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Five simple ways to reduce cholesterol, blood pressure and dementia risk in 20 minutes
A professor of neurology and chief medical officer at Alzheimer's Research UK, has outlined easy ways to give your brain a boost this summer
Health-conscious Brits will want to keep on top of their diet and fitness, not only for their physical wellbeing, but to keep their mental faculties sharp. There are so many products on the market that claim to help us to do just that.
But if you don't want to splash the cash or get caught up in a gimmick, then you're in luck, because a leading neurology professor has shared his top tips for boosting brain health and potentially warding off dementia.
The advice will also help to manage cholesterol and blood pressure levels. Jonathan Schott, a professor of neurology at UCL and the chief medical officer at Alzheimer's Research UK, has revealed six straightforward strategies to enhance your cognitive function this summer. They range from the simple to the inexpensive, so take a look below.
1. Learn a new skill (that you enjoy)
Professor Schott advises keeping your mind active with enjoyable activities, reports Surrey Live. "Keep your brain active by doing the things that you enjoy doing," he suggested.
"If you hate Sudoku, don't do Sudoku' as you're not going to stick with it. For some people, that's reading a book, for others it will be playing chess or learning a new skill like crochet."
The neurology expert explains that acquiring new skills or improving existing ones can help maintain mental agility.
"What we think is, when you learn new skills, those areas [in the brain ] get connected better together and the connections get stronger – that's why when you repeat a skill over and over and over again then that movement becomes more automatic," Schott elaborated. "And we think that it probably makes the brain a bit more resilient."
2. Do something active every day
"I think exercising is the single best thing that we can do," the doctor boldly stated, before explaining the connection between physical and brain health: "We talk about what's good for your heart is good for your brain, and that's because lots of the risk factors for your heart are also risk factors for brain diseases as well.
"Exercise can lower your blood pressure, can lower your cholesterol, can take your weight down and gives you a sense of wellbeing. Ideally, you want to be doing a little bit of exercise every day and want to be doing something that gets your heart rate substantially elevated for at least 20 minutes three or four times a week."
Current research supports the idea that exercise could also help stave off dementia. "The mechanisms aren't entirely clear, but it's likely that the chemicals that get released from the muscles get into the brain and may actually alter this," he noted.
3. Go on regular walks
Schott further noted that intense workouts aren't necessary for reaping the benefits.
"What's really interesting is that it does not need to be hugely vigorous exercise," said Schott. "We're not talking about running marathons, we're talking about walking every day or walking up the stairs rather than taking a lift.
"Some of the research that we've done suggests that it's actually relatively small but sustained amount of activity throughout your life, that may be the most beneficial."
4. Stay connected
A host of studies have found that being socially isolated can increase the risk of dementia, so it is crucial to maintain connections for brain health.
"Do things that you really enjoy doing yourself, but also with other people," Schott advised. "Staying connected helps you keep in touch with people, you get feedback on people and you can also compare how your brain performance is to other people's.
"When I have someone who says to me, 'I'm a bit worried about my memory', my immediate thought is to say, 'what's your memory like compared to those people you hang out with?'"
5. Get your blood pressure checked
"Keeping an eye on your blood pressure is really important," Schott stressed. "We and others have found that it's your blood pressure in your 30s and your 40s which actually may have the most impact on your brain health."
Professor Schott explains that it's crucial to monitor blood pressure because dementia tends to arise from two main sources: neurodegenerative diseases and cerebrovascular disease, which involves damage to the cerebral blood vessels.
"By reducing the blood pressure, we think we're probably putting less strain on the blood vessels in the brain, which makes them more robust and less likely to get clogged or less likely to burst," he explained.
"I would suggest that everybody does our Think Brain Health Check-in," recommends Schott. "You can go in and you can put in your own personal circumstances, and it'll ask you questions about things like exercise, smoking, diet and alcohol, and will come up with some easy-to-follow advice."
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