A comprehensive review says heart health risk factors and lifestyle choices, such as exercise, learning new things and staying socially connected, help keep brains healthy as we grow old.
The report from the National Institutes of Health, examined a number of previous studies which had looked at aging and maintaining brain power, and says many of the factors that can put our brain health at risk are things we can modify and control.
The report from a panel of experts looked a number of previous studies on aging and says heart health risk factors and lifestyle choices, such as exercise, learning new things and staying socially connected, help keep brains healthy as we grow old.
From a public health point of view, the repot's main finding is the importance of controlling cardiovascular (CV) risk factors for maintaining brain health as we age, and these say the researchers, are factors that people can change, such as reducing blood pressure, reducing weight, reducing cholesterol, treating (or preferably avoiding) diabetes, and not smoking.
They also found a strong link between physical activity and brain health and that older people who exercise are less likely to experience cognitive decline.
They suggest that a clinical trial to determine if physical activity, possibly in combination with intellectual activity, can prevent cognitive decline, would be useful.