James Galvin, M.D. is the Founding Director of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine’s Comprehensive Center for Brain Health, part of the University of Miami Health System. For more information on studies and services the center offers, click here or call (561) 869-6808. Or visit the UHealth Collective: https://news.umiamihealth.org/en/mindfulness-and-resilience-keys-to-better-brain-health/
JOIN THE BATTLE AGAINST BRAIN DISEASE:
74-year-old Martha Castillejo, a retired doctor and polio survivor, knows the importance of scientific research.
“I think I have the responsibility to be part of research,” Martha says.
When she heard about the work James Galvin, M.D., and his team are doing at UHealth’s Comprehensive Center for Brain Health in Boca Raton, she joined studies aimed at preventing diseases like Alzheimer’s.
“The Comprehensive Center for Brain Health was developed to both provide outstanding clinical care for people who are living with disease and to develop novel, cutting-edge, innovative research programs.One of the things we’ve really focused on in our research is this concept of resilience and vulnerability. That is what are the things that put people at a higher risk for disease and what are the things that put people at a lower risk for disease? Vulnerability factors are some things that you can’t change. For example, age, sex, and your family history, we can’t change that,” says Dr. Galvin.
When it comes to our brain health, Dr. Galvin says there are several factors that we can control, such as the food we eat to our physical activity, getting outdoors and practicing mindfulness.
“Mindfulness is the concept of living in the moment. There’s a lot of evidence that suggests that people who can practice this mindfulness, they have better cognition, they have a lower risk of developing disease,” Dr. Galvin says.
“I start my day with half an hour of quiet time,” says Martha.
She participated in tests that challenge both the body and brain.
“I just had the follow-up one year after the first one, and I was very happy because even my cognition improved,” Martha says.
Martha says being a part of research like Dr. Galvin’s is key to eradicating Alzheimer’s Disease in the future.
“I want to be part of the solution!” says Martha.
FOCUSING ON YOU
Focusing on You: Innovations in Modern Medicine is a series of healthcare-related stories airing regularly on WPLG Local 10. For more stories like this one, visit YouTube channels for UHealth, the University of Miami Health System.