[NEW EPISODE] Frank About Healthy Aging

Thursdays 5:00pm - 6:00pm (EDT)

EPISODE SUMMARY:

The audience will learn how seniors can understand the aging process and what is considered a healthy approach through a leading expert from the University of Chicago.

Frank About Health returns after it's summer long hiatus starting with a comprehensive review of healthy aging in seniors.  While typically the first show of each month is deemed a health topic awareness show live from Chicago, it will be a virtual show co-hosted with Karen Ross and we will discuss brain health awareness month with our guest Dr. Emily Rogalski who is a researcher at the Superaging Research Initiative of The University of Chicago.

https://haarc.center.uchicago.edu/

Tune in for this healthy conversation at TalkRadio.nyc

Show Notes

Segment 1

Frank returns with a new season of Frank About Health with his co-host Karen Ross. Frank introduces his guest Dr. Emily Rogalski who is a researcher at the Super Aging Research Initiative of The University of Chicago. In this episode, Frank and his guest are going to focus on healthy aging specifically with a group known as Superagers. Karen points out that the standard research of aging centers on the pathological side. Dr. Rogalski shares her background and how she found herself on this path that caters to the aging community. She also mentions that her goal is to represent the individuals who are aging faster than others or who are met with unfortunate circumstances. Dr. Rogalski explains that it is about upping the protective factors and minimizing the risks factors. 

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Segment 2

Dr. Rogalski shares the origins of Superagers. She shares how she found out about a rare dementia and decided to learn more about it. She found its connection with language and continues to understand it on a deeper level. Superagers are defined as someone who has great risks for having cognitive impairment. Frank and his guest discuss the negative connotations associated with aging. Karen asks how many people have been studied to determine that they are Superagers.

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Segment 3

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Segment 4

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Transcript

00:00:50.650 --> 00:01:12.510 Frank R. Harrison: Hey, everybody, and welcome to a fresh new season of frank about health. I've missed you guys. It's been all summer long when I actually promised to come back in August, but unfortunately there was some family ongoings that we've talked about on this show before, and I'm very happy to say that it was perfect to come back on this episode because we have a special guest today

00:01:12.510 --> 00:01:22.730 Frank R. Harrison: from the University of Chicago, which Karen will further introduce when we get to that section. But she's going to actually let me see the positive side of what I've been going through.

00:01:22.750 --> 00:01:38.479 Frank R. Harrison: This is healthy aging awareness month. And normally I'm in Chicago with Karen. I miss you already, Karen. I apologize that I'm not there. But again, this is coming back to school kind of week, and so slowly but surely we'll be back on schedule

00:01:38.911 --> 00:01:47.370 Frank R. Harrison: and I just want to issue my disclaimer before we proceed again. The name of this episode is frank about healthy aging in honor of healthy aging awareness. Month.

00:01:47.820 --> 00:01:57.559 Frank R. Harrison: We are having the pleasure of an actual medical doctor from the University of Chicago, who will discuss about the research that she has done there on healthy aging in seniors.

00:01:57.610 --> 00:02:07.180 Frank R. Harrison: and therefore the only thing I can say about the disclaimer is, they're not the views of talk radio, Nyc. Or of Frank about health, but rather some very interesting research.

00:02:07.270 --> 00:02:15.030 Frank R. Harrison: And what it's like to have the memory of a 50 year old when you're over the age of 80, and that is what I'm looking forward to hear more about.

00:02:15.160 --> 00:02:30.879 Frank R. Harrison: Therefore I hope any of you out there who have access to talk radio on Youtube, twitch Linkedin or Facebook. If you have any live questions to provide to either myself, Karen or Dr. Rogalski feel free to do so, and we will answer them. Live.

00:02:30.950 --> 00:02:38.099 Frank R. Harrison: but that all being, said, Karen, welcome back to Frank about health, and I please do the honors and introduce our special guests.

00:02:38.290 --> 00:02:51.090 Karen Ross - KarenRossNow.com: Oh, thank you, Frank, and I agree I miss you too. It's nice to be able to actually spend time with you and have a bite to eat after the show here in Chicago. So I look forward to the day that you come back. But

00:02:51.300 --> 00:03:02.029 Karen Ross - KarenRossNow.com: as as Frank has mentioned, and many of our listeners know we recently did a show on Alzheimer's disease, and we hear so much about Alzheimer's these days, and

00:03:02.040 --> 00:03:11.930 Karen Ross - KarenRossNow.com: so many of us have been touched in our lives by a relative, a friend, whatever the case might be, and many fear that they are

00:03:12.170 --> 00:03:17.699 Karen Ross - KarenRossNow.com: coming down, if you will, with Alzheimer's that that's starting to enter their life personally.

00:03:17.840 --> 00:03:36.289 Karen Ross - KarenRossNow.com: And today we are going to focus on healthy aging, and specifically a small group of older adults who are now considered super agers. So our guest is Dr. Emily Rogalski. She's a clinical and cognitive neuroscientist.

00:03:36.310 --> 00:03:47.230 Karen Ross - KarenRossNow.com: and Rosalind Franklin, professor of Neurology at the University of Chicago. She's also the director of healthy aging and Alzheimer's research care.

00:03:47.330 --> 00:03:52.700 Karen Ross - KarenRossNow.com: and she has been central to the creation and the development

00:03:52.710 --> 00:03:55.760 Karen Ross - KarenRossNow.com: of this whole concept of super aging.

00:03:55.980 --> 00:04:15.310 Karen Ross - KarenRossNow.com: So I think that standard research practice has really been to study the pathological side of aging to focus on dementia, which is obviously very important work, and we want that to continue. But I just love the fact that Dr. Rakolsky and her team or teams

00:04:15.310 --> 00:04:36.600 Karen Ross - KarenRossNow.com: have kind of flipped that paradigm around just upside down, so I'm so eager to hear more about this, and I want to welcome you, Dr. Rakowski, to Frank about health. And 1st of all, tell us a little bit about you, your background, and what brought you to this point of landing in the world of super aging.

00:04:37.630 --> 00:04:54.109 Emily Rogalski: Thank you so much for having me. I'm delighted to be here today and share with you a little bit about our research on on super agers. The super Agers are the the true stars and we are so lucky to have the opportunity to spend time with them, and to learn from them.

00:04:54.250 --> 00:05:03.389 Emily Rogalski: and I think this work is kind of rooted, and for me it was rooted in part by starting at the other end of the spectrum. So with individuals who

00:05:03.540 --> 00:05:12.160 Emily Rogalski: are living a trajectory that there is some kind of decline. But then, in that experience of understanding

00:05:12.611 --> 00:05:32.270 Emily Rogalski: the spectrum of aging. You see all of those differences. And so you start to recognize that not everyone is experiencing the same amount of decline. And there are some people who are doing extraordinarily well. But those individuals, as you mentioned, aren't as represented in the research literature.

00:05:33.120 --> 00:05:46.020 Karen Ross - KarenRossNow.com: Well, that's true, and I'm hoping that you'll tell us why that is, and how we can learn more about it. But 1st of all go into a little bit more depth about just what is super aging.

00:05:46.210 --> 00:06:09.500 Emily Rogalski: Right. So I think when we when we talk about the word super aging, it's 1st kind of helpful to frame that out into what is super aging, not and what is what is super aging. And so we've talked a little bit about if we think broadly about trajectories of aging. There can be a pathologic trajectory of aging where there's accelerated decline, and that's where Alzheimer's and related dementias would fall.

00:06:09.500 --> 00:06:20.189 Emily Rogalski: And so that decline is so so robust that it's interfering with someone's daily living activities and having a significant impact in their daily life.

00:06:20.390 --> 00:06:36.350 Emily Rogalski: And then, when we talk about a normal or average trajectory of aging. That's where individuals on average start to experience some changes over the the course of their life, and so they might not be as sharp as they were in their twenties or thirties, or

00:06:36.880 --> 00:06:42.800 Emily Rogalski: even in their fifties and sixties, compared to their eighties. There's this experience of of some changes.

00:06:42.930 --> 00:06:52.539 Emily Rogalski: but those aren't interfering with your daily life. And so we refer to that usually as normal aging or average aging. And then the idea was

00:06:52.710 --> 00:07:10.300 Emily Rogalski: nearly everyone you talk to says, well, not everybody's like that. There seem to be people out there who are aging at a slower pace, or they're sharp as a tech if you will. And so that was the theoretical construct to say, could we identify people who are over age 80?

00:07:10.370 --> 00:07:36.069 Emily Rogalski: So they're at great risk for having cognitive impairment, but yet they've avoided it. And if we find those individuals, how could they help us understand how to both live long and live? Well, so we've gotten quite good as a medical community at extending the lifespan. But it often comes with this trade off that our later years in life are not our best years in life, and we want to

00:07:36.190 --> 00:07:58.010 Emily Rogalski: change that balance a bit, so that things are more in sync, so that we are living long and living well, so having a a good lifespan, but also a good health span. So super agers represent a good balance, so we define them both by age and by cognitive criteria. So they're individuals who are over age 80,

00:07:58.170 --> 00:08:03.269 Emily Rogalski: but have memory performance at least as good as individuals in their fifties and sixties.

00:08:04.220 --> 00:08:04.890 Frank R. Harrison: Awesome.

00:08:04.890 --> 00:08:10.100 Karen Ross - KarenRossNow.com: Now, at times, you said, sometimes they have a mental capacity.

00:08:10.290 --> 00:08:13.899 Karen Ross - KarenRossNow.com: is actually close to 20 or 30 years of age.

00:08:14.210 --> 00:08:15.030 Karen Ross - KarenRossNow.com: is.

00:08:16.050 --> 00:08:36.599 Emily Rogalski: So it's possible, yeah, that these individuals might be performing even better than what we would expect 50 to 60 year olds to perform. And in fact, we would. We would call that in in the research literature kind of they hit a ceiling where they're they're performing perfectly on some of the cognitive measures that we give them.

00:08:37.230 --> 00:08:50.459 Karen Ross - KarenRossNow.com: Well, is there a way that we can expand this concept of super aging to older adults who are maybe in their late forties, fifties, sixties, anything we could do to

00:08:50.825 --> 00:08:54.020 Karen Ross - KarenRossNow.com: move in the direction of being a super ager.

00:08:54.740 --> 00:09:20.130 Emily Rogalski: So I think there, these are the 1 million dollar questions that we're trying to answer, and we don't have a recipe today that I could say, Oh, if you just ate 10 blueberries, then you're sure to be a super ager. However, we have started to learn about the biology, about family history and about how our lifestyle and other factors are are can play a role. And the goal is to understand really, what are

00:09:20.310 --> 00:09:31.410 Emily Rogalski: those protective factors? And how do we maximize our protective factors and kind of minimize our risk factors so that we're increasing the odds of of living long and living well.

00:09:31.780 --> 00:09:39.919 Emily Rogalski: and what we see from the super agers from a biologic standpoint is that their brains tend to look younger when we look at the structure of their brain

00:09:40.000 --> 00:09:46.549 Emily Rogalski: one way that we can measure, that is, through an MRI scan of the brain which gives you a 3D. Image.

00:09:46.740 --> 00:10:03.329 Emily Rogalski: And in that 3D. Image we can use complex software to measure what we call the outer surface of the brain, which is called the cortex. And that's where our brain cells live. And if we measure the cortex, it gives us a proxy measure of the health of the brain.

00:10:03.350 --> 00:10:09.039 Emily Rogalski: And so we can compare that thickness of that outer layer kind of like the bark on a tree.

00:10:09.180 --> 00:10:09.560 Frank R. Harrison: Right.

00:10:09.560 --> 00:10:16.530 Emily Rogalski: Between 80 plus year olds, who are super agers and 80 plus year olds, who are average agers

00:10:16.560 --> 00:10:21.040 Emily Rogalski: and 50 to 60 year olds, who are who are cognitively average.

00:10:21.260 --> 00:10:28.489 Emily Rogalski: And when we do that we see that the super agers brains are thicker than their 80 plus year old peers.

00:10:28.500 --> 00:10:38.019 Emily Rogalski: So they're the same age, but their brains look a little bit healthier, and when we compare the super ager brains to 50 year olds, so people who they are.

00:10:38.040 --> 00:10:47.260 Emily Rogalski: have different chronologic age, too, but they're more similar in their memory performance. We see that the superagers look like those 50 to 60 year olds.

00:10:47.820 --> 00:10:50.910 Emily Rogalski: and we were surprised to see, sorry the.

00:10:50.910 --> 00:10:51.540 Karen Ross - KarenRossNow.com: Ahead.

00:10:52.170 --> 00:11:03.689 Emily Rogalski: There was a part of the brain that was even thicker in those 50 to 60 year olds, or sorry, even thicker in the super agers than the 50 to 60 year olds, and that's called the anterior cingulate

00:11:05.230 --> 00:11:22.899 Emily Rogalski: And usually at this point, when I talk about the anterior cingulate and being thicker, people say, Well, what is that? And do I want it to be thicker? And if I do, how do I get one? Can I pick it up at the store. Can I order it on Amazon? We don't. We don't have Amazon prime delivery for.

00:11:22.900 --> 00:11:23.790 Karen Ross - KarenRossNow.com: No, no.

00:11:23.790 --> 00:11:26.199 Emily Rogalski: Up there. You're cingulate.

00:11:26.200 --> 00:11:30.769 Karen Ross - KarenRossNow.com: I guess the question that comes to me that makes it sound genetic.

00:11:31.080 --> 00:11:40.949 Karen Ross - KarenRossNow.com: that one has no control over it. They're born with a certain thickness of that part of their brain. Is that true, or is it something.

00:11:40.950 --> 00:11:48.310 Emily Rogalski: So, yeah, that's a great question. And I certainly think that genetics play likely an important role

00:11:48.320 --> 00:12:02.120 Emily Rogalski: we don't have. We haven't yet discovered a super age or gene, if you will, and it may not be all about. Did I pick the right parents? There can be genetic factors that play a role

00:12:02.230 --> 00:12:07.890 Emily Rogalski: without them being oh, rats! I have no hope because I have the wrong mom and dad

00:12:08.520 --> 00:12:10.639 Emily Rogalski: learn more and more about

00:12:11.349 --> 00:12:36.130 Emily Rogalski: genetics and and the complications of epigenetics. And how there can be this interplay between our lifestyle factors and the expression of certain genes. And so these are the types of things that we're we're digging into. So one important thing about the way that we study superagers is we don't look at just one perspective. So there are some studies that they say, Okay, I am the study of sleep.

00:12:36.430 --> 00:12:40.370 Emily Rogalski: and I'm going to study everything about sleep in this population.

00:12:40.380 --> 00:13:06.432 Emily Rogalski: and that those are very important studies. So I don't want to disregard those. And we're learning really valuable information. But what we've tried to do is take kind of the best methods from multiple different disciplines. So we wanna look at sleep. We want to look at the genetics. We look at brain structure, but we also do a deep dive into family history, into lifestyle, factors, into

00:13:07.090 --> 00:13:20.790 Emily Rogalski: how people are living their lives and their personality factors. So we can pull all of those things together to better understand their interplay rather than saying, Oh, well, it's just genetic.

00:13:20.790 --> 00:13:33.889 Frank R. Harrison: We are about 2 min to break. So now I want to ask my one or 2 questions before we go into the next section. 1st of all, what about environmental factors? How does that have a role in making the thickness or or shrinking it even, for that matter.

00:13:34.440 --> 00:13:58.767 Emily Rogalski: You know, this has become a very hot topic, is understanding how social determinants of health and how environmental factors are likely to play a a big role in our health. And these are things that we're actively, really researching in what we call the super aging research initiative, which is our larger study that has enrolling sites across

00:13:59.180 --> 00:14:20.299 Emily Rogalski: us and Canada so that we can look at factors that are regional differences. We are very focused on understanding racial and ethnic differences and people's lived experiences, and where they may have different exposures from an environmental standpoint. So we don't have a a clear answer yet, but from complementary research in aging

00:14:20.320 --> 00:14:22.399 Emily Rogalski: we do see that they're

00:14:22.610 --> 00:14:26.760 Emily Rogalski: the environmental factors can play an increasingly strong role.

00:14:27.280 --> 00:14:35.000 Frank R. Harrison: Okay. So before we go to the break, my my final question will be actually discussed in segment 2, and that is being that you started

00:14:35.030 --> 00:14:49.809 Frank R. Harrison: looking at the Alzheimer's patient based on your background and research, there must have been a pivot point as to where, all of a sudden you discovered this phenomenon, if you will, of super agers, and that's the part that I want to learn more about when we return. If you'll be good.

00:14:49.810 --> 00:14:50.670 Emily Rogalski: Sounds, great.

00:14:50.850 --> 00:15:09.450 Frank R. Harrison: Awesome. So everyone, please stay tuned, as Karen and I are being frank about healthy aging with our guest, Dr. Emily Rogalski, right here on talk radio, Nyc and on our Facebook, Youtube, Linkedin and twitch channels. If you have any questions, please ask away and we'll get to them. Live all right. Stay tuned.

00:17:21.480 --> 00:17:31.519 Frank R. Harrison: Hey, everybody, and welcome back. Wow! I have to say, Dr. Rogalski. I just found myself glued to every word that you were saying in answer to Karen's questions, and

00:17:31.700 --> 00:17:53.210 Frank R. Harrison: I mean I shouldn't have gone to medical school. But that's a that's a far gone conclusion that being said what I know in terms of overall neurological research is that if the go to is always look at the patient when they're already showing the signs of dementia or potential Alzheimer's or Lewy body disease, or any of the others

00:17:53.210 --> 00:18:01.989 Frank R. Harrison: that we all hear about. And I gather that is a majority of the funding and the research that has gone on for decades for hundreds of years. I don't know

00:18:02.020 --> 00:18:05.890 Frank R. Harrison: but there must have been that pivot point where you were doing that

00:18:06.420 --> 00:18:21.560 Frank R. Harrison: requirement of your day to day, job. And you discovered there's this cohort of super agers you want to share. At what point did that occur? Was it a group of people that came into the hospital, and they were just smart as a whip, and

00:18:21.570 --> 00:18:28.110 Frank R. Harrison: there was a phenomenon that you wanted to investigate, or did you actually discover it while doing the other side of the spectrum?

00:18:29.460 --> 00:18:49.870 Emily Rogalski: Yeah, I don't think it's as glamorous as a huge lightning bolt discovery. But I think it probably is more reflective of where we where my curiosity and my passion lies, and I think it really has its roots or its origins. As a kid, that I I grew up the daughter of a school teacher. And my mom taught kid with kids with learning challenges.

00:18:49.870 --> 00:18:50.210 Frank R. Harrison: Hmm.

00:18:50.210 --> 00:18:51.210 Emily Rogalski: And so

00:18:51.270 --> 00:19:18.559 Emily Rogalski: they are kids that are so brilliant. But learn a little bit differently, and if you don't take the time to stop and find their talents. They are easily discarded, as oh, they can't learn that they're stupid, you know all of the negative connotations that can go along with learning challenges. But if you take that time and really see that brilliance and have the opportunity to cultivate that

00:19:18.910 --> 00:19:43.069 Emily Rogalski: amazing things can happen. And so I I thought that I was, gonna do spend my research career working with kids. But along the way I was introduced to a rare dementia actually. And I, when I thought about dementia, really, Alzheimer's was the only word that I had heard, because it, as mentioned at the beginning of the show it. It does touch so many of us.

00:19:43.070 --> 00:19:43.400 Frank R. Harrison: Right.

00:19:43.783 --> 00:19:50.309 Emily Rogalski: But there's different forms of dementia where, instead of memory being the dominant SIM syndrome or symptom.

00:19:50.640 --> 00:19:56.300 Emily Rogalski: language or other aspects of cognition, can be the prominent symptom.

00:19:56.360 --> 00:19:58.520 Emily Rogalski: And so I started really

00:19:58.560 --> 00:20:11.760 Emily Rogalski: with this rare dementia, where language is that central feature? It's called primary progressive aphasia. And at the time it really wasn't well represented in the literature. And so there was this opportunity to

00:20:12.200 --> 00:20:36.350 Emily Rogalski: learn more about the diagnosis and prognosis and care, and to have an impact. And so I still spend kind of half of my my time in that space, developing interventions and trying to increase the advocacy and knowledge in that space. And so this was the same reason that I was attracted to this idea of. There are people who are doing well, but they're overlooked

00:20:37.090 --> 00:20:49.579 Emily Rogalski: when we think about what we see in the media, we tend to focus on what goes wrong. Why? Because it needs it needs attention. And so it's right to focus on that on the one hand, but it comes with a trade off

00:20:49.600 --> 00:21:04.920 Emily Rogalski: of increasing stigma around aging and decreasing expectation around aging, so that we, we start to think, oh, as you get older, you can only do so many things. And I've reached a certain age. So I can't do that anymore.

00:21:04.920 --> 00:21:29.710 Emily Rogalski: when, in fact, you may have a lot more potential left. But if you sell yourself short, then you're not going to realize that potential. So there was really a great opportunity. That was. It was in the in the eighties when Rowan Kahn brought out this idea of successful aging, so this idea that there were positive trajectories of aging, but that didn't have a specific definition.

00:21:29.710 --> 00:21:30.260 Frank R. Harrison: Yes.

00:21:30.260 --> 00:21:33.109 Emily Rogalski: Conceptually it started to bring this field to life.

00:21:33.140 --> 00:21:43.379 Emily Rogalski: And so we extended that a little bit by defining superagers as these people who are, you know, at great risk for having cognitive impairment

00:21:43.836 --> 00:21:48.719 Emily Rogalski: and these memory and other thinking changes. But yet they're avoiding them.

00:21:48.990 --> 00:22:17.369 Frank R. Harrison: But I saw the New York Times article that's on your website, a peek inside the brains of super agers. I gather you're saying you mainly were looking at children, and you must see 5 year olds, for example, that are already excellent. At math. They probably could be predisposed to having that thickness we discussed earlier. And it's at that point when you start to really explore deeper, when most people probably think oh, they haven't grown up yet. They still have to go through school before they can validate their brilliance, their genius, whatever it might be perceived as

00:22:17.370 --> 00:22:33.059 Frank R. Harrison: and what you're saying, from what I'm gathering and correct me if I'm wrong is that when you've started to see that in children, that's when your your your investigative eye gets into what is unique about them. What is their potential to become super agers and things like that correct.

00:22:33.060 --> 00:22:49.500 Emily Rogalski: Well, I think it's a little bit different. I think maybe I would just describe it as I am. More, I I tend to be more interested in things that are in the fringe or in the margin, and topics that are overlooked. And so it was really this idea that

00:22:50.000 --> 00:23:00.169 Emily Rogalski: if you take on face value, how we talk about aging, it's not really reflective of most of the people that many of the people that you can meet in your everyday lives. So this

00:23:00.940 --> 00:23:04.070 Emily Rogalski: negative connotation, associated with aging

00:23:04.940 --> 00:23:24.150 Emily Rogalski: doesn't fit neatly into a box of of the lived experience of you know, neighbors, you may know, grandparents, you know, aunts, uncles, things like that. And so the idea that we could amplify the voice of these older adults and learn something about them biologically, seems like a great opportunity.

00:23:24.570 --> 00:23:28.419 Karen Ross - KarenRossNow.com: Well, I'm I'm curious how many people

00:23:28.430 --> 00:23:30.169 Karen Ross - KarenRossNow.com: have been studied

00:23:30.490 --> 00:23:34.900 Karen Ross - KarenRossNow.com: to determine that they are super agers. And then

00:23:35.150 --> 00:23:40.620 Karen Ross - KarenRossNow.com: does that give you some sense of a percentage of the

00:23:40.710 --> 00:23:44.350 Karen Ross - KarenRossNow.com: population that might fall into that category.

00:23:44.880 --> 00:24:08.889 Emily Rogalski: It's a great question. And one that I get often is what is the percentage of super agers. And unfortunately, we're not doing an epidemiologic study. So we can't give an exact percentage. But what we do experience. And so to do kind of one of those epi studies we would need to take. Oh, we're gonna or a cohort study. We'll say, Okay, we're gonna say, in these 3 zip codes, what's the number of 80 plus year olds.

00:24:08.980 --> 00:24:15.699 Emily Rogalski: And then we're going to test all of them and see how many of them are are super agers. Instead, we

00:24:15.960 --> 00:24:42.239 Emily Rogalski: engage the community and we have a variety of ways that people come to us either through word of mouth or we're talking about super agers like I am here with you today. And so there's this variety of ways that people come to us. And we've screened thousands of individuals. And in my experience, less than than 10% end up qualifying. So we think about this in scientific terms as a rare phenotype.

00:24:42.550 --> 00:24:57.890 Emily Rogalski: We think that's a good thing, because when the superiors do have something in common, biologically, psychosocially or otherwise, it may be more meaningful, or or something that is tangible to act on and to understand how it may be protective.

00:24:58.360 --> 00:24:59.000 Frank R. Harrison: For, for.

00:24:59.000 --> 00:24:59.490 Karen Ross - KarenRossNow.com: So it's a.

00:24:59.490 --> 00:25:01.540 Frank R. Harrison: Then. Oh, I'm sorry. Go ahead.

00:25:01.810 --> 00:25:02.999 Karen Ross - KarenRossNow.com: No, you go ahead. That's fine.

00:25:03.000 --> 00:25:07.069 Frank R. Harrison: Okay for your research. Then do you predominantly look at people

00:25:07.570 --> 00:25:15.840 Frank R. Harrison: below the age of 50, let's say, to see the potential. Or do you just stick in the 80 plus category when you're looking at that phenotype.

00:25:16.650 --> 00:25:24.780 Emily Rogalski: For now the the phenotype is really defined by both age. So you have to be over age 80 in order to be considered

00:25:24.780 --> 00:25:46.781 Emily Rogalski: one day it would be great to understand what is, what is your risk for becoming a super ager instead of what is your risk for getting Alzheimer's disease. We hope that that's the direction that we'll be in but for now we've got to better understand and characterize those meaningful factors and then go back and test in younger populations to see what might be

00:25:48.120 --> 00:25:53.944 Emily Rogalski: available to to see in in younger generations that might be instructive.

00:25:54.740 --> 00:25:55.680 Frank R. Harrison: I understand.

00:25:55.910 --> 00:26:01.450 Karen Ross - KarenRossNow.com: How many I'm assuming you have centers throughout the country. Is that correct?

00:26:01.580 --> 00:26:04.310 Emily Rogalski: You would do. Yeah. So right now.

00:26:04.870 --> 00:26:21.079 Emily Rogalski: there are sites in the Us. And Canada. So Emory University, Wisconsin University of Michigan, and then a group of universities working together in Southwest Ontario, Canada, including western Waterloo and Sunnybrook.

00:26:22.430 --> 00:26:33.249 Karen Ross - KarenRossNow.com: and give us just an idea. Let's say, there's an 80 year old out there and they hear or or plus and they hear about your program, and they think, Well, I'm a super ager.

00:26:33.290 --> 00:26:41.580 Karen Ross - KarenRossNow.com: Give us an idea of what your battery of tests or what do they have to go through to make that termination.

00:26:42.080 --> 00:26:59.530 Emily Rogalski: Well, because we're so curious about the many different factors. And we really want to take this what we call multidisciplinary approach. We do ask for a lot of time from folks, so they would come in and they would. Well, 1st we might reach out and ask some questions and talk about the study over the phone

00:26:59.850 --> 00:27:13.909 Emily Rogalski: and do a little bit of a screening battery to make sure it's a good fit for them and a good fit for us, and kind of move forward from there, but then they would be asked to come in and do some paper and pencil cognitive tests.

00:27:14.250 --> 00:27:24.109 Emily Rogalski: They would be asked to participate in an MRI scan and a blood draw, and so they will for their 1st set of visits. It may take 3 or

00:27:24.120 --> 00:27:39.990 Emily Rogalski: parts of 3 or 4 days, so a few hours. They don't have to be back to back days, and we then ask individuals to wear some sensors in their daily life, so that we can get a better understanding of their activity and sleep.

00:27:40.160 --> 00:27:42.590 Emily Rogalski: And there's some questionnaires and surveys.

00:27:42.710 --> 00:27:43.890 Emily Rogalski: And so these

00:27:43.970 --> 00:27:55.979 Emily Rogalski: help us to really get at the different genetic and lifestyle and family history aspects of that help that allow them to be super agers, and then we would.

00:27:55.980 --> 00:27:56.350 Karen Ross - KarenRossNow.com: Cool.

00:27:56.350 --> 00:27:57.799 Emily Rogalski: To come back over time.

00:27:57.800 --> 00:28:02.110 Karen Ross - KarenRossNow.com: Sure. Sure. What role does emotional well-being

00:28:02.240 --> 00:28:14.249 Karen Ross - KarenRossNow.com: their mood are they? Do they typically not be prone to depression or sadness? Do they typically have a positive attitude. What role does that play in superagres.

00:28:14.630 --> 00:28:20.309 Emily Rogalski: When we look at the medical history of superagres, some individuals do have a history of depression.

00:28:20.350 --> 00:28:29.600 Emily Rogalski: however, many super agers have also experienced challenges in their life. Trauma they may have

00:28:30.430 --> 00:28:43.510 Emily Rogalski: had a a child die at a young age. They we have individuals who were in the holocaust. We have really a variety of backgrounds that people come to us, but what we do see is that they tend to persevere.

00:28:44.041 --> 00:29:12.589 Emily Rogalski: These are individuals I would describe as having a lot of grit and being able to ultimately find that positive moment. And so, while there may be, have been mental health challenges, and they may still be battling those. They are still persevering at the end of the day, and they tend to be quite busy. So they report having strong social interactions. And this is something that we can better

00:29:12.970 --> 00:29:26.190 Emily Rogalski: quantify with the wearable sensors that we ask them to wear. So we can look at those interactions and how many people they're interacting with to to better gauge that and understand the importance of social interactions

00:29:26.250 --> 00:29:28.119 Emily Rogalski: and brain health.

00:29:28.220 --> 00:29:48.460 Emily Rogalski: We know on the reverse side of things, that social isolation and loneliness have such negative consequences on the brain as well as individuals, mental health. And so we really see that as a a feature that's quite common in the super agers.

00:29:48.700 --> 00:29:54.650 Frank R. Harrison: And it also probably is the motivation for those that are on the other side of the spectrum to decline more rapidly.

00:29:55.540 --> 00:30:03.940 Emily Rogalski: There have been associations exactly with social isolation and loneliness and rate of decline or risk for decline.

00:30:04.720 --> 00:30:24.020 Frank R. Harrison: Well, we're about to take our second break, and when we return I want to talk about 2 things. 1st of all, my personal situation where I can relate to this, and pretty much get inspired by you how I can continue to manage this situation. Of course it's of the Alzheimer's dementia variety. And then, of course, Karen, we want to hear about Karen Ross now.

00:30:24.020 --> 00:30:37.720 Frank R. Harrison: and how the role in hypnosis may help or or assist in any of the super rager brain health. I I don't know. I guess we'll learn more about your practice as well, and so please stay tuned right here on frank about health

00:30:37.740 --> 00:30:43.979 Frank R. Harrison: on talk radio, dot Nyc, as well as Youtube, twitch Facebook and Linkedin. We'll be back in a few.

00:32:44.720 --> 00:33:02.659 Frank R. Harrison: Hey, everybody, and welcome back, as you heard in the last segment we were looking at how the super ager was initially discovered through children, among other behavioral patterns that were very thought provoking and worthy of further investigation, and we pretty much got an understanding of how

00:33:03.074 --> 00:33:29.000 Frank R. Harrison: the 80 plus segment is predominantly looked at in ways of being able to make sure that we can learn something about the 80 year old brain that could help adjust those that don't have the fortune to have the super aged brain with the extra thickness as we talked about. I want to turn the table to the other side of the spectrum for a minute and talk about my cousin, who's a 65 year old woman

00:33:29.230 --> 00:33:34.199 Frank R. Harrison: who started showing signs of memory loss 3, maybe 3 and a half years ago.

00:33:34.230 --> 00:33:47.520 Frank R. Harrison: but they were nothing to be too concerned about, because they may have been related to Covid itself, or stress, or she had eye conditions at the time or heart problems that she was dealing with.

00:33:47.620 --> 00:33:56.660 Frank R. Harrison: but overall slowly but surely, after an MRI evaluation in 2,022. There was a noticing of shrinkage in the lobes of her brain.

00:33:57.040 --> 00:33:58.350 Frank R. Harrison: and so

00:33:58.370 --> 00:34:10.629 Frank R. Harrison: I didn't know of any possible genetic link of Alzheimer's, because I don't have a family history of anyone that I know. Personally, cousin, parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles.

00:34:10.719 --> 00:34:14.349 Frank R. Harrison: So I thought, this is kind of unique, especially for her age.

00:34:14.370 --> 00:34:21.090 Frank R. Harrison: So one thing that did come across is that she smoked very heavily, and even against doctors orders

00:34:21.270 --> 00:34:26.569 Frank R. Harrison: all right. And then her son, who was her caregiver would basically

00:34:26.679 --> 00:34:32.760 Frank R. Harrison: tried to prevent that. But the stress in itself of what was becoming a lonely situation

00:34:32.969 --> 00:34:41.809 Frank R. Harrison: exacerbated the decline even further. And recently we just got her based on the Alzheimer's episode that Karen and I did. In June.

00:34:42.250 --> 00:34:44.460 Frank R. Harrison: We had her enrolled in daycare.

00:34:44.540 --> 00:34:49.900 Frank R. Harrison: and it was a new environment for her where she was actually enlightened because she was engaging again.

00:34:50.239 --> 00:34:54.320 Frank R. Harrison: But for some reason now she was having a new problem.

00:34:54.460 --> 00:34:56.109 Frank R. Harrison: Her gait was shifting.

00:34:56.120 --> 00:34:57.720 Frank R. Harrison: pigeon toe walking.

00:34:57.790 --> 00:35:21.989 Frank R. Harrison: and also she was becoming incontinent on a daily basis, and that was preventing her from going to this clinic. So, therefore, a solution of engagement which is what she needed became a deterrent, and she became more isolated when they said, she needs another MRI done to evaluate if she needs to go to a long term care, facility, and that all happened in a matter of 4 weeks.

00:35:22.760 --> 00:35:23.750 Frank R. Harrison: Okay.

00:35:24.100 --> 00:35:26.870 Frank R. Harrison: I only the healthcare proxy

00:35:27.140 --> 00:35:37.619 Frank R. Harrison: not directly involved with the family. I don't have the right to make a determination of her long-term care needs that's up to her power of attorney, her immediate siblings, so forth and so on.

00:35:37.850 --> 00:35:40.629 Frank R. Harrison: can only take her to the hospital so much.

00:35:40.690 --> 00:35:45.869 Frank R. Harrison: But can you imagine what it's like when you're seeing that she's asked questions and

00:35:46.870 --> 00:35:52.249 Frank R. Harrison: food for thought comes out that isn't even related to the question. So

00:35:52.290 --> 00:35:58.560 Frank R. Harrison: I'm now looking at from what you've talked about in the 1st half of the show, the super aging brain.

00:35:58.840 --> 00:36:00.759 Frank R. Harrison: How does someone.

00:36:00.920 --> 00:36:04.200 Frank R. Harrison: with possibly other reasons for dementia

00:36:04.310 --> 00:36:06.950 Frank R. Harrison: go to such a rapid decline?

00:36:07.729 --> 00:36:11.790 Frank R. Harrison: When we're not even sure if it's Alzheimer's. So that's why

00:36:11.950 --> 00:36:16.590 Frank R. Harrison: I thought maybe you would have a parallel that you could draw from from the research you do

00:36:16.800 --> 00:36:24.420 Frank R. Harrison: to give some insight into what could be happening, because the only real solution at this point is for the caregivers and family members

00:36:24.430 --> 00:36:29.570 Frank R. Harrison: to try to be more positive with her. But I I think that's like

00:36:30.120 --> 00:36:36.250 Frank R. Harrison: 2 plus 2 equals 6, you know. I don't know if that's possible. So what what could you shed

00:36:36.280 --> 00:36:41.650 Frank R. Harrison: to to add to my perspective as to what's going on, or what what positivity

00:36:41.780 --> 00:36:44.410 Frank R. Harrison: can I engage in with her and the family?

00:36:44.882 --> 00:36:46.530 Frank R. Harrison: About all of this.

00:36:48.360 --> 00:37:13.400 Emily Rogalski: Well, well, first, st I'm so sorry to hear about the the many challenges and you know. Unfortunately, the the role of the caregiver is tremendous, and the toll on not only the person with the diagnosis, but their family caregivers and extended caregivers. That are supporting someone with a diagnosis whether that be Alzheimer's or related dementia

00:37:13.400 --> 00:37:36.850 Emily Rogalski: or you know, multi morbid conditions where there's a lot of things going on that are medically complicated, and then it does shift a lot of burden across the family, or or who can be there as a support network? It's really difficult to understand medically what's going on without a thorough assessment, and so I wouldn't be able to comment on on that personally.

00:37:36.850 --> 00:37:50.010 Emily Rogalski: But I you know I hear so many great ideas of things that you have tried for connection, including daycare. And it sounds like there were some positive aspects that thrive, and perhaps there may be

00:37:50.300 --> 00:37:59.079 Emily Rogalski: another situation where there would be a good fit at another location, and really connecting with a social worker who might have

00:37:59.090 --> 00:38:00.095 Emily Rogalski: those

00:38:01.120 --> 00:38:12.230 Emily Rogalski: additional places to connect with, is a great idea, or a case worker or with the clinicians themselves, who may have some of those additional resources that might be good fits.

00:38:12.775 --> 00:38:31.774 Emily Rogalski: But I think your your instinct is right as far as maintaining connection. Maintaining activity is certainly a positive thing to do for the brain, and it's finding that right match, for where the individual is at this current time

00:38:32.470 --> 00:38:33.540 Emily Rogalski: to support.

00:38:33.690 --> 00:38:41.769 Frank R. Harrison: But what about for the caregiver who's experiencing tremendous burnout? I mean, what what do I have to do for my brain to prevent this

00:38:42.270 --> 00:38:59.230 Frank R. Harrison: stress that she's going through from putting me in that condition. Not not that I'm going into the dementia realm, but that I I would find myself stuck, or I, you know, constantly ruminating and losing sleep. So

00:38:59.230 --> 00:39:20.030 Frank R. Harrison: I don't want that situation to negatively impact my mental and neurological health. But I'd want to take the situation and be more positive the way that the super agers are to enhance my creativity enhance my motivation even amongst the ongoing stress. I guess that's what I'm looking to learn. If if there's any.

00:39:20.230 --> 00:39:47.659 Emily Rogalski: Well, I think 1st you're on the right track. In that you're recognizing that there is burden there. And there are many individuals who are so focused on their loved one that they actually don't realize the personal toll that it's taking on themselves. And so then there, that stress builds and builds and builds without even recognizing how it is impacting their own personal health. So the 1st step is, is actually recognizing that.

00:39:48.004 --> 00:39:53.220 Emily Rogalski: I need to be careful here. What can I do? So that I find that that time and support

00:39:53.975 --> 00:40:22.540 Emily Rogalski: support groups are a great option, really trying to integrate other individuals into the care team and that care team is going to be a constant evolution of clinicians and social workers and case workers that can can help physical therapists, occupational therapists. It is a. It is a robust team that's needed, and certain people will kind of step into the spotlight and step out of it during different stages of the disease.

00:40:22.630 --> 00:40:32.419 Emily Rogalski: The Alzheimer's Association and other advocacy groups can be also a great lifeline. The Alzheimer's association has a 1 800 number. That's staffed

00:40:32.440 --> 00:40:37.940 Emily Rogalski: 24 HA day, so that you can call at any time to get some support.

00:40:38.230 --> 00:40:48.306 Emily Rogalski: and they can. They can connect you to a local chapter, too, so that there is those opportunities that may be locally relevant rather than

00:40:49.160 --> 00:41:06.700 Emily Rogalski: general support. Ideas. And so I think those lifelines are ones that are really important to to use and and be creative and understanding. How can you take that burden away? Because that is a a huge concern that not only

00:41:06.990 --> 00:41:13.799 Emily Rogalski: as are you losing the individual with a diagnosis, but then you can lose the health of the individuals.

00:41:13.830 --> 00:41:21.620 Emily Rogalski: the individual, or individuals who are providing that care due to burnout and and many of the things that you mentioned.

00:41:21.620 --> 00:41:49.820 Frank R. Harrison: You know what's ironic is doing, Frank, about health has been a lifeline. So I was telling Karen that the other day when we had a phone conversation in preparation for this show, and one of the things that we discussed was her hypnotherapy that she does with Karen Ross now, and what I wanted to also find out as as she can, you know. Talk about her practice with you is, what role could it play in helping? Not just the caregivers of those with dementia, but also maybe even those that have it.

00:41:49.820 --> 00:41:57.879 Frank R. Harrison: They I don't know if they could benefit from her work. So I guess, Karen, do you want to share more about that with her, and and see if there is a connection.

00:41:59.260 --> 00:42:02.477 Karen Ross - KarenRossNow.com: 1st of all, I'd like to just

00:42:03.400 --> 00:42:15.489 Karen Ross - KarenRossNow.com: kind of endorse what both of you have said about connection for the caregiver and several years ago I participated in a support group because someone in my life had been

00:42:16.259 --> 00:42:20.739 Karen Ross - KarenRossNow.com: diagnosed with dementia. I learned so much

00:42:20.840 --> 00:42:32.749 Karen Ross - KarenRossNow.com: just in a short period of time that I absolutely did not know, from reading, from exploring the Internet, sitting with a group of people who were in that situation.

00:42:33.280 --> 00:42:34.320 Karen Ross - KarenRossNow.com: Was just

00:42:35.020 --> 00:42:54.056 Karen Ross - KarenRossNow.com: a tremendous eye opener. Tremendous help. So I just want to endorse that recommendation. But as far as I'm a board certified hypnotherapist, I have not worked with anyone who has been diagnosed with dementia, and I can't speak from a

00:42:54.937 --> 00:43:00.779 Karen Ross - KarenRossNow.com: professional standpoint as to whether or not it would. I I guess I would turn that question to you.

00:43:00.810 --> 00:43:04.810 Karen Ross - KarenRossNow.com: What does happen? I have worked with people who have had

00:43:04.840 --> 00:43:09.510 Karen Ross - KarenRossNow.com: various kinds of mental upsets.

00:43:09.600 --> 00:43:12.879 Karen Ross - KarenRossNow.com: and it can create a sense of peace.

00:43:12.890 --> 00:43:15.740 Karen Ross - KarenRossNow.com: It can create some calm

00:43:16.375 --> 00:43:22.150 Karen Ross - KarenRossNow.com: that could benefit the individual having the condition or the caregiver

00:43:22.290 --> 00:43:36.469 Karen Ross - KarenRossNow.com: to just be able to see things in a different perspective. And and that's typically what I do. But I'd be curious, Doctor, if hypnosis has played a role in any way in the work that you've done.

00:43:37.450 --> 00:43:41.789 Emily Rogalski: So that is not an area of specialty of mine. And so I really can't

00:43:41.980 --> 00:44:05.109 Emily Rogalski: comment on that research literature. Unfortunately, it's that is outside of my expertise. What I can say is that when we think about interventions and what may be helpful, I do think it's helpful to think about both pharmacological options as well as non pharmacologic options. And so drug and non drug as to say it more simply

00:44:05.360 --> 00:44:06.610 Emily Rogalski: because

00:44:07.652 --> 00:44:33.380 Emily Rogalski: we can't always imagine that there's going to be a magic pill for everything and that the intervention that one person needs may be slightly different than another person needs. And this is really where we're going as a field to think about. What does precision medicine look like, so that it takes into account my background, my lifestyle choices, and then says, okay, based on these things. Here's

00:44:33.450 --> 00:44:44.899 Emily Rogalski: here's the recipe of things that might be most beneficial for you, based on the constellation of symptoms and your genetic and lifestyle and other background. And so

00:44:45.250 --> 00:44:59.460 Emily Rogalski: people are engaged with things that resonate with them, and are likely to then be more impactful, so that you have that buy in the motivation to participate in those. And so I think this is coming more and more

00:44:59.660 --> 00:45:22.450 Emily Rogalski: to be accepted, that both pharmacological options and non pharmacological options can be beneficial and the use of combination therapy so that could be multiple medications or the combination of drugs and non drugs, thinking about those working together to create the most optimal outcome for someone.

00:45:22.450 --> 00:45:24.729 Karen Ross - KarenRossNow.com: Right. Oh, that makes a lot of sense.

00:45:24.940 --> 00:45:40.999 Frank R. Harrison: Yes. Well, now, we're taking our final break, and when we return we're just gonna wrap up pretty much what we've talked about today. Shift back into the positive zone and talk about those super agers out there, as well as learn more about what's ahead for Karen Ross. Now, Frank, about health.

00:45:41.000 --> 00:45:55.440 Frank R. Harrison: And of course, for you, Dr. Rogalski. So, ladies and gentlemen, please stay tuned as we conclude this episode of Frank about health right here on talk, radio Nyc and on our socials, Facebook Twitch, Linkedin and Youtube. We'll be back.

00:47:59.610 --> 00:48:06.419 Frank R. Harrison: Hey, everybody, and welcome back Karen! I believe that you had another question for Dr. Rogalski.

00:48:06.610 --> 00:48:13.869 Karen Ross - KarenRossNow.com: Well, I had a couple of real quick questions the subject of Let me. I want to be sure I get the words right.

00:48:14.361 --> 00:48:20.140 Karen Ross - KarenRossNow.com: You have done some writing on the difference between average and intact.

00:48:20.847 --> 00:48:23.420 Karen Ross - KarenRossNow.com: Do you want to talk a little bit about that?

00:48:25.570 --> 00:48:28.519 Emily Rogalski: Sure. So sometimes when we think about

00:48:28.980 --> 00:48:33.000 Emily Rogalski: normal aging or average aging versus intact.

00:48:33.110 --> 00:48:40.280 Emily Rogalski: we, we give a handicap, if you will, to what we call normal for

00:48:40.590 --> 00:48:46.839 Emily Rogalski: people as they age. So you're allowed to. For example, if you're in your fifties and sixties.

00:48:47.130 --> 00:48:57.890 Emily Rogalski: if there are, we're asking you to remember 15 items. What would be average in your fifties to sixties would to be to recall 9 of those items.

00:48:58.610 --> 00:49:03.819 Emily Rogalski: But if you're in your 70, if you're in your eighties, and above.

00:49:03.830 --> 00:49:06.299 Emily Rogalski: we call average

00:49:06.550 --> 00:49:07.890 Emily Rogalski: to remember 5

00:49:08.978 --> 00:49:17.950 Emily Rogalski: and so there's this allowance to perform. Worse. But still be in the average zone, and it's dependent on age.

00:49:18.700 --> 00:49:24.280 Emily Rogalski: And so those words mean something different by age. And so that's a lot about what we think is.

00:49:25.670 --> 00:49:31.149 Emily Rogalski: sometimes we kind of if we just use those words, it's not always clear that

00:49:31.290 --> 00:49:32.980 Emily Rogalski: averaged at age

00:49:33.060 --> 00:49:36.920 Emily Rogalski: 50 is not the same score as average at age 80.

00:49:37.190 --> 00:49:48.940 Karen Ross - KarenRossNow.com: Got it. Okay? One more quick question. And then, I know, have Frank has a lot to tie things up with you. But do you find the super agers are typically single or married.

00:49:50.110 --> 00:50:09.970 Emily Rogalski: There's a variety. So we see that some super agers have been single their whole life. Where others may have had more than one spouse over the period of their their life. And some who are. We've had also super aging couples where both individuals have been enrolled into the study

00:50:09.970 --> 00:50:24.269 Emily Rogalski: and we've even had individuals who say, Well, my spouse has passed away. I'm looking for a new spouse. Can we have a party so that I can meet some of these super agers, and I can find a new one. So.

00:50:24.270 --> 00:50:26.520 Karen Ross - KarenRossNow.com: And do you host those parties.

00:50:26.520 --> 00:50:27.930 Emily Rogalski: We have, we have.

00:50:27.930 --> 00:50:28.390 Karen Ross - KarenRossNow.com: Have hard.

00:50:28.390 --> 00:50:31.599 Emily Rogalski: But not to be matched. Com. That is not my

00:50:32.387 --> 00:50:51.320 Emily Rogalski: but to find that connection so that we can support the opportunity for just like support groups can be helpful. I think it's also ideal to have super agers have the opportunity to meet each other. They enjoy sharing with each other about their life experiences. And so it's a way to

00:50:51.630 --> 00:50:57.409 Emily Rogalski: provide connection and and give back and give them the opportunity to get to know each other.

00:50:57.410 --> 00:50:58.350 Karen Ross - KarenRossNow.com: Sure. Oh, that's.

00:50:58.350 --> 00:51:02.549 Frank R. Harrison: I can already think of the name of the party. Hark! Who goes there? I'm sorry.

00:51:03.610 --> 00:51:14.899 Frank R. Harrison: Just came to me. Alright but at the same time I wanted to echo something that Karen just said. I mean, the thing is is that when you are also dealing with people

00:51:15.110 --> 00:51:35.760 Frank R. Harrison: who are in that super age category, and you find that they're great at games like trivial pursuit even I mean, they could be 90. My my father is 93, and he's been worried about having dementia oriented symptoms. But when we play trivial pursuit he's remembering songs, word for word or whatever. I'm wondering if

00:51:35.770 --> 00:51:56.080 Frank R. Harrison: that is what the super agers have already been doing most of their life that they're, you know, the average to them of 5. They're like, no, I want to give you 9 that I can recall. I'm I'm trying to figure out if if it actual tools or games or techniques that you can recommend for anyone who wants to be eventually in the Super Age category.

00:51:56.270 --> 00:52:20.550 Emily Rogalski: Sure. So there are strategies for people who call themselves memory athletes. So there are strategies to boost recall of specific items. However, we don't hear from the super agers that they had particularly great memory when they were in grade school. Some of them are surprised to hear that their memory is so wonderful. So that's not always been an area of strength

00:52:20.720 --> 00:52:22.399 Emily Rogalski: for these individuals.

00:52:23.240 --> 00:52:38.938 Emily Rogalski: and I should point out that when we compare super agers to average agers in the studies that we've done to date. The IQ of the super agers and average agers hasn't been different. And so that's similar. So it's not that these are just

00:52:39.330 --> 00:52:53.839 Emily Rogalski: overly intelligent individuals, and it's also the case that they have had similar ranges in education. And it's not that education doesn't matter. But that wasn't the driving factor in the the differences between the groups.

00:52:54.300 --> 00:52:59.879 Frank R. Harrison: Oh, okay, now I I figure, though, it's almost like what they say. Continue to flex your muscle, which is your brain. So.

00:52:59.880 --> 00:53:14.609 Emily Rogalski: Yeah. So I think you're picking up on another really important point. And that is that our brains really like new things. And so just like we think about exercising our muscles when we go to the gym and keeping our our strength up.

00:53:14.950 --> 00:53:27.320 Emily Rogalski: we wanna we wanna stretch our brain muscles as well, and that can come in a variety of ways. It doesn't have to be crossword puzzles, and there's nothing magical about those per se. But it is

00:53:27.500 --> 00:53:47.829 Emily Rogalski: a way to kind of keep your brain on its toes if you will. So finding something that's challenging, and there's been really lovely work done by Denise Park and others, showing that it doesn't matter if you learn photography or knitting that the brain benefit is equal between the 2. It's the fact that you learn something new.

00:53:47.870 --> 00:54:08.400 Emily Rogalski: And this is one of the reasons that we think social connection might be so important is because it it actually is pretty hard to have conversations and maintain social connection. I don't know exactly what you're gonna ask me next, but when you ask it, my brain has to work right. It has to work really quick, quick to say, Okay, what am I gonna say back?

00:54:08.540 --> 00:54:11.859 Emily Rogalski: And that kind of workout for my brain is good for it.

00:54:11.860 --> 00:54:12.560 Karen Ross - KarenRossNow.com: Yeah.

00:54:12.940 --> 00:54:19.180 Frank R. Harrison: On that note. Why don't you talk more about your Institute? Your Super Aging Institute? Is that what you that's referred to?

00:54:19.180 --> 00:54:49.169 Emily Rogalski: Yeah, so there's 2 things. So the the super aging research initiative, which is looking for superagers. That which has been enrolling superagers across the Us. And Canada in an attempt to diversify our cohort, both regionally as well as from a racial and ethnic standpoint, and we've been successful at at doing that, and also better understanding what all those different factors may be that help super agers live long and live well.

00:54:49.190 --> 00:55:14.209 Emily Rogalski: and then we've more recently have started the healthy aging and Alzheimer's research care center, where we're really focused on using multidisciplinary approaches to helping people who are super agers, but also individuals who may be having more difficulty as they age. And so we're conducting that research to support the understanding of Alzheimer's and related dementias

00:55:14.290 --> 00:55:18.210 Emily Rogalski: as well as how we can optimize, care for those individuals.

00:55:18.820 --> 00:55:19.570 Frank R. Harrison: Wow!

00:55:19.880 --> 00:55:31.869 Frank R. Harrison: Well, we're we're 3 min to ending. So is there any other last minute details about what you're working on, or where you'll be seen, or what people can do to find you. If they want to ask any additional questions.

00:55:32.210 --> 00:55:57.400 Emily Rogalski: We would be happy to connect with you and encourage you to come to our website. We have a registry which would allow you to express interest in participating in research associated with the center. Or if you want to just sign up to stay connected about healthy aging and and also community events that we may be at or hosting and so we encourage you to go to our website, which is.

00:55:57.400 --> 00:56:12.140 Emily Rogalski: hark, dot center dot Uchicago Edu, and we'll put that in the show notes, because it's a it's a lot to remember, and Harc is HAAR. C. Not the the way you would think of with a K.

00:56:12.590 --> 00:56:21.209 Frank R. Harrison: Right. And also this will be on our Youtube channel as an archive show. So anyone who hears the show again will also get it from from you as well.

00:56:21.607 --> 00:56:30.230 Frank R. Harrison: Now we're 2 min to ending. So, ladies and gentlemen, normally at this time I would pretty much start announcing next week's slate of shows as well as

00:56:30.310 --> 00:56:50.489 Frank R. Harrison: just what's gonna happen on Frank about health next week and and beyond. But I want to take the time out to thank all of you out there who have been watching the show for now 123 episodes. This is the 1st time I took a 9 week hiatus, which was definitely unplanned, and I noticed that by not engaging with our guests with Karen.

00:56:50.490 --> 00:57:14.879 Frank R. Harrison: with previous co-hosts, that I've had Phyllis Quinlan Evan, Messman, Maurice Elkovich, and even just our engineer, Logan Pethel, out there, or Sam Leibowitz himself. I felt that I was missing something this last 9 months. It is very interesting to understand that everything you've heard today about how, when the brain is engaged, and what it loves to do, or what it loves to think about, or what questions to ask.

00:57:14.950 --> 00:57:43.819 Frank R. Harrison: There is this ongoing muscle flexing going on, and there's the anticipation of what you're going to talk about next. And I could see that if anyone takes a hiatus in the future on any show, with any, podcast no more than 4 weeks, because 9 weeks, I was feeling withdrawal symptoms, but coupled with, of course. What we've been talking about with my cousin, so that, all being said, I just highly thank all of you out there

00:57:44.320 --> 00:57:58.530 Frank R. Harrison: for being involved in frank about health writing to me on my email, Frank Rharison, one@gmail.com contacting me through Youtube, or even Facebook. And recently, I've gotten a few of you contacting me through Linkedin. So thank you for that.

00:57:59.060 --> 00:58:00.060 Frank R. Harrison: I just.

00:58:00.060 --> 00:58:13.239 Karen Ross - KarenRossNow.com: Changes. Yeah, I just want to remind people, if you are interested in doing a little more exploration about hypnotherapy info at Karen Rossnow. Com very simple.

00:58:13.830 --> 00:58:27.090 Frank R. Harrison: Yes, and, as I was saying earlier, I actually had a conversation with her working with her in that in that vein, in preparation for coming back to Frank about health, because I'll tell you honestly before that conversation

00:58:27.210 --> 00:58:47.530 Frank R. Harrison: I was not in the right space. So that being said, I know that hypnotherapy does work. And I highly recommend going to her website to see how you can participate. But not not. You're welcome, Karen. And and not only do I want to thank? The members of talk radio, dot. Nyc, I want to thank the people of Hilton.

00:58:47.590 --> 00:59:14.630 Frank R. Harrison: They have been very supportive to me over the past 3 years, but even more so the last 9 weeks, and one of the things that I am so eager for all of you out there is to see the launch of this 9 month long, documentary about Frank about health, and the various guests that have been on the show, including Karen, who's featured there in an interview footage. It is coming, but unfortunately, because of what has been going on, it was due to be here August first, st

00:59:14.630 --> 00:59:35.010 Frank R. Harrison: but now we're looking at October, and you know what I'm taking the idea that both you and Karen and Emily have talked about. I'm gonna get a party together, and let's just see how we can really connect and socialize over that. So that's pretty much my gratitude to all of you out there. And I I think I'm running out of time to go into what

00:59:35.010 --> 00:59:48.110 Frank R. Harrison: the next week's slate of shows are. But I can say that after the conscious consultant hour next Thursday, as well as power, love, money, and health. I think that's the order it's in will be another episode of Frank about health.

00:59:48.542 --> 00:59:56.510 Frank R. Harrison: And we will be back together hopefully in Chicago in October, Karen, to talk about. I think we said breast cancer awareness.

00:59:57.820 --> 01:00:13.710 Frank R. Harrison: Or I think that's pretty much what we're thinking about. But so please, come back next week right here on talk radio, Nyc. And thanks for being here, Dr. Rogalski. And of course you, Karen, and thanks again. Logan, behind the scenes. See you next week.

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