Is Your Brain Healthy?

Maintaining a healthy brain during one’s life is an important goal in pursuing health and longevity. Current estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) state about 5.8 million people in the United States have Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, including 5.6 million aged 65 and older and about 200,000 under the age 65 with younger onset Alzheimer’s disease. (1) Dementia and memory loss are not a normal part of aging.

For the average adult in a resting state, the brain consumes about 20 percent of the body’s energy. The brain and spinal cord are connected to every cell, tissue, and organ in our body, hence why it is called the master control system. The brain is a complex organ. It has at least three levels of functions: interpretation of senses and control of movement; maintenance of cognitive, mental, and emotional processes; and maintenance of normal behavior and social cognition.

What is brain health?

There is no universally recognized definition of brain health. The CDC defines brain health as an ability to perform all the mental processes of cognition, including the ability to learn and judge, use language, and remember. (2) Brain health is about reducing risk factors, keeping your mind active and getting the very best of your brain as you get older. In order to optimize brain health, you need to understand what damages your brain.

Inflammation is a natural part of life that serves a beneficial role to protect and heal us. Persistent inflammation not only affects the body, it also affects the brain. Neuroinflammation is defined as an inflammatory response within the brain or spinal cord that can be initiated by a variety of harmful stimuli, such as infection, disease, trauma, toxins, or stress. Neuroinflammation is believed to play a critical role in pathways leading to brain cell death in neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer’s dementia, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, and ALS. (5,6) Neuroinflammation has also been linked to other brain diseases including ADHD, depression, and schizophrenia. (5-10)

What are symptoms of brain inflammation?

One of the most common symptoms of brain inflammation is brain fog, that feeling of slow and fuzzy thinking. Other common symptoms include depression, anxiety, irritability, anger, memory loss, fatigue, low brain endurance, and loss of brain function after trauma. Of course, other factors can cause these symptoms, but an inflamed brain is often involved in brain-based symptoms.

Take brain inflammation seriously!!

Here are some tips to create a brain healthy lifestyle:

Eat a diet high in omega 3 fatty acids. Your brain consists of 60 percent fat and needs omega-3s to build brain and nerve cells.

Balance blood sugar. Insulin resistance and diabetes are notorious brain inflamers.

Eat a diet high in polyphenols. These are compounds naturally found in plant foods which act as antioxidants and help reduce inflammation.

Heal your gut and promote good gut bacteria. The gut, gut microbiome and the brain are intimately connected. A healthy brain requires a healthy gut.

Exercise regularly. Exercise increases molecular targets like brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). BDNF helps the brain develop new connections, repair failing brain cells, and protect healthy brain cells. Exercise also helps decrease stress since stress hormones impact brain health as well.

Get regular brain training. Keeping the brain active is important. Challenging mental activities stimulate the formation of new nerve cell connections and may encourage new cell generation.

Give up smoking. Smoking accelerates aging of the brain. Studies have noted thinner cerebral cortex’s in smokers compared to non-smokers. The cerebral cortex is crucial for thinking skills including memory and learning, so thicker is better. (11)

Enjoy alcohol in moderation. Aside from the immediate changes in brain chemistry which cause the symptoms of inTOXICation, long term effects include chronic changes in neurotransmitter activity and structural abnormalities. Imaging studies done on patients with alcoholism show atrophy in the brain regions responsible for short-term and long-term memory, balance and emotions.

Stay social. Building social networks and participation in social activities are like exercises for your brain because they keep your mind agile and improve cognitive function. When you have close friends and family to interact and spend time with every day, you’re more likely to feel happy and fulfilled.

Get quality sleep. Sleep is the time where the brain’s garbage trucks come out and clean up the toxins and waste after a long day’s work. Sleep is important as it helps your brain work faster and more accurately.

Reduce toxin exposure. Your environment can influence brain health. Environmental toxins include contaminants in water, food, and the air. There are many resources for tips on toxin reduction. EWG.org is a great resource among many others.

Aging is inevitable but a deteriorating brain is preventable. What you do in your life today can impact how your brain will function later in life. Make sure to take good care of your brain!

Reference:

1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2019, August 20). Alzheimer’s disease and healthy aging. https://www.cdc.gov/aging/publications/features/Alz-Greater-Risk.html

2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (N.D). Healthy aging. What is a healthy brain? New research explores perceptions of cognitive health among diverse older adults. https://www.cdc.gov/aging/pdf/perceptions_of_cog_hlth_factsheet.pdf

3. Dheen, S.T., Kaur, C., Ling, E.A. (2007). Microglial activation and its implications in the brain disease. Current Medicinal Chemistry, 14(11), 1189-1197. doi:10.2174/092986707780597961

4. Chen, W.W., Zhang, X., Huang, W.J. (2016). Role of neuroinflammation in neurodegenerative diseases (Review). Molecular Medicine Reports, 13(4), 3391-3396. doi: 10.3892/mmr.2016.4948.

5. Kwon, H.S., & Koh, S.H. (2020). Neuroinflammation in neurodegenerative disorders: the roles of microglia and astrocytes. Translational Neurodegeneration, 9(42). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40035-020-00221-2

6. Murphy, C.E. Walker, A.K., & Weickert, C.S. (2021). Neuroinflammation in schizophrenia: the role of nuclear factor kappa B. Translational Psychiatry, 11(528). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-021-01607-0

7. Lopez-Rodriguez, A.B., Hennessy, E., Murray, C., Nazmi, A., Delaney, H.J., Healy, D., Fagan, S.G., Rooney, M., Stewart, E., Lewis. A., deBarra, N., Scarry, P., Riggs-Miller, L., Boche, D., Cunningham, M., & Cunningham, C. (2021). Acute systemic inflammation exacerbates neuroinflammation in Alzheimer's disease: IL-1β drives amplified responses in primed astrocytes and neuronal network dysfunction. Alzheimer's Dementia, 17, 1735– 1755. https://doi.org/10.1002/alz.12341

8. Leffa, D.T., Torres, I.L.S., & Rohde, L.A. (2018). A review on the role of inflammation in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Neuromodulation, 25, 328-333. Lopez-Rodriguez, AB, Hennessy, E, Murray, C, et al. Acute systemic inflammation exacerbates neuroinflammation in Alzheimer's disease: IL-1β drives amplified responses in primed astrocytes and neuronal network dysfunction. Alzheimer's Dement. 2021; 17: 1735– 1755. https://doi.org/10.1002/alz.12341

9. Lee, C.H., & Giuliani, F. (2019). The role of inflammation in depression and fatigue. Frontiers in Immunology, 10, 1969. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2019.01696

10. Afridi, R., & Suk, K. (2021). Neuroinflammatory basis of depression: learning from experimental models. Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience. https://doi.org/10.3389/fncel.2021.691067

11. Karama, S., Ducharme, S., Corley, J., Chouinard-Decorte, F., Starr, J.M., Wardlaw, J.M., Bastin, M.E., & Deary, I.J. (2015). Cigarette smoking and thinning of the brain’s cortex. Molecular Psychiatry, 20, 778-785. https://doi.org/10.1038/mp.2014.187