Intermountain Health Shares How to Boost Brain, Enhance Cognitive Health, and Overall Wellbeing

Brain health is not just for seniors. Anyone at any age can think about their own brain health and work on strengthening it, Intermountain Health geriatricians say.

Brain health refers to the brain’s ability to function optimally across cognitive, emotional, and behavioral domains through every life stage. Maintaining brain health is essential for memory, decision-making, emotional regulation, and overall quality of life.

Brain health has been top of mind for some as a number of public figures have been diagnosed with neurological conditions. There are many conditions that are common in mid-life that can contribute to cognitive decline in older age, such as diabetes and high blood pressure.  It is important to understand this to try to prepare for maintaining good brain health throughout your older years, when the effect of these and other causes start becoming apparent. However, changes in memory and cognition should never be considered a "normal" part of aging and should always be discussed with a doctor.

“Wear and tear on the small blood vessels in the brain, from things like high blood pressure or diabetes, builds up over time,” said Angel Lybbert, MD, a  geriatrician at Intermountain Health Utah Valley Senior Medical Clinic. “Alzheimer’s disease is caused by a buildup of protein inside the brain cells over decades, so symptoms become more prominent with time.”

While aging is inevitable, there are ways to take care of the overall brain health at any age.

Ways to Support Brain Health

• Exercise regularly.  Aerobic exercise reduces the risk of vascular disease such as strokes. Increased overall activity has been shown to improve cognition. Exercise also stimulates the growth of new brain cells and helps prevent age-related mental-ability decline.
• Keep mentally active. Puzzle games, sudoku, and social interactions keep the brain active.
• Eat a healthy diet. Focus on fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and healthy fats.
• Get quality sleep. Sleep is essential for memory and brain repair. On average, 8 hours of sleep each night is considered quality sleep.
• Avoid harmful substances, such as alcohol and tobacco. Treat other medical problems. Managing diabetes, sleep apnea, and hypertension is crucial to brain health.

Keeping the brain healthy is also the best way to prevent strokes and dementia.

“Anyone with concerns or questions about their memory or brain health talk to their primary care provider,” said Dr. Lybbert. “Their doctor can help them understand risks, get them started with some testing, treatments as applicable, and help decide if an evaluation by a geriatrician or a neurologist is needed.”

For more information, visit https://prod.intermountainhealth.org/services/brain-spine.