A new study identified overlapping factors that affect your odds of developing these brain diseases late in life.
New research has identified 17 overlapping factors that affect your risk of stroke, dementia and late-life depression, suggesting that a number of lifestyle changes could simultaneously lower the risk of all three.
Though they may appear unrelated, people who have dementia or depression or who experience a stroke also often end up having one or both of the other conditions, said Dr. Sanjula Singh, a principal investigator at the Brain Care Labs at Massachusetts General Hospital and the lead author of the study. Thatâs because they may share underlying damage to small blood vessels in the brain, experts said.
The study also identified 13 health characteristics and habits that make you more likely to develop dementia, a stroke or late-life depression. (Altogether, the protective and harmful factors add up to 19 factors because two of them, diet and social connections, can increase or decrease risk, depending on their type and quality.)
High blood pressure
High body mass index
High blood sugar
High total cholesterol
Depressive symptoms
A diet high in red meat, sugar-sweetened beverages, sweets and sodium
Sleep disturbances (for example, insomnia or poor sleep quality) or sleep periods longer than eight hours
Smoking history
Loneliness or isolation
General stress or stressful life events (as reported by study subjects)
The study only looked at risk factors linked to two or more of the three conditions. It did not prove that these risk factors directly cause the diseases; it only showed an association.
Trying to tackle all of these behaviors for brain health might feel overwhelming. But Dr. Singh suggested treating the list like a menu of options: âChoose just a first risk factor and then take it step by step,â she said.
Identified risk factors included alcohol (normalised β-coefficient highest category: â34), blood pressure (130), body mass index (70), fasting plasma glucose (94), total cholesterol (22), leisure time cognitive activity (â91), depressive symptoms (57), diet (51), hearing loss (60), kidney function (101), pain (42), physical activity (â56), purpose in life (â50), sleep (76), smoking (91), social engagement (53) and stress (55).
LOL! Well, there are studies showing that higher socioeconomic status is good for health.
The conclusion is, that for health, itâs better to be rich than poor. Therefore, the same way people put effort in the gym, because more exercise is better for health, people should put more effort into getting rich, to prolong life.
1)Become fit, get more muscle
2)Become rich, get more money
All for the sake of health.
I donât enjoy the process of exercising, but do it for health. I donât enjoy the process of extracting more money, but do it for health. Gotta sacrifice some. No pain, no gain.
You might be the reluctant exerciser, the reluctantly rich, but you make that sacrifice .
The good news is, a lot of these are essentially freebies: donât smoke (saves money and time), donât drink (also saves money and time), and the blood pressure, glucose and lipids are addressable by popping 3-4 pills per day which cost almost nothing.
That takes the major things off the table, leaving you more time to pursue other things, including making $$
It absolutely still surprises me (though it shouldnât anymore) at how little so called âscientistsâ know about human health. It truly is a no-manâs land of nearly complete ignorance. Note, how these âexpertsâ missed the biggest risk factor of all, which is participation in contact sports over years, which definitely puts you at risk for CTE, early onset dementia, Parkinsonâs, Alzheimerâs, etc. Literally, not one of these scientific âexpertsâ knew about this, that playing contact sports (American football, Boxing, Ice Hockey, Lacrosse, Rugby, etc.) is in fact one of the highest risk factors for neurodegenerative disease.
Boxing - for literally over a hundred years itâs been common knowledge that repeated hits to the head result in neurological damage. Contact sports, American football, decades, and every parent is cautioned about exposing their kids to this damage. Go on pubmed and see how far back CTE studies go.
But awareness is one thing. For some communities itâs a price they feel they need to pay, sacrifice the long term health of their kids for the lottery ticket of possible career in professional sports. A way out of poverty. Science has been clear about the risks for a long time.
Modern gladiators of MMA, sacrifice themselves for the glory and opportunities of that path - I doubt any participant is unaware of the risks or medical science being in the dark.
Even soccer and head butting has been on the radar for decades.
This is less a problem of medical professionals awareness, or even public education efforts, but economic and social choices and opportunities for many. The public may underestimate the dangers, but not medical science.
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