Memories like the corners of my mind...

Inflammation in the body can cause our memory to deteriorate. Pain is often a signal the body is not able to balance and repair.

"In a population-based cohort study described in JAMA Internal Medicine, older adults with persistent pain showed more rapid memory decline and greater dementia probability compared with adults without persistent pain."

When we think about memory loss, dementia and Alzheimer's we conjure images of old people in hospital gowns and slippers forgetting what day it is. Head traumas like concussions point to early onset of neurological diseases such as dementia, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

What we don't realize is that the pain we experience on a daily basis could be deteriorating our brain and it's ability to function. The consequences of pain are more than the discomfort, ignoring pain has long term consequence, really long term.

The usual pattern is to ignore the pain we experience for a long time until it gets to a point where we finally decide to do something about it.

Pain is like a termite slowing devouring the foundation of your home; at first the damage is imperceivable but unless it is managed immediately the entire structure is compromised. The house analogy is not quite accurate because with a house you can move or rebuild, but when it comes to your brain once the damage happens it doesn't or cannot come back.

Pain affects more people in the U.S. than diabetes, heart disease, and cancer combined

Various reports list that over 50 million, but up to 100 million, U.S. adults have chronic pain conditions, an estimate that does not include acute pain conditions or children in pain

Nearly 50 million people in the us suffer from severe chronic pain.

 Memory loss and dementia seem like What is the furthest from our awareness is t

 Perhaps body-mind connection seems  to relate to things like yoga or meditation and perhaps a little woo woo for mainstream medicine.  More and more evidence shows that conditions suchh as chronic pain have longer reaching consequences to overall health.