“Senior brain youth”

Sinuwat kini ni Dr. Philip S. Chua sa Cebu Daily News, diin, una sa tanan, matud niya: “One of the powerful attributes that we admire (or even marvel at) among many elderly, age 80, 90, and older, is the ‘youthfulness’ of their mind.”

Nindot no? Niay uban nato nagpanuigon  na’g 80 ngadto sa 90, apan, batan-on  pa’g mga panghunahuna.  Mao ni ang atong gibalikbalik dinhi nga ang katigulangaon ania ra sa atong hunahuna. Old age is just a state of the mind. Nga kon imong i-brainwash ang imong kaugalingon nga ikaw tiguwang na, tiguwang na gyud ka. Sa ato nang giingon dinhi: “Growing old is inevitable. But being old is not. You can grow old, but you can stay young – young in looks, young in thinking, young at heart.” Kahinumdom mo ini? Simply refuse to grow old. matua pa.

Atong nahisgutan dinhi, ang taga-Quezon City nagpanuigon na’g 98, apan, mag-drive pa sa iyang awto around the city. Mosimba pa, kuyog pa sa iyang asawa pagpangompra, siya ang mag-drive. So, he refused to grow old. Lagmit, pagka-100 sa iyang edad, nag-drive pa gihapon siya, kay duha na mang lang ka tuig ang kuwang.            

Nia pa, giingon dinhi nga: “When you can no longer dream, you are old (mao ba? Sige pa hinuon ko’g damgo) When you have no more dreams, you die (moy gidangat). Dreaming keeps us young and alive.” Bantug ra, kay sa uban nakong mga damgo, nanguyab pa man ko.

Nia pa gyud: “You become what you constantly behold. When you are surrounded by beauty, you become beautiful. Live in a beautiful place, surround yourself with beautiful things and beautiful people and most important of all, have beautiful thoughts. When you think beautiful, you feel beautiful, and when you are beautiful, you are young.”  Kahinumdom sad mo ini? Ato na kining nahiggutan dinhi ning atong lindog.

Atong padayunon si Dr. Chua: “Unfortunately, not every one of them is gifted with senior brain power or brain youth when they reach 70 or older, and some have significant physiological ‘cerebral handicaps’ even before they reach 70.”

So, dili kitang tanan aduna niining ‘brain power’ o ‘brain youth,’ hinungdan nga inigkatiguwang na nila, tiguwang na gyud. Niay uban, matud pa, dili pa gani ma-70 ang edad, magluya na ug magtiniguwang na gyud og panghunahuna.

Dugang pa: “A generation ago, these senior disabilities (forgetfulness, diminished cognitive power, reduced mental ‘energy’ in general) were considered normal and inevitable. Today, with the advancement in medical science and technology, we knew that many of these ‘age-related’ changes in the anatomy and physiological of the brain are treatable, and many of them preventable. Science now believes that even Alzheimer’s could be slowed down, if not prevented.”

So, nindot ni, kay giisip nga normal ug dili kalikayan kining mga disabilities natong mga senior citizens, nga gumikan sa advanced na sa mga medical technologies, ang maong mga sakit katambalan na, treatable, matud pa. Sama sa Alzheimer’s mahimo kono nga dili mograbe, o mahimong kalikayan.

Refer to your suki or family doctor.