By American Heart Association News January
13, 2020
If you want to protect your brain, get busy
protecting your heart.
Lifestyle behaviors that boost cardiovascular
health, such as physical activity and quitting smoking, also contribute to good
cognitive health.
It starts with adequate blood flow.
"If the heart isn't pumping strongly or
the blood vessels leading to or in the brain are not working right, the brain
won't get enough of the food and energy it needs to function," said Dr.
David B. Wheeler, stroke center medical director at Wyoming Medical Center and
founder of Wyoming Neurologic Associates.
Failing brain function can impair thinking,
memory, concentration, energy levels and bodily systems regulated by the brain.
Stroke and dementia, including Alzheimer's disease, are some of the most
serious risks of poor brain and heart health.
Although it is normal for the brain to become
less efficient with aging, maintaining good heart health can help the brain
function well in later years, Wheeler said. One recent study even
found cardiovascular health in childhood may impact cognition in adulthood.
Another recent study found stiffening
of the arteries is linked to reduced blood flow in the brain.
It's possible that harmful blood pressure resulting from stiffening of the
arteries might injure the brain's smaller, more fragile blood vessels, said the
study's lead author Angela Jefferson, a professor of neurology and director of
Vanderbilt Memory and Alzheimer's Center in Nashville.
High blood pressure has been linked to
atherosclerosis, a buildup of plaque in the arteries. If high blood pressure is
left untreated and plaque accumulates, plaque may rupture and cause strokes,
Wheeler said, noting that even though individually these little strokes may not
cause symptoms, they can interrupt connections between regions of the brain.
Ultimately, he said, high blood pressure and
damage to arteries increases the risk for symptomatic stroke or hemorrhages in
the brain, which can be debilitating or even fatal.
But there are ways to safeguard heart and
brain health.
"Exercise is extremely important to
maintaining good brain health," Wheeler said. "A little bit of
exercise is vastly superior to no exercise. I encourage my patients to just get
up and do whatever it is they most enjoy."
Federal
guidelines recommend working your way up to at least 150 minutes
a week of moderate exercise plus two sessions per week of muscle-strengthening
activity.
A mixture of physical activities may be the
most effective approach for improving brain health, Wheeler said, adding that
people can enhance physical activity by using the mind in games and social
interactions during exercise.
Another crucial factor for heart and brain
health is not smoking.
"Quitting smoking today will do as much
for lowering the risk of stroke and dementia as almost all other medical
interventions combined," he said. "Smoking is by far one of the most
significant contributions to cerebrovascular disease."
Three out of five Americans will develop
a brain disease, which can impact quality of
life as well as finances. The total cost of Alzheimer's, dementia and stroke is
projected to surpass $1 trillion by 2030.
Teaching young people to make healthy
lifestyle choices early, including eating healthy, exercising and not smoking
or vaping, is important to help curb those statistics. But at any age people
can take action to improve their future health.
"We are never too young or too old to
make healthy lifestyle choices," Jefferson said. "Emerging evidence
suggests vascular risk factors in mid-life may have important implications for
cognitive decline in late life."
For example, newly published National
Institutes of Health-funded research found aggressive blood
pressure management may reduce cognitive decline in middle-age
and older adults.
Furthermore, getting physically active during middle age may
boost brain health later in life, and light strength training slows age-related
changes in the brain.
While people cannot change genetics, knowing
their family history of cardiovascular disease can help in paying attention to
lifestyle and controlling specific risk factors, such as cholesterol and blood
pressure.
Finally, remember to stay active
intellectually, emotionally and socially, Wheeler said. That might involve
reading, listening to music, pursuing hobbies or talking to friends.
"The whole point of this is to lead
longer lives full of joy and excitement," he said. "Live your life
and your brain will be stronger for it."
If you have questions or comments about this
story, please email editor@heart.org.
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https://www.heart.org/en/news/2020/01/13/what-the-heart-has-to-do-with-the-head
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