Category: Fitness
Getting enough sleep may help prevent cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s. A study reported in December shows that higher levels of leptin are associated with decreased risk for cognitive decline. Leptin levels are positively associated with sleep: when you get enough, your body’s leptin levels are higher.
As interest increases in brain fitness training, the question comes up: Do you need a brain fitness trainer? In sports, it’s a common question. In brain fitness training, do you need some outside advice, or are you ready to follow your own program? What are the advantages of having a brain fitness trainer?
Studies reported in this week’s Journal of the American Medical Association (August 12, 2009) support the relation of physical activity and the Mediterranean diet to reduced risk for Alzheimer’s disease. The first study, by Scarmeas and his colleagues, showed that persons who report following the Mediterranean diet and who are more physically active were less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease over several years. The average age of the participants was 77 years, so this group (called the Northern Manhattan cohort) would have been at higher risk than younger individuals.
The second study, by Feart and her colleagues, looked at adherence to the Mediterranean diet and risk for having problems on certain mental ability tests. Here again, the study suggests that following the Mediterranean diet was associated with a reduced risk of developing certain kinds of cognitive problems.
The study was discussed by Dr. Nancy Snyderman on the Today Show. You can find a link to a page that will let you see the segment from the show here. (Look for a link to “Study: Mediterranean diet cuts Alzheimer’s risk.” You also have to watch a commercial; that’s NBC, not me). I think that she may overstate the case based on the research; there’s a very nice editorial in this same issue of the Journal by well-known neurologist David Knopman. He points out a number of possible reasons for these findings that might affect the conclusion that the Mediterranean diet and exercise reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s. He suggests we should “nibble and savor” the results of these studies, not “swallow them whole.”
It’s still premature to be sure that following the Mediterranean diet or being physically activity will prevent Alzheimer’s disease. Given what we know about the relation of cardiovascular health and risk for Alzheimer’s, and what we know about diet and exercise and cardiovascular health, though, I think it’s a good idea to pay close attention to your diet and to exercise safely.
When you’re thinking about brain fitness, it’s easy to get preoccupied with things like computer training programs and exotic dietary supplements. It’s just as important, and probably more important, to remember the basics of brain fitness.
What are the basics? I think they start with essential health care that will make sure your brain is in a health body. Maybe the single most important basic is to take care of your blood pressure. Besides being a risk factor for heart attack, high blood pressure is a risk for stroke. Studies have suggested that high blood pressure is a risk factor memory problems. You should know your blood pressure, and if it’s high, you should discuss it with your doctor. A number of effective treatments are available for high blood pressure. You can find out more about high blood pressure on the web site of the American Heart Association by clicking here.
One risk for memory problems that seems to be more and more common is the metabolic syndrome. The metabolic syndrome is a group of characteristics that includes abdominal obesity (fat around the waist), problems with blood lipids (the special substances in the blood that carry fats around the blood stream), insulin resistance (your body doesn’t take care of sugar very well), and increases in the substances in your blood that cause blood clots. People with the metabolic syndrome may be at higher risk for diabetes and heart attacks. The American Heart Association also has a good page on metabolic syndrome here. It may be possible to reduce the effects of the metabolic syndrome by maintaining a health weight, getting regular exercise, and following a healthy diet.
We know that the basics include a lot of things we’ve been hearing for years. What has become more clear over the past few years is that there are clear reasons for the links among obesity, low physical activity, and several diseases. One of the most intriguing links is the fact that all these conditions are associated with markers of inflammation in the blood. Inflammatory markers have complicated names like cytokines and interleukins. You don’t have to know all the specific names to know that high levels of these markers go along with memory problems. More and more, then, there’s a clear link between your basic health and your brain’s fitness.
A study in the March 6 issue of the journal BMJ finds that men who increase their level of physical activity after age 40 had lower risk of death after 35 years. The study was completed in Sweden by researchers at Uppsala University and the Karolinska Institute. The change in mortality still held true in statistical models that included things that might be related to someone exercising, such as smoking, weight, self-reported health, and alcohol use. Those who had the lowest level of physical activity had greater risk of dying over the 35-year follow-up.
The authors studied a group of 2,841 men (yes, men only) who were born between 1920 and 1924 in the area around Uppsala, Sweden. They were followed up on several occasions, the most recent in 2006. At the end of the study, 20% more of the men in the most active group were still alive compared to men in the least active group. Again, this was after controlling for a number of variables that might have also been different in the two groups.
Most interesting to me was how activity levels were defined. The researchers asked participants only four questions. The first asked whether the man spent most of his time reading, watching TV, or engaged in sedentary activities. Persons who answered yes were placed in the lowest activity group. The second question asked whether the man walked or bicycled freqently for pleasure. Persons answering yes to this question were in the middle group. The last two questions asked whether the men participated regularly in sports or other active recreational sport, and whether they engaged regularly in hard physical training. People who answered yes to either of these questions were placed in the high activity group.
People in the lowest activity had the highest chances of dying in the followup period, while those in the middle activity group had an intermediate risk of death. Those in the highest activity level group had the lowest risk of death.
Based on this study, almost any increase in physical activity is probably beneficial. Many other studies have shown that increasing physical activity helps you lose weight, makes it more likely that you’ll quit smoking, and means that you’ll feel better about your health. This study is new in showing that the health benefits of exercise may have effects that last a lifetime.
This article is freely available on the Web at the BMJ site: Click here to view the abstract. You can read the entire article by clicking on the words “Full Text” at the upper left of the page.
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- Meditation as Brain Training
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Mindfulness meditation as practiced over a long period by experts makes clear changes in someone’s brain function. But what about those of us who don’t have a few years to sit in a monastery in the Himalayas? A new study shows that even brief meditation practice can improve attention.
I saw an interesting blog post yesterday evening on the site of the Huffington Post about the potential benefits of meditation – or at least about what one woman thinks might be the benefits. (more…)
Although many people are excited about the potential for using computers to train their brains, we shouldn’t forget that other techniques have been used to the train the brain for many centuries. I’m thinking about the large number of techniques for meditation. While free computer software still requires an investment in a computer, meditation only asks you to sit or lie quietly and focus your mind.
A recently-published study shows parts of the brain in long-term meditators are larger than the same parts of the brain in people who don’t meditate. The article by Eileen Luders and her colleagues appeared in a recent issue of the journal Neuroimage (Vol. 45, No. 3, pp. 672-678, April 15, 2009). The study showed that portions of the orbitofrontal cortex and the hippocampus were larger in persons who had been regular meditators for 5 or more years. The study is interesting because the parts of the brain that were larger are often thought to be important in helping people keep themselves emotionally balanced.
A number of strategies are likely to be helpful for meditators. There has been a great deal of interest over the last several years in mindfulness meditation. Researchers have studied how it can be used in reducing anxiety and depression. Mindfulness is based on Buddhist meditation (for a brief article, click here) but you don’t have to be a Buddhist to practice meditation. In fact, one of the most important persons who has promoted mindfulness is Jon Kabat-Zinn, a researcher at the University of Massachusetts. You can see a video presentation by him on YouTube by clicking here.