Commonly referred to as brain fog, experts call it cognitive exhaustion.
Fatigue resulting from pain and debilitating health conditions doesn’t just affect the body,” said Dr. Nancy Klimas.
“Cognitive energy is a different thing,” Klimas said. “Your brain is making more energy and using more energy than any of your muscles. You’ve got more mitochondria (energy production units) per cell in your brain by 100-fold than in your muscles. Using a lot of this energy makes more oxidative stress. If you are using your brain, you need little mental breaks as well. You have to deliver oxygen and glucose, but also take away the oxidative stress stuff (lactic acid).”
“Oxidative stress in the brain and body are vicious cycles, they drive each other,” Klimas said. “The more oxidative stress, the more inflammation, they go push-push. Those two are circular.”
The best and easiest way to help alleviate cognitive exhaustion?
- Is to be flat (put your body in the prone position)
If that expert advice sounds refreshing, you’re not the only one!
Lie flat it is! Take a few moments for yourself. Decompress, no matter the time of day.
“You’re actually getting more blood flow to your brain than when you are upright,” Klimas said.
So take a break. Rest on the couch, crawl into bed, stretch out on the park grass.
We all need a break. I took a 40-minute one yesterday. It was the best decision.
Dr. Klimas says:
- “Take mental breaks
- Lie down for a minute
- Then come back and function again”
“Brain fog is basically driving the brain into higher levels of inflammation and oxidative stress,” she said.
Dr. Nancy Klimas is Director, Institute for Neuro-Immune Medicine at Nova Southeastern University; Director, Clinical Immunology Research at Miami Veterans Affairs Medical Center; a member of the VA Research Advisory Committee for Gulf War Illness; and the immediate past president of the Internal Association for CFS and ME (IACFS/ME).
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