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What's Good for Your Heart Is Good for Your Brain

  • Writer: Patricia Faust
    Patricia Faust
  • Feb 20, 2019
  • 2 min read

With all the talk of hearts this month, let’s take a look at how heart health affects your brain. It turns out what’s good for your heart really is good for your brain. Since the heart pumps blood through every vessel in your body, it makes sense. There is less oxygen and fewer nutrients to feed your brain if your heart is not functioning at full capacity.


“High blood pressure, artery disease and heart failure are strong risk factors for memory and thinking problems,” explains Neelum T. Aggarwal, MD, Research Director, for the Rush Heart Center for Women and Associate Professor at Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center in Chicago. “These conditions don’t just affect the heart. They can reduce blood flow and increase inflammation in the brain, leading to slower thinking, difficulty making decisions, and unbalanced walking.”


The good news is that this inflammation can be prevented or reduced through a healthy lifestyle and appropriate medical treatment. The result might even be an improvement in cognitive skills for people with heart disease.


Dr. Aggarwal recommends four steps to improving your heart and brain health. “Tackle these four pillars one at a time and build on them,” she says. “It’s a lot easier than taking them all on at once.”


Reduce your stress – Long-term stress can not only increase the level of cortisol, it also keeps these levels high which is bad for the brain. Stress can lead to many problems such as disrupting regular sleep patterns, promoting weight gain, and decreasing your ability to focus and think clearly. Reducing stress improves the brain’s ability to process information and also stabilizes heart function.Exercise – We know that the brain shrinks as we age. Now, research suggests that this shrinkage can be increased if there is less blood flow to the brain.


Exercise can slow this process and actually increase brain volume. If you don’t have a current exercise plan, start with walking. Just 150 minutes of walking (at any pace) or another aerobic exercise each week with some mild weight lifting will make a difference.


Nutrition – The more we exercise and move, the better we eat. This keeps our digestive system in good working order. Add more brain healthy foods to your diet including fruits, vegetables, lean protein and legumes. Green leafy vegetables such as kale, blueberries, walnuts and almonds are all good choices for better brain health.


Social activity – Research shows that regular social interactions stimulate your brain in a way that being alone cannot. Social isolation and loneliness are serious conditions that can affect your overall heart and brain health. So make sure to plan more time in positive relationships with family and friends.

Read more about this in our article about mental well-being.


“By following these four steps and working with your doctor, you can reduce your risk for heart disease and at the same time increase your brain health,” says Dr. Aggarwal. “And you might just be rewarded with the extra benefits of better sleep, less pain, fewer stomach problems and a better sense of well-being.”

 
 
 

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March was an unusual month for me.  Normally I work on articles, give presentations and generally just stay tuned to what is going on in the field of aging.  This month I “learned” a lot.  Last year I learned how to write a book.  At the time I took the course I thought it would just be a natural extension of all the writing I had done over the years.  WRONG!!  The actual writing of the book was the easy part.  Putting it together into a book was difficult for me.  The course gave me step by step lessons on constructing a book.  Then editing and formatting were just as challenging.  On June 7 last year the book was published!  It was one of the most satisfying days of my writing career. 

Naturally, when you self-publish, you do not have a publisher promoting the book and getting it in the right categories for best sales on Amazon.  That was crushing because I really didn’t know to appropriately market it.  I am a brain health person!  In December of last year, I purchased a marketing program that is based on statistics.  I am technical minded and so this approach made sense to me.  The course is almost completed.  Can’t wait to see if it improves sales!

The next step I am looking at is recording an audiobook.  This is another venture I knew nothing about.  But I am already tagged on Facebook for marketing of audio book programs.  Facebook picks up everything.  Now my husband was creative director for an advertising agency and when I told him I purchased another class – he couldn’t believe it.  “This was my business.  I know how to do recordings, why didn’t you ask me?” Well, I knew he was an expert in that business, but this audiobook needs to meet all the criteria that Amazon requires for publication.  So, he can take care of the recording part of this audiobook, and I will navigate the process of meeting Amazon’s requirements.  We worked on the book together like this. 

Then I talked with some coaching experts on the viability of starting group teaching programs.  Reading The Boomer Brain book and implementing the Brain Healthy Lifestyle have two entirely different outcomes.  This lifestyle is important to maintaining high cognitive function throughout the later years of our lives.  Look for updates as to when I will roll this program out.

My last learning endeavor was attending a two-day bootcamp for Speakers.  I am really excited about what I learned there.  That is a late this year or next year project, but it is one I am really looking forward to.

 

What Is Happening in April?

The American Society on Aging is having their annual conference in Orlando Florida April 21-24.  This is the largest multidisciplinary conference on aging and the annual conference for Members of ASA.  I have attended a number of these conferences throughout the years, and it is consequential.  Keynote speakers and special events are focused on combating ageism in our society.  Although this is a professional meeting, the attendees come from all aspects of aging services.  They have their work cut out for them this year!

April is Stress Awareness Month.  We should be aware of stress every month and understand how we can break the stress cycle.  These are stressful times, and we need to protect ourselves

Here is a positive one “April is National Volunteer Month”.  When I am working with new retirees who don’t know what to do, I talk to them about volunteering. It is important to have a purpose after you leave the workforce.  There are so many nonprofits who need help in all aspects of their organizations.  It is a perfect way to give back.

Finally – It was Opening Day for the Cincinnati Reds – the oldest major league team in the nation.  Cincinnati takes that responsibility seriously.  There is always an Opening Day Parade through downtown to the Ball Park.  Huge crowds line the streets and every year there is talk of making it an official holiday.  Schools and employers look the other way when there is an empty desk.  No matter what the outcome of the game is, there is so much joy, and you can feel that energy.  I am fortunate that I get to experience that.  We all need some joy right now. 

Enjoy your April.

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