farmdoc's blog post number 427

Last Wednesday I started reading The Brain That Changes Itself about an absorbing topic called neuroplasticity. On page 35 the author Norman Doidge mentions a study of rats in stimulating and non-stimulating environments, which found the brains of stimulated rats were heavier, had more neurotransmitters, and had a better blood supply. In other words, activity affects brain structure. I don’t know if the unstimulated rats’ brains were normal and the stimulated rats’ brains above normal; or the unstimulated rats’ brains were subnormal and the stimulated rats’ brains normal. Either way the message is ‘use it or lose it’. And so to the Victorian Doctors Health Program – an organisation set up to care for the health of Victorian doctors, via prevention and treatment. On page 3 of the Winter 2009 VDHP Newsletter is an article titled ‘Health and well-being in retirement’. It’s up my alley because I’m thinking of stopping work when I turn 65. In three years. We hear stories of people who retire, then die soon after. Not a good deal. The Newsletter article discusses the psychodynamics of retirement, offers its help, and suggests all retirees should have three hobbies or activities – a physical or sporting activity, a social activity, and a personal and individual hobby. The article concludes with four ‘Ways to know its [sic] time to retire!’ The final one is ‘Not only are policemen getting younger, but the chief of police looks too young’. Ho hum.