party just an early dinner in order to get to synagogue before sundown and the beginning of the fast of Yom Kippur did not register.

The following day, she refused to go to synagogue at all.  This was the first time in my memory that she had missed the memorial service that is a part of the Day of Atonement.  This was always a significant time for my mother – a time to formally recognize her family who perished during the Holocaust, her dearly departed husband and all her other family members who are no longer living.  Was this a sign that she had forgotten the meaning of Yom Kippur?  Was she just tired?  Or was she no longer able to make the connection between Yom Kippur and those she usually mourned on this holy day? I did not force her.  I did not rebuke her.  I gave in to her wishes.

My sister assured me that she was still better than before the patch – that is until she took her out for lunch the next day.  While waiting in line for their table at Frida’s favourite restaurant, they were greeted by an old acquaintance, a long conversation ensured – how lovely to see each other blah, blah, blah – the usual.  The lady went back to her seat.

Not two minutes later, Frida pointed out the same woman and said, “See that red-haired lady over there, I know her – you’d think she’d have the decency to come over and say hello to me.”  What can we say – obviously we have entered the ‘there are good days and there are bad days’ phase of my mother’s illness.  And we seem to be experiencing more bad days.  I suppose the best we can hope for is enjoying and relishing the good ones.

Margi Oksner

Wine, women and shopping!

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Okay, there is no denying that when it comes to Women of Baycrest I am a bit obnoxious.  Yes I can talk about other things, but right here and now, at this point in my life, this is where my interest lies.  I am not shallow, I am not one-dimensional, I’m actually engaged, interested and passionate.  I’ve become really focused on the science and technology issues around brain health, and how to keep brain fit as long as possible.

So last week I was totally gob-smacked, dumb founded – rendered speechless (if you can imagine).

I was waxing poetic to one of my friends about an event that WB is hosting next week.  It’s our second annual shopping event – More Passion for Fashion. Wine, women and shopping at a discount.  How much fun is that?  And best of all, this year, its right in the middle of TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival).  I think hanging with my peeps on Bloor Street with a glass of wine, people watching, being chauffeured from one location to another in brand new BMWs and trying on shoes sounds like a fun way to spend an evening.

What stopped me in my tracks was the following question.  “So basically all I do is come shopping?”  What kind of question is that?  I want more from my friends.  Yes it’s shopping, but that’s a by-product of the big picture.  Where have I gone wrong if my own friends don’t get it?

Yes there is shopping involved – but it’s the hook – it’s basic Marketing 101. Get them in the door.  Yes its good for the retailers who have sponsored the event, and yes it’s a fundraising vehicle to help support the Women’s Brain Health Research Fund and yes it’s about a fun night, but more importantly it’s about getting the message out to as many people as possible.

This is another chance to tell the amazing  Women of Baycrest story and what we are doing to move the cause of women’s brain health forward. Sharing information that will help us in the very near future as we age, things we can share with our children to get them started on the right road to brain fitness now, things we need to know to help us cope with aging parents – all this and more.

Am I being naive when I think altruistically? Do I believe my own bullshit when I see this as a great opportunity to raise awareness for Women of Baycrest by introducing non-members and friends to what we are all about and attract more dollars to our fundraising cause? Is it wrong to want to educate and have fun at the same time – have people leave an event saying they had a great time and learned something to?  Or is it really just about the shopping?

Margi Oksner

Girl Mice Do Not Wear Twin Sets!

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I don’t usually post reprints – but when I saw this article,  I found it fascinating and hope you will too.

Margi Oksner

Of Mice and Women: Testing Lab Animals to Understand Our Health

By Sari Harrar

About 20 years ago, scientists realized that testing drugs and medical procedures primarily on men told them little about how a woman might react. But animal researchers have just recently begun to conclude that using only males means they’re getting only half an answer.

“Seventy-nine percent of pain studies are on male lab animals only, even though far more women have problems with pain,” says Jeffrey Mogil, PhD, professor of pain studies at McGill University and a premier sex-difference researcher in the field of pain genetics. “We’re missing valuable information because so many researchers don’t look at both sexes when studying lab animals.”

“Sex matters in ways we haven’t really thought about before,” says Virginia M. Miller, PhD, a professor of physiology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. One of Miller’s lab studies (with female pigs) unearthed a possible reason why premenopausal women get little or no heart protection from low-dose aspirin: The linings of female arteries produce a mix of chemicals that don’t respond to aspirin the way males’ do. This helps explain why the conventional wisdom about aspirin—that it protects everyone’s heart from dangerous blood clots—was off the mark.

“The beauty of studying both sexes in animals is that what you see is what you get,” says Sherry Marts, PhD, executive director of the Organization for the Study of Sex Differences. “Girl mice don’t wear twinsets or have lower-paying jobs than boy mice. Different reactions are going to be due to genes, hormones, or physiology, not gender issues like income, education, or healthcare.”

Researchers have been reluctant to use female mice because—wouldn’t you know it—they’re more complex. “All those pesky hormones,” Marts says. “A mouse’s menstrual cycle is just four to six days long,” enough to influence results. “You have to test each mouse to see where she is.” The process is a little like performing a tiny Pap smear.

When researchers have made the effort to include both female and male animals, they’ve turned up startling differences. Among the tidbits so far:

Pain Relief
Male and female mouse brains have different pain-processing circuitry, which may help explain why women are so much more prone to chronic pain than men. They’re nine times more likely to have fibromyalgia, eight times more likely to have jaw pain, three times more likely to get migraines, and twice as likely to have irritable bowel syndrome. “Someday we could have pain treatments that target these sex-specific mechanisms—pills that work well for one gender but don’t work at all for the other,” says Mogil, who authored this research.

Sunburn
Female mice are more susceptible to burns; males get skin tumors earlier. This could lead to sunblock tailored to women’s and men’s needs, say scientists at Ohio State University. Their findings suggest women may need more anti-inflammatories to soothe sun damage after a day on the beach, while men may need more antioxidants to protect against cancer.

Stroke
The brains of female rats have a stronger inflammatory response, according to a study in Stroke. This may be one reason that women’s strokes are more debilitating—and more deadly—than men’s. Studies on animals suggest that compounds that block brain-damaging proteins during a stroke protect males but harm females.

Mogil believes that researchers who start working with female rodents will be pleasantly surprised. “Males can be more aggressive,” he says. “They’ll bite more readily than females.”

From:

O, The Oprah Magazine  |  September 19, 2008

The Frightening Statistics on Alzheimer’s

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When you read this, you’ll get a better grasp of why Women of Baycrest is so bound and determined to raise money to fund a Research Chair in Women’s Brain Health and Aging.  We are the fastest growing demographic and these numbers prove the point.

Rising Tide: The Impact of Dementia in Canada

Rising Tide: the Impact of Dementia on Canadian Society is the final report of an Alzheimer Society project funded by Pfizer Canada, Health Canada, Public Health Agency of Canada, Canadian Institutes of Health Research and Rx&D. The purpose of the report was to:

  • Estimate the health and economic burden of dementia in Canada over the next 30 years;
  • Analyze the possible effects of intervention scenarios upon this burden;
  • Demonstrate how the proposed interventions could affect the health and economic impacts of dementia in Canada;
  • Review policy options;
  • Make recommendations on how to address the issue.

The Findings of Rising Tide

 

Health Burden of Dementia for Canada: 2008-2038

  • Incidence of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias in Canada:
    • 2008 – 103,700 new cases per year (1 every 5 minutes)
    • 2038 – 257,800 new cases per year (1 every 2 minutes)
  • Prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias in Canada:
    • 2008 – 480,600 people with dementia (1.5% of Canada’s population)
    • 2038 – 1,125,200 people with dementia (2.8% of Canada’s population)
  • Hours of informal care provided annually for people with dementia in Canada
    • 2008 – 231 million hours
    • 2038 – 756 million hours

Economic Consequences of Dementia for Canada: 2008-2038

The Economic Burden of dementia doubles every decade, increasing from $15 billion in 2008 to a startling $153 billion in 2038.

  • Economic Burden of Dementia (in future dollars)
    • 2008 – $15 billion
    • 2018 – $37 billion
    • 2028 – $75 billion
    • 2038 – $153 billion

From 2000 to 2004 U.S. Deaths Caused by:

  • Alzheimer’s disease increased by +32.8%
  • Heart disease decreased by (-8%)
  • Breast Cancer decreased by (-2.6%)
  • Prostate Cancer decreased by (-6.3%)
  • Stroke decreased by (-10.4%)

Please go to our various websites and look at the amazing things that are going on in research and education.  You’ll be blown away at the super stars that are being attracted to Baycrest because we are leading the way in research and innovation in aging and brain fitness.  Try www.baycrest.org or www.womenofbaycrest.com

Margi Oksner

Brain in a Box

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Last summer I was recruited to be a research subject.  I felt doubly honoured.  Not only was someone interested in my brain (I’m so easily flattered), but this study was being conducted by Dr. Paul Verhoeff.  Not a household name but let me tell you what he’s doing. Dr. Verhoeff is making strides at Baycrest in showing the potential for PET scans to advance an earlier diagnosis of Alzheimer’s as well as assessing the effectiveness of new Alzheimer’s treatments. He published the first PET study of brain deposits called beta-amyloids associated with Alzheimer’s in living patients in 2004, and the first published study in the world that compared two beta-amyloid PET tracers.

Before Dr. Verhoeff could actually look at my brain, I had to undergo a series of tests.  The first was some cognitive testing conducted by a research assistant at the Brain Health Centre – very interesting stuff, word associations, memory testing – that sort of thing.  My naturally inquisitive self asked a lot of questions, questions about the process, what the study hoped to achieve, how she came to be at Baycrest, what else she was studying. It was fascinating.  Step two was the physical neurological test.  This was my first chance to meet Dr. Verhoeff.  I was wowed.  Here was this world-class scientist taking his time to study me and he was so kind, so gracious, almost apologetic in manner as he asked me to balance on one foot or tested my reflexes.  Again, a chance to talk to him and ask questions about his work.

And as your typical type A overachiever, I was thrilled to learn that I passed these examinations and could now continue on to the real meat of the study, two PET Scans and an MRI.  I had stars in my eyes – this was my big chance to contribute to science and confirm that, in fact, I do have a brain.

Off I went for my first PET scan.  PET (positron emission tomography) scan is a form of nuclear medicine imaging which uses radioactive materials to produce 3-dimensional, color images of the functional processes within the human – in this case – my brain. The nuclear medicine part, in the form of a radionuclide, was injected into my body as a tracer. I didn’t know that in advance!

In order for the computer to properly compile the 3-D images you have to keep your head perfectly still – not something most of us can do for a prolonged period of time.  To solve this problem – the technician placed a moist cloth over my face and head and secured it to the sides of the table to totally immobilize my head.  This Papier Mache-like membrane then hardened into a mask that made it impossible to move my head.  I didn’t know that in advance either!

So there I was, wondering if I looked anything like Leonardo DiCaprio in Iron Mask, waiting for the technician to light up my brain by injecting me with radioactive molecules and then the slab I was lying on moved into the machine.  Now I’ve had MRIs before – once on my abdomen and once on my knee – in both cases, my head wasn’t part of the process.  This was definitely a different experience.  From the outside the PET looks pretty big, but once they moved me in – right down to the collar bones – believe me, it was a very tight fit. Hence, brain in a box.

My first thought was – I’m not going to be able to do this for the next forty-five minutes.  My second – how do I get out of here with my dignity?  My third – there is no way …it’s too late.

And then Dr. Verhoeff came into the room, he patted my hand, talked to me about the procedure and what I could expect and thanked me again for participating. He was so kind and understanding.  He was so gracious.  How could I let him down?  So I rethought my situation.  I could do this.  I was contributing to science.  I just had to make myself go to a ‘happy place.”  And then I did something totally inexcusable – totally embarrassing, something I’m sure no other test subject had ever done (no, not that!)  – I fell asleep.  Under the most stressful conditions, with all the noise of the PET scanner, I drifted off to never-never land.  I missed the whole thing.  When they slid me out of the PET, there was Dr. Verhoeff, sheepishly grinning and I was convinced he was trying to keep from howling with laughter – and it wasn’t my hat-head that was amusing him – it was the idiot who slept through the test.  What must he have thought of me?  But he was gracious and never mentioned it!

I did go back for PET II – the sequel. When that was over, they even offered to let me keep my mask (I passed on that). I did have the MRI and yes, they did confirm that there was a brain and it might actually be functional.  In the end, putting my brain in a box was a good thing. My brain was going to be compared to that of a woman of the same age and educational background as me but who suffers from severe dementia and the differences were of great interest to the scientists.

I now feel that I have a special bond with the science we are all working so hard to fund.  And best of all, whenever I see Dr. Verhoeff or one of his researchers in the halls at work, I get to chat and catch up with what they’re working on and how the research is progressing.

Flash forward to a few weeks ago.  I run into Dr. Verhoeff in the elevator and he mentions another study that is being conducted.  I tell him to get a researcher to call me – coach, I’m ready – send me. Another brain in the box-kind of test – I’m there!

All I needed to do is answer a few questions.  Yes, I met the age and gender criteria.  Yes, I met the education criteria.  Yes, I take a daily medication for an inner-ear disorder. No, I’m no longer eligible.  Is it possible – I’m being rejected?  I fail.  I’m crushed.  And this is where it got ugly – I started to beg the poor researcher on the other end of the phone.  I even tried the “but I know Dr. Verhoeff” card.  But it was over.  Basically, I was kicked off the island.

Well here’s one more thing I’ve learned from Dr. Verhoeff – I’m a research subject junkie.  I’ll do more volunteering and if you’re at all interested in some of these amazing experiences; you should consider giving your brain to science while you can be a part of the process.

 Margi Oksner

Trauma or Drama

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Frida fell.

On Mondays and Wednesdays, my 87 year old mother Frida goes to this amazing program offered at Baycrest.  It’s a day care program for seniors (read 80+ not 65).  It’s a day filled with healthy snacks, a hot lunch, discussion groups, films, playing cards, interesting guest speakers, musical entertainment and light exercise.  Frida just learned to bowl using the Wii.

Frida loves going to Baycrest.  She and her friend Faye are downstairs in the condo lobby at 9 am to get picked up by the Baycrest bus and they don’t get back until after 4 pm – it’s a fun-filled, jam-packed day of socializing.  It’s a good thing!

The fact that I work in the building is also a good thing – on my way to grab something for lunch at the cafeteria, I can pop in and say hello.

Last Wednesday, I get a call.  Frida fell – but she’s okay.  The amazing staff person told me “She got dizzy and lost her balance.  She was fine over lunch but is now complaining she can’t put weight on her right leg.  We would like you to take her to Branson Hospital to get her hip and leg x-rayed.”  How could I do anything else?

But I must admit I had visions of hospitalizations, rehab, pain management, and I don’t know what else.  Selfishly I started thinking about how this was going to impact on my life and damn, if I wasn’t in the building they would have called my sister Fran or my brother David.  I’m not happy about having to go sit in an emergency room for the next gazillion hours!

I go down to the Day Centre, get a full rundown from the nurse and then get Frida bundled into my car and off we go.  And yes there is a God.  Thankfully nothing is broken; I take her home with some pain killers and instructions to take it easy for a day or two.

Flash forward to this week –  no bruises, no broken bones, and no pain.  But Frida is still lying around – not going to her Baycrest programs, not going to her evening card games in the condo, not going out!   So is she traumatized? Is she looking for sympathy? Is she somehow embarrassed by the fuss that was made over her when she fell?  Don’t know the answer, but I’m not happy that her usually social self is now isolated.  Socialization is so important at her age and I fear this is another symptom of her decline.

Margi Oksner

Blueberries – the wunderkind of the fruit family or maybe you shouldn’t put all your berries in one basket?

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For a girl who loves her food, what could be more perfect than working on a cook book?  I’ve died and gone to heaven – I have visions of being the tester for every recipe – free food and it’s not like I wanted to eat everything on my plate – but I had to.  It’s my job!

I’m working with an amazing team on this book.  In addition to WB chair Lynn Posluns, we have Dr. Carol Greenwood, a senior scientist at Baycrest’s Kunin-Lunenfeld Applied Research Unit and professor of nutritional sciences at the University of Toronto advising; Elise Mecklinger, author of six cookbooks; Joanna Gryfe who has just completed an internship in New York with Rachel Ray; and Bonnie Shore who is the most amazing marketing genius.

What could be more fun than having to talk about food for 2 hours every week – what we eat, when we eat, how we eat, what we should be eating, and when we’re really being honest with ourselves, what we really eat!  Have I mentioned that I love my job?

So last week we started getting down to the brass tacks of what format the book should take.  No one needs another Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner book with a forward from some academic telling you you’ve got to change your lifestyle or your diet.  We want a book that is reader and user friendly – that addresses real life and where readers can say – “Okay, I have that in my cupboard – maybe I’ll keep some in my desk or in my glove compartment for a quick fix to ward off the 3:00 pm hungries and boost my brain a bit  - I can do that, I can take tiny steps that are going to be good for me.”

We started with breakfast – and yes, it is the most important meal of the day!

So from my usual, not a breakfast kind of girl, perspective, I put forward this scenario – which by the way, I think is not out of the norm for many people.

“I’ve got an 8:00 am tee time at the golf course.  I think I’ve scored if I have enough time to grab a cup of coffee at Starbucks and gulp it down as I’m flying along the highway.  By the time I get to the turnaround after the ninth hole, I’m ready to gnaw off my arm – so what should I be grabbing in the snack bar?”

First there was horror on Elise’s face – she was downright spluttering with indignation! “The answer is simple,” said the shocked Elise.  “You get up half an hour earlier and have a decent breakfast with a complex carbohydrate – cooked oatmeal or quinoa, fruit and at least 8 oz of water to get you hydrated before you go play golf.”

Yeah right – it’s not happening – I’m not getting up earlier – I’m not cooking, stirring, poaching – I can barely find my car keys let alone the kitchen – so let’s get real!

I thought about ending my blog here – but I could hear your groans through the screen – because I know that although many people are disciplined and smart – like Elise – many of us aren’t there yet (and may never be).

Here’s what Carol said on the subject.  You want two things:

  1. Carbohydrate to help improve mental alertness and memory (after all you need to remember where that last ball fell), and
  2.  something that will keep you feeling reasonably full/satiated until you finish your game so that you don’t lose concentration on your swing while dealing with hunger pangs .

So, I’m looking to combine carbohydrate for #1 with either fibre or protein to help you with the hunger piece (#2).  So, a couple of suggestions would be:

  • Trail mix with a good selection of healthy nuts such as walnuts and almonds along with some dried fruits such as raisins, mango/papaya/apricots (keep away from the dried banana chips they are actually high in fat) – if you make your own you could even add in some Cheerios – they are made from oats and help lower cholesterol along with Mini-Wheats or another unsweetened cereal.
  • High fibre muffin such as a bran muffin – if they offer a lower fat option, go for it.
  • Yoghurt and piece of fruit – the yoghurt will actually help with the hunger piece but chose a flavoured/sweetened one to get a bit more sugar/carbohydrate.
  • Good old fashioned gummy bears and jujubes for the sugar along with some nuts to help with hunger.  Go for it, you are out and exercising, no one is watching except your girlfriends!  Just don’t over do it.

So what’s all this got to do with blueberries?  The hype isn’t just hype – turns out they really are very good for you – full of all the ‘stuff’ we’ve been reading about – but don’t exclude other berries.  Strawberries and blackberries are equally good – they just may not have as much marketing money!

Here’s a link to an article about food and nutrition you might enjoy.  http://www.baycrest.org/Breakthroughs/12799.asp

 Margi Oksner

But doctor will I be able to play the piano?

Posted on by System Administrator

Remember that old chestnut about the guy who is recovering from hand surgery and asks his doctor if he’ll be able to play the piano. The doctor says yes.  The man replies, “great, ‘cause I couldn’t play before.”  Groan!!

I met an amazing Baycrest research scientist a few weeks ago, Dr. Takako Fujioka.  This lovely young woman was a child prodigy playing piano and cello from the age of 4 and had a future as a concert musician, but chose instead to focus on engineering when she reached university.  Somewhere along the line, she switched gears and did her PhD. in physiology and now researches how music and playing a musical instrument impacts the way we use our brains.

Here’s what I learned during my meeting with Dr. F.   I’m sure this summary doesn’t do her justice, but I want to whet your appetite with this intriguing research.  A little technical background – stuff I didn’t know.  Brain waves actually give off electrical sparks and signals.  At Baycrest we have one of only 5 MEG (magneto encephalography) machines in all of Canada.  Think of the MEG doing for the brain what an EEG does for the heart which is monitoring heart beats and rhythms – but with one giant difference.  The MEG requires no electrodes or gels to transmit the signals – it works like a radio picking up our brain waves.  Pretty cool.

So what Dr. F and her team did was to look at the visible differences between the brains of the musically trained and untrained.  Using children as the subjects for this study, they took one group who were learning to play an instrument and one that was not and studied their brain development at four different intervals over the course of a year.  The musical group showed accelerated brain development.

With this information under her belt, Dr. F. is now involved in a brain fitness program here at Baycrest.  Using older adults (60+), she has enrolled them in what she playfully refers to as her “Piano Boot Camp.”  Her study investigates what enhanced sensory motor integration looks like through MEG imagery and whether it corroborates her hypothesis that increased perception/action/auditory use of the brain actually translates to more effective use of our brain.  She explained this to me as follows: learning to play an instrument makes you think more vigorously.  You have to engage in the activity of practicing which requires you to pay attention and understand when you’ve made a mistake, go back and redo the activity until you get it right.  You’re learning to read music at the same time as making music – it is a more dynamic form of learning.  It is teaching your brain to plan according to the activity, gives you an enhanced ability to concentrate, a greater ability to switch from one task to another – all in all, a lot of different types of activities to boost your brain control.  And even more importantly – it’s never too late to engage in this kind of brain exercise.

At this juncture I of course had to ask about playing piano vs. my obsession with crossword puzzles and Sudoku.  Sadly – it wasn’t the answer I was looking for.  Apparently because these puzzles are singular activities and require no social interaction, the benefit is pretty limited.

But the good news is that we have Dr. F. and her team and they are constantly looking at ways to improve the human condition.  Maybe I’ll meet with her again soon and get filled in on her research with Stroke patients and recovery of motor skills through music therapy.

For more details about the research done with those two groups of children, go to  http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/09/060920093024.htm