What’s VIVIMIND™?
I was returning home from having lunch with a friend recently and saw a billboard for something called VIVIMIND™. One line read, “Test your memory at VIVIMIND™.com.” Since I am past 60 and also because I have the obvious interest in this field, when I got home I logged on to the website which said VIVIMIND™ is “a patented product based on the naturally occurring ingredient homotaurine, which binds to A-beta proteins and reduces the deposition and toxic effects of these proteins in the brain.” The site claims the product is supported by over 15 years of combined rigorous scientific research including clinical testing with over 2,000 individuals. The site also claims VIVIMIND™ helps prevent memory loss due to aging and that it is sold in drugstores and supermarkets as well as online. You take two tablets daily and a month’s supply costs $90. One of the drug store chains listed that stock the product was Shoppers’ Drug Mart and there is a store not five minutes away from where I live. I was going to walk there to check it out but then I got to thinking. To me, more than anything, this product is a sign of three trends. One is that this current crop of seniors will not be content to just make a long, slow slide into senility as previous generations might have. Another point is about the importance now of having a product backed by solid scientific research. Don’t get me wrong though, I have no idea whether VIVIMIND™ is backed by solid scientific research other than what they claim. Finally, the website says VIVIMIND™ is a “natural health product”. I am a recent convert to natural health products. I was diagnosed recently with high blood pressure. It was inevitable. My father had it from his mid-forties. I tried medication after medication and had side effects with every one of them. About the time that my doctor, in frustration, was about to prescribe what he referred to as “water pills”, a medication that my father would have been prescribed half a century ago, I tried omega-3 fatty acids at the suggestion of a friend. My blood pressure is now normal. Even so, given a choice between taking a supplement for the rest of my life versus the change brought about by a natural regulation of cognitive function as with Cogmed Working Memory Training…well you know where this is going. Just for the record again, I have a relationship with Cogmed Working Memory Training (which I described in my first post) but I have not done the training. Finally, consider VIVIMIND™ at $90 a month versus a one-time fee of $1,500 for the Cogmed Training? Well it seems a bit of a no-brainer unless you don’t plan on living very long.