Taking care of your brain’s health – at any age

BY TESS DE KLERK

“It’s a myth that ageing means irreversible decline and that there’s nothing you can do about it,” says neurologist Dr Robert Friedland, who is lauded for his book Unaging: e Four Factors at Impact How You Age.

Dr Friedland is a clinical and research neurologist devoted to the study of the brain, especially related to how we age according to our brain health. He wants us to see ageing as an opporConstant multitasking tunity to preserve our functions and enhance our abilities. As he points out, “Ageing is an is not good for our brains opportunity because we’re here and we’re alive. It doesn’t happen to everybody and we all know people who have died young.” How do we make the best use of this opportunity? Friedland, who teaches at the University of Louisville in Kentucky, wants us to know that the way we grow older is not entirely up to genes, time, or fate. “Genes are important,” he says, “but while we can’t change those, there are lots of things we can do.” Unsurprisingly, it is all about lifestyle choices and the earlier in life we start implementing these, the better. But making changes and the right choices, right now, whatever your age, is paramount. “Another way of looking at it, though, is that if a 60-year-old man who smokes, drinks too much alcohol, eats badly, and never exercises stops doing all those bad things, and does good things, by the time he’s 70 he could be in better shape than he was when he was 60. Even though he’s

Constant multitasking is not good for our brains. Studies show that when our brain is constantly switching gears to bounce back and forth between tasks, especially when those tasks are complex and require our active attention, we become less effi cient and negatively aff ect working memory. Dr Friedland stresses the importance of focusing on only one thing, without interruption, for extended periods. KEEP THE MIND ENGAGED

For example, think about what you watch on screen. Choose you watch on screen. Choose content that is cognitively content that is cognitively stimulating, engaging the brain stimulating, engaging the brain in asking questions, looking in asking questions, looking for answers, learning something new. Avoid reruns and vacuous shows. PLAY CHESS

There are few leisure pursuits more cerebral than pitting your tactical wits against your chess opponent. Draughts is OK, but chess is the real deal. NURTURE AND MAINTAIN RELATIONSHIPS

Friendships, close relationships with siblings, relationships with siblings, children, and lovers are children, and lovers are extremely important to a extremely important to a healthy life, says Dr Friedland. healthy life, says Dr Friedland. A lonely person may be twice A lonely person may be twice as likely to develop Alzheimer’s as likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease in late life than disease in late life than someone who is not lonely, according to a study by researchers at the Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Centre in Chicago.

10 years older, the fact that he stopped the bad things could allow him to improve his pulmonary function, his ability to walk, and his heart disease could be reversed.

“He could have had diabetes at 60 but no longer have it at 70 because he did the right things.” It’s not that all agerelated changes can be prevented, says Friedland, but a lot of the declines in function we see with ageing are also the result of what he calls “harmful lifestyle behaviours” that we can change.

So what does he speci cally recommend? Keeping the brain engaged is at the heart of it because the brain is inextricably linked with every other part of our health and wellbeing. ” ere are lots of things we can do to make a di erence,” he says, “to try and cherish the opportunity to age as best we can.” His book is full of practical advice.

Dr Robert P Friedland is a clinical and research neurologist at the University of Louisville, Kentucky. His book Unaging: e Four Factors at Impact How You Age was published by the Cambridge University Press in October 2022.

TRY NEW THINGS

Our brains love the stimulation of new things, be it travelling somewhere exciting or visiting a gallery. Our brains fi re up when presented with something new. BE PHYSICALLY ACTIVE

“Physical exercise should be pursued as if life depended on it, because it does,” says Friedland. Physical activity throughout life has benefi cial eff ects on the development of Alzheimer’s disease, as well as stroke, cardiovascular disease and depression. The brain is kept healthy, in part, by the body. MAINTAIN ORAL HEALTH LOOK AFTER YOUR ‘SECOND BRAIN’

Studies have shown that oral health directly aff ects the brain. As periodontal disease is caused by bacteria, individuals with gum disease have an increased risk of diffi culty with their basic cognitive functions. When left untreated, gum disease can interfere with a person’s memory and ability to take on new information. Researchers have found that a lesser-known nervous system in our guts (our second brain) communicates with the brain in our skull. Together, ‘our two brains’ play a key role in certain diseases in our bodies and overall health. Taking care of our gut health is of paramount importance – take those probiotics and eat fermented foods daily.