This is the season of Thanksgiving, a holiday that evokes memories of family gatherings and delicious scents of autumnal meals.
In honor of the tradition of giving thanks, in Healthy Living we share some readers' perspectives on the ways that gratitude promotes their healing and well-being. In the same vein, our Take Charge story relates how couples with differing neurologic abilities sustain their partnerships while finding ways to appreciate each other.
Keeping up this spirit of gratitude, I am thankful for all your contributions to our publication over the past year. The reader profiles, Pictures of You interviews, Speak Up essays, and letters demonstrate that your voices matter most. One such voice is in this issue's profile of Sam Ray, a teenager who builds mobility devices that could aid him and others who have muscular dystrophy. Our Speak Up essay is by a neurologist who makes his clinic less intimidating to people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis by wearing colorful and symbolic suits.
One of my favorite parts of the magazine is the thoughtful and deeply felt letters we receive. In our August/September issue, Bernadette Connolly told us she would show our feature on vaccine hesitancy to an unvaccinated friend about whom she is concerned. For the December 2020/January 2021 issue, Susan Abrams submitted a poem inspired by a story of ours on loneliness. In a letter published in the February/March issue, Lynn Rice rightfully pointed out that the phrase “special needs children” should have been “children with special needs,” reminding us that those with neurologic conditions are people first and foremost.
While I love Thanksgiving food, this year I may resist the temptation to overindulge. Not only does it leave me feeling sluggish and bloated after the meal, it also can upset the balance of the microbes in the gut and contribute to more than just an upset stomach. Learn more about the gut-brain link in our Brain Boost column. We explain how an unhealthy gut microbiome may contribute to neurologic conditions such as multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, and Alzheimer's disease—and how to optimize your gastrointestinal flora by eating a variety of mostly plant-based foods and staying away from processed carbohydrates. A few months ago I bought an air fryer, which was such a hit with my family that I have vowed never to fry foods in oil again. That's how I plan to make the turkey, sweet potato fries, and a healthier version of pumpkin pie for this year's Thanksgiving meal.
In a Thanksgiving episode of This Is Us two years ago, Mandy Moore's character, Rebecca Pearson, exhibited signs of a declining memory. Thanks to neurologists who consulted on set, Moore portrays Rebecca's dementia with realism and sensitivity. Her experience playing that role inspired the actor, an advocate for UsAgainstAlzheimer's, to raise awareness of the disparate impact Alzheimer's and related dementias have on women and people of color. She describes her advocacy in our cover story.
Our feature on post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC), or long-haul syndrome, focuses on people for whom recovery from COVID-19 has been slow and fitful. Patients and researchers remain hopeful that new understanding and therapies will emerge. Meanwhile, our Spasticity Can Help Ease Stiffness" href="/link/f651008abec6428d8fe52b39663304f4.aspx">feature on limb spasticity—a condition marked by an increase in muscle tightness and stiffness that accompanies some neurologic disorders—describes various treatments for it, from physical and occupational therapy and stretching exercises to medications and surgeries.
Through these stories, we continue to express our thanks to all of you for your ongoing support.
Wishing you a healthy and happy Thanksgiving from all of us here at Brain & Life.
Orly Avitzur, MD, MBA, FAAN, Editor-in-Chief
