If you’re pondering what to change about your life in the coming year, the Alzheimer’s Association has some suggestions that can boost your brain health and reduce the risk of cognitive decline.
There are treatments that offer moderate help for Alzheimer’s disease. There is no cure. But according to research, lifestyle changes make a big difference in cognitive health and in the risk of developing disease. Plus, changes that help the brain also help the heart and reduce deaths from other diseases, including certain cancers.
“Keeping our brains healthy is not something we should worry about only as we get older,” Stacie Kulp, executive director of the Alzheimer’s Association of Utah, said in a statement. “It should be a lifelong effort.”
Currently, nearly 7 million people in the U.S. have Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of dementia, while the global number is around 55 million. That includes 34,000 Utahns and about 200,000 people under age 65 who live with the disease. And the number of people who will ever develop a form of dementia is predicted to grow a lot.
Here’s some of what studies have shown about simple changes that boost brain health, provided by the association:
Manage your blood pressure. Folks with a top (systolic) blood pressure reading of 120 were 19% less apt to develop mild cognitive impairment, compared to those with a systolic reading of 140. The study, led by researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, said those with the lower reading also showed less signs of damage on brain scans. Mild cognitive impairment is often, though not always, a precursor to dementia. The findings suggest that risk of both might be reduced by controlling one’s blood pressure.
Pay attention to — and treat — hearing loss. More than 6 in 10 adults over age 60 reportedly have some hearing loss. In a study led by Johns Hopkins University researchers that looked at a subgroup of older adults with hearing loss who were at higher risk for cognitive decline, those who used hearing aids and hearing counseling for three years had half the cognitive decline of those who did not.
“Hearing loss is very treatable in later life, which makes it an important public health target to reduce risk of cognitive decline and dementia,” Dr. Frank Lin, the lead researcher, told the National Institutes of Health.
Get vaccinated. University of Texas researchers at McGovern Medical School said having an annual flu vaccine was associated with a 40% decrease in risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease within four years. They found a single flu vaccine could reduce the risk by 17%. The association also said that pneumonia vaccines for those ages 65-75 reduced the risk of Alzheimer’s by up to 40%, based on Duke University’s Social Science Research Institute study.
That’s a shot in the arm for those who are at risk and worried about Alzheimer’s.
Pay attention to your gut. Sixteen percent of the world’s population is constipated and it’s more common among older adults because of fiber-deficient diets, inadequate exercise and certain medicine. According to the Alzheimer’s Association, research shows those who have bowel movements only every three days or less have 73% greater risk of subjective cognitive decline and long-term health problems like inflammation, hormone imbalances and anxiety or depression.
Try to avoid ultra-processed foods. Studies suggest those who eat the most ultra-processed food have a 28% faster decline in their global cognitive scores — memory, verbal fluency and executive function — compared to those with lower consumption, according to a study done in Brazil and similar findings by U.K. researchers. High consumption is when more than 20% of a day’s calories are ultra-processed.
In the United States, well over half of the food commonly consumed is ultra-processed.
Per the Alzheimer’s Association, “Ultra-processed foods are those that go through significant industrial processes and contain large quantities of fats, sugar, salt, artificial flavors/colors, stabilizers and/or preservatives.” There are tons of examples because people eat a lot of ultra-processed foods. Some of the most common are soda, breakfast cereals, white bread, chips, and many frozen foods, including ice cream, lasagna, pizza, hamburgers and fries.
Make time to socialize. The association suggests enrolling in a dance class with a friend or finding other ways to have fun that involve being sociable. “Alzheimer’s researchers are now looking into whether increased socialization, along with a cocktail of lifestyle interventions including improved diet, exercise, cognitive stimulation and self-monitoring for heart-health risk can protect cognitive function,” the Alzheimer’s Association said in a news release.
The study is underway and is a two-year clinical trial to see how lifestyle improvement reduces risk.