Brain Shrinkage…

~ Ellie

…or, The Most Hilarious Thing He Ever Said.

I keep forgetting things. Things I’ve said, things I’ve read, things people have said to me. I’ll forget the what, the who, and the when. You get the idea.

This morning I exclaimed, “Brain shrinkage! I’m getting old and my brain is shrinking! Why didn’t my mother ever tell me about this?!”

Husband John: “She forgot.”

After I stopped laughing I thought it worthy of a blog post. So here we are. 😁

~~~

Last year I had a one-month spell of double vision. In the thick of it, I got a quick referral from my neurologist for an MRI, to see if it was related to my (very mild) case of MS. (To read about my MS saga, “What’s Wrong With Me,” click here.)

Turns out it wasn’t related, and my diplopia subsided on its own. By the way, if you’re curious regarding what a typical “MS brain” might look like, here’s one example:

Typical MS brain; the pic is cc by Waglione.

Anyway, my April 2021 MRI mainly said everything in my brain was not much different than the previous scan done in 2019. But what stood out for me in the radiologist’s report this time was the mention that there was some “parenchymal volume loss” – i.e., cerebral atrophy!

Cerebral atrophy is the morphological presentation of brain parenchymal volume loss that is frequently seen on cross-sectional imaging. Rather than being a primary diagnosis, it is the common endpoint for a range of disease processes that affect the central nervous system. Feb 24, 2021
https://radiopaedia.org › articles › cerebral-atrophy
 
Okay, so my MS, despite being a mild case and not affecting my mobility, does have a hand in my apparent brain shrinkage.
 
 
Pathological loss of brain parenchyma due to neurodegeneration, i.e. brain atrophy, is an important aspect of many diseases affecting the central nervous system (CNS), such as multiple sclerosis,[1] dementia [2] and Huntington’s disease [3]. Jan 17, 2017
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov › articles › PMC5240949
 
Also,
 
People with brain atrophy, also called cerebral atrophy, lose brain cells (neurons), and connections between their brain cells and brain volume often decreases. This loss can lead to problems with thinking, memory and performing everyday tasks. The greater the loss, the more impairment someone has. Mar 10, 2022
The following changes normally occur as we get older: Brain mass: While brain volume decreases overall with age, the frontal lobe and hippocampus – specific areas of the brain responsible for cognitive functions – shrink more than other areas. Jun 10, 2021
 
So: some (including me!) may ask if this shrinkage can be reversed, or even prevented in the first place. There is a lot of material on this if you simply Google “brain atrophy.” A particularly good section is at https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/22515-brain-atrophy.
 

Hmm… I think I forget where I was going with all this. Oh yes! So a bit of brain shrinkage is quite normal and can just be a function of aging. Boo hoo, right? But we can say that exercising (both brain and body) is a good thing! Eating well and sleeping well – also good. But if you’re still worried about your leetle grey cells (as Agatha Christie’s character, Hercule Poirot referred to them), see your family doctor, and (hopefully) get a referral to a good neurologist. Good luck!

10 thoughts on “Brain Shrinkage…”

  1. Hercule, Henri and I say your leetle gray cells are doing quite well!
    Several years ago I had a brain scan as I was having severe migraines. After it was finished I asked the technician what it showed. He replied there was “nothing there”. So I sang “If I only had a brain” from the Wizard of Oz as I left the office.
    After doing extensive research of my own, I discovered the migraines were caused by gluten and aged cheeses.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. “Nothing there”! Hahaha! But you can’t be a scarecrow if you’re a mermaid!
      Did your extensive research involve Google like mine did? So helpful, right? 😄 Listen, if you were able to pinpoint the perps re your migraines, touché for you!!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. I’m a rather scary mermaid. 😀 Many doctors just hand out pills instead of looking for the cause of this issue. I found a book that was extremely helpful and used Google as well. Then I did a lot of experimentation with foods to see what was causing the problem. And the migraines disappeared (much to the surprise of the doctor).

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply

        1. WOW, good on you!!! You solved your problem and educated your doctor in the process! Sheesh. I’m aware that nutrition in the context of diseases and diagnoses gets short shrift in med school. So unfortunate!

          Liked by 1 person

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