The same lifestyle choices that reduce your risk of heart disease, diabetes, and cancer can also reduce your risk of cognitive decline. Brian Woodruff, MDa cognitive neuroscientist at the Mayo Clinic in Arizona, explains the brain-body connection, lifestyle changes to promote brain health, and why it’s important to work toward early detection of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias.
“What’s good for your general health is also good for your brain,” says Dr. Woodruff.
What our brains reveal about cognitive decline
You may have heard that Alzheimer’s disease is caused in part by the accumulation of beta-amyloid plaques and misfolded tau proteins in the brain. While that’s true, other brain changes are likely, Dr. Woodruff says.
“When scientists look at the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease after they die, they find more than just plaques and tangles,” he adds.
They often find a buildup of fat, cholesterol, and other substances in the arteries that supply blood to the brain. They also discover evidence of microscopic strokes, also called microinfarcts.
Unlike major strokes, which have visible symptoms such as facial droop, physical numbness, headaches, and difficulty speaking, microscopic strokes are silent. When more occur, they can starve brain tissue of oxygen and nutrients. If sufficient microvascular changes occur, symptoms such as mental retardation and difficulty concentrating may occur.
“Your brain depends on your cardiovascular system just like any other part of your body,” says Dr. Woodruff: That’s why it’s so important to take care of your heart and blood vessels.
Lifestyle choices can help reduce risk
Thanks to this connection, what benefits your heart also protects your brain. To get these benefits:
- Manage your heart disease risk factors. Treat high blood sugar, high blood pressure and abnormal cholesterol levels. Do not use tobacco products. Keep your weight in a healthy range. “The more you address these issues, the better the benefits for your brain,” says Dr. Woodruff.
- Follow a heart-healthy diet. The Mediterranean diet’s emphasis on minimally processed foods and fruits and vegetables can improve brain health to help keep body fat and chronic inflammation at bay. The Mayo Clinic Diet takes a similar approach to establishing a healthy lifestyle.
- Get enough sleep. Research has linked insomnia to cognitive decline. And poor sleep can also increase the risk of other diseases that affect cognition, such as high blood pressure and diabetes.
- Maintaining social connections. Social connections are thought to benefit the brain in many ways. Research shows that social engagement causes the release of chemicals like serotonin and dopamine, which improve mood and outlook. Social connections can promote the growth of new connections between nerve cells.
- Get treatment to hear and vision loss. If you can’t see or hear what’s going on around you, it will be harder to communicate and stay social. “Those sensory functions are integral to how we think and interact with the world,” says Dr. Woodruff. “If you can’t see it or hear it, then you can’t encode it and remember it.”
- Avoid regular use of sedatives. Some medications used to treat pain, insomnia, and other conditions can dull your thinking, slow your reaction time, and make you sleepy. If you’re not sure about the side effects of medications you take regularly, talk to a healthcare professional who can look at what’s on your medication list and suggest alternatives, advises Dr. Woodruff.
- Practice. Physical and mental exercise can benefit brain health. A large study found that the rate of cognitive decline is twice as common in sedentary people.
Learn new skills
Keeping your mind Being active through activities you enjoy, especially trying new things, can also exercise your brain. When you struggle to learn something new, your brain creates new connections between nerve cells.”
“If you continuously learn new skills and information over time, experts believe that these networks of nerve cell connections create a cognitive reserve, like deposits in a bank account. “Cognitive reserve doesn’t mean you’re immune,” says Dr. Woodruff. “But it buys a cushion against neurodegenerative problems.”
Brian Woodruff, MD
The importance of early detection
Dr. Woodruff is one of the Mayo Clinic researchers working on early diagnosis of dementia and the mild cognitive impairment that precedes it, allowing for earlier treatment. “This will be important if therapeutic advances ultimately allow progression to be slowed or even halted,” he said.
“It’s never too late to make lifestyle changes to protect and improve brain health,” he adds. “I tell all my patients to take care of their overall health, regardless of the severity of their cognitive decline.
About the Mayo Clinic
Mayo Clinic is a not-for-profit organization committed to innovation in clinical practice, education and research, offering compassion, expertise and answers to anyone in need of treatment.
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