Cognitive

To whom it all may concern,

I was once able to play chess and remebered the rules of the game. It is a game of the mind, strategy and helps in so many various areas of achievement. Not to mention it is fun. I am trying to re-learn those rules and how to play a game I love. I have brain damage and amnesia. It is at the suggestion of a neuropsychologist that I play once more. I will take on any apponent to re-gain back whatever I may. I am truly greatful for those that have already played the few hands with me. Thank you and I offer my grattitude of congratulations. If while playing you have any further advice during a game or either here. Again, it is appreciated and in gratitude. 

Welcome to the site and back to the game. Here's wishing you a speedy recovery.

Dear Robert,

Thank you for your kind and thoughtfull words.

Sincerely,

Chris

Either I have mistaken the rules or something is happening in the computer link process that is not allowing me to move as I should against an opponent. It has happened  to me twice with two different countries. If that makes sense. What do I do about it?

I strongly suggest you ensure you have a healthy diet, and take a vitamin supplement:  methyl-B12 (comes with 'folic acid'), which has a strong reputation as a nerve restorative.

I've been taking one 1000-mcg (1 mg) tablet of Trophic brand B12 tablets under the tongue (sub-lingual, to avoid being destroyed by stomach acids & enzymes) for several years.  Their cost is around $9.00/90 tablets, and they're widely available at larger pharmacy vitamin/food supplement displays and specialty health / vitamin stores.

A family member's cognitive deterioration (mini-stroke dementia from aging) slowed appreciably for several years (and was modestly reversed for the first six months), on first taking three such tablets per day.

sftac

Mine is not from stroke. Thank you for the suggestion and I will take it into consideration and review it.

You mentioned you have 'brain damage' (but not from stroke).  That suggests to me that some of your neural pathways have been destroyed or damaged.  The brain is a flexible organ, ever changing and adapting (rewiring itself, in response to the environment and how much various components are used or neglected).

eg. For those who are blind are birth, the areas of the brain normally taken up by vision processing are instead 'taken over' by our sense of touch and hearing.  Which, is why surgically restoring sight later in life to the blind often does not work at all -- vision is just too large a task for the brain to abruptly rewire itself to that extent.

A supplement such as B12 might (or might not) help speed up the repair process for any neural pathways that were destroyed or deteriorated from your brain damage.  So long as the variation of B12 includes folic acid too, I'm very confident it's completely harmless and risk free [there's no known toxic level for B12 with folic acid].   Next time you see your doctor or your pharmacist you ought to ask about the safety aspect.   Though unless they've personal experience or have studied the subject closely, I doubt they would recognize the value of taking it.

sftac

ps.  Fish is a good dietary choice for improved brain health [I enjoy heating up frozen fish fillets for breakfast].  But simply taking fish oil supplements for their Omega-3 content quite suffices. 

Our North American diets are woefully short of Omega-3 fatty acids, so the optimal 1 to 1 ratio of Omega-3 to Omega-6 fatty acids for good brain nutrition is very lopsided (more like 1 to 6 or 1 to 10 in practice) unless our diet is incredibly healthy otherwise (eg. lots of extra virgin Olive Oil instead of the preponderance of saturated fats in most supermarket products).

Dear Don,

My taste buds and mind cannot tolerate fishes. I in fact get sick trying to eat them. I have tried many times over the years and was taking a well know fish supplement but I was not noticing any affects in making it better or worse. Also, be aware that if the fish contains mercury which is beleived to be posionous to humans. That the manufacturing process of these fish in supliments because they are not "regulated" can contain Mercury. I am aware of the supplements that are also suppossed to help in brain damage and neurological conditions. My sister has been taking B12 for years now and it has not helped her in any repair process...lol However, I am not sure if it contained the folic acid you speak of. Let me further point out and I am not sure if the studies you have read and am asking legitimately. Men and Women are in fact medically different. Do these studies differentiate between men and women, regions, altitutde, uv indexes, etc...?

Sincerely,

Chris

I wish you well.

sftac

..and you as well Don!