The other day I was holding my baby a.k. the youngest [see above], looking around the room in panic, saying, “WHERE’S THE BABY?!”  [really happened]

So you have forgotten where you put your car keys. You just can’t remember the name of a friend you have known for ages. You are looking for your sunglasses and finally find them — on your face. The most dramatic example I ever saw happened at Preservation Hall in New Orleans with a jazz group. The aging leader of his group tried to introduce the jazz players. He couldn’t remember the name of his own brother. All of us have these kinds of experiences as we age. – Judith Kleinfeld, Anchorage Daily News August 3, 2007

Over the last decade, several studies with animals have shown that exercise can help maintain the health of brain cells and can even lead to the generation of new cells in certain regions of the brain. So says John Fauber of  the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel this month, July 27, 2008.

University of Kansas researchers also looked at areas of the brain that are more often affected by Alzheimer’s, including the hippocampus and the temporal and parietal cortices. Again, they found that a higher level of fitness was associated with less atrophy.  Evidence suggests that exercise and improved fitness in cognitively normal individuals is associated with a reduced risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. Little is known, however, about fitness in individuals with early Alzheimer’s disease and whether fitness influences Alzheimer’s disease progression.  Learn more about The Alzheimer’s Disease Exercise Program Trial (ADEPT) here.

The office – it doesn’t have to be a twisted version of a horrible gym class anymore. You know, the kind of gym class where everyone stands along the sides of the foul line and waits their turn to sprint or climb or miss a lay up. Then after the jolt of activity… it’s to the back of line with you, practically motionless.

Instead, there’s the new Walkstation, unveiled today and reported on by Money, which integrates a specially-designed treadmill with an electric height-adjustable worksurfaces. Steelcase Inc. , a global office environments manufacturer and James Levine, MD, PhD, of the renowned Mayo Clinic teamed up with manufacturer TRUE Fitness Technology, Inc. to make a product that allows for slow walking during tasks ordinarily performed sitting down.

Dr. Levine’s proprietary N.E.A.T. research suggests that increased physical activity among sedentary workers may benefit the workplace environment and increase the overall health, focus and productivity of a workforce that is typically desk-based. “The Walkstation is not intended to provide a gym-style workout in the office; its purpose is not to cause users to raise their heart rates or work up a sweat,” Dr. Levine says.

“Chair-living has proven so enticing that we have forsaken our legs. It is now time to find ways to get us back onto our legs.” Even on Health Patio!

I’m willing to encourage you to ask for a nap room at work, if you disembark from your Walkstation and feel that mid-day energy dip. Just tell the boss that Health Patio says its OK.

If you have 3 extra minutes and just need a little chuckle, watch November (the cat) get on a treadmill: