Ways You Can Promote Brain Health
Ways You Can Promote Brain Health
NEW: Vital Stats, Big Words and News Briefs added to our weekly in-depth health and wellness stories
Welcome back to your weekly dose of wisdom and wellness, helping you make tomorrow a little better than today. Below you’ll find the usual mix of amazing in-depth stories by Wise & Well’s team of journalists, topical experts and practicing professionals. But first, this week I’m introducing three newsletter-only mini-features I hope you find enlightening and useful:
VITAL STAT: 79%
Percentage of Americans who say they either strongly or somewhat support a federal law requiring insurance companies to cover mental health at the same level as medical health and surgical care. Support exists across the political spectrum, but more so among Democrats (95%) than Republicans (67%). Source: West Health/Gallup survey released Oct. 24.
BIG WORDS: Life Expectancy vs. Lifespan
Life expectancy is a calculation predicting how long a newborn is expected to live, on average, given current known death rates for others in their demographic, including race and ethnicity and where they live. How long an individual actually lives is called their lifespan.
NEWS BRIEF: Ways You Can Promote Brain Health
Scientists often study how certain lifestyle factors affect heart and brain health. A new study looked at these eight: be active; eat well; get good sleep; maintain healthy weight and healthy blood pressure; control cholesterol and blood sugar levels; and don’t smoke.
A new analysis of data on 316,127 people, average age 56, put them in three groups: optimal, intermediate or poor adherence to those eight factors, then examined their health outcomes over the subsequent five years. Those ranked in the poor category were more than twice as likely to develop stroke, dementia or late-life depression compared to those ranked optimal.
“Our study found that making these healthy lifestyle choices in middle age can have meaningful impacts on brain health later in life,” said study team member and Yale University researcher Santiago Clocchiatti-Tuozzo, MD. “Because the risk factors we looked at are all ones that people can work to improve, our findings highlight the potential brain-health benefits of using these eight cardiovascular and brain-health factors to guide healthy lifestyle choices.”
The study, published Oct. 23 in the journal Neurology, does not prove cause and effect. But it adds to oodles of research suggesting how a handful of somewhat to largely controllable behaviors affect how long we live and how healthy we are along the way. A study last year found that leaning into a similar batch of “lifestyle medicine” factors can add up to 20 years of extended life compared with eschewing them all—and there are notable gains to be made no matter how late in life you get on board.
The idea is not to achieve some hypothetical perfect lifestyle-medicine score. But by leaning into any as many of these factors as you can, to the extent practical, you will up your odds of a longer, healthier existence, lowering your risk of a heart attack (the number one killer) and cognitive decline. In short, you will feel better, in body and mind, and maybe hang around a little longer than you otherwise would.
THIS WEEK’S FEATURES
A selection of this week’s informative, entertaining and actionable Wise & Well stories:
This Woman Retrained Her Brain to Cure Chronic Pain
Roughly 1 of 5 people suffer chronic pain. Often there’s no longer any illness or injury causing it. What’s left is a largely emotional construct, a memory in the nervous system. Take Fiona Symington, who saw countless specialists and tried every treatment recommended. Nothing worked. Until she tried brain retraining. I am fascinated by the potential of this therapy to treat millions of others, and I’m warmed by the courage and persistence of people like Symington.
“I found it hard to describe my pain to others because it could be so bad,” she says. “It altered my personality. I was tired from managing it and often grumpy. I had to work everything around my pain and many times standing or sitting for long was too hard. I spent a lot of time lying in bed trying not to move to get it to calm down. My pain ruled my life.”
—Randall H. Duckett
I Want To Die Like a Man
I had no clue that until around 1890, men outlived women, on average. The reason for the shift since then is a revelation in the understanding of women’s health (hint: it’s all about the ovaries). The end result—women living much longer, and menopause is hell and, well, you just have to read why this writer is peeved about the shortcomings of modern health research and healthcare…
While women may win the longevity race, the reward is no prize. Post-menopausal women must endure fragile bones that snap if they sneeze too hard, memory loss that makes finding keys a daily scavenger hunt, and sitting in diapers soaked in urine.
—Carlyn Beccia
When Imposter Syndrome is an Imposter
Imposter syndrome packs debilitating self-doubt, a feeling that you don’t deserve the position you’re in or aren’t capable of handling the responsibilities you’re given. Anyone can be susceptible, but it’s (sometimes controversially) said to be more common in women and minorities. Here we learn of a dark flip-side: The “impostering” of unwarranted bravado.
In this era of manipulative advertising, jarring social media rants, and outright lies, some might doubt the relevance of actual expertise. When folks promote themselves with little substance to back up their claims…well, they just might be an imposter.
—Gail Post, Ph.D.
What We Really Want From Life (But Might Not Know It)
I asked dozens of people what they want in life—the thing you crave, wish for, would give up other things for. I’ve pored over the related surveys and research and talked with psychologists about it. And I think I’ve found the answer. It’s probably not what you think. But here’s a glimpse at what I learned:
With a better understanding of why this question is so fraught with ambiguity, each of us can dig deeper to determine what we really want in life, and then figure out how to point ourselves in that direction.
—Robert Roy Britt
Don’t Let Medical Screening Tools Mislead You
Seems simple. Answer a few questions, and some online app spits out a diagnosis of a mental or physical condition. But medical screening tools that aim to make armchair doctors of us all can be dangerous, given the high potential for false positives and false negatives. I much appreciate this thoughtful analysis of the risks by our resident neurologist/psychiatrist.
Screening tools are not diagnostic tests. They can indicate who needs further evaluation, but they don’t provide definitive diagnoses. Screening tools are designed to identify particular conditions. A dementia screening tool won’t indicate how smart you are. Results can’t be applied to related health questions.
—John Kruse MD, PhD
Nutrition Research Rundown
Finally this week, Mandy Willig, PhD, RD, has launched a new periodic review of new nutrition studies, which aims to help clinicians and coaches keep up with the latest meaningful science on the topic. It’s packed with useful analyses for you and me, too, on new studies like these:
Vitamin D screening and treatment recommendations updated
High cholesterol can make vitamin D levels look lower than they really are
New nutrition guidelines for clients using weight loss medications
I hope we’ve helped make your tomorrow a little better than today.
Cheers,
Rob