Alzheimer's Association study says adopting healthy brain habits in middle age supports aging minds

Credit: Adobe Stock

The Alzheimer's Association suggests that while people want to adopt healthy habits to protect their minds as they age, they likely don’t know what those habits are. 

The latest Alzheimer's Facts and Figures reports and its special report, Brain Health in America: Understanding and Supporting Lifelong Cognitive Health, offer new insight into how Americans understand, prioritize and act on the desire to sustain brain health across their lives.

Key areas that influence cognitive well-being include traumatic brain injury, smoking, physical activity, cognitive engagement, hypertension (high blood pressure), diabetes, sleep, formal education, diet/nutrition and weight.

An estimated 90% of Americans believe supporting brain health is important with age, but less than 10% know what steps to take, Senior Vice President Medical & Scientific Relations with the Alzheimer's Association Heather Snyder said.

"One of the things we understand is that the brain changes associated with Alzheimer's happen over many years for an individual before they're experiencing the memory changes," Snyder said. "There's a window of time in midlife where we have an opportunity to think about our brain health."

People are not necessarily reaching healthy goals with things like sleep, exercise, and diet, she said. 

"The good news is people are motivated, they wanna learn more, they wanna think about how to incorporate changes into their brain health, and they wanna have those conversations with their doctor."

The Alzheimer's Association, along with experts across the country, conducted a large trial called the U.S. POINTER Study that allowed researchers to examine and simultaneously target multiple risk factors like lack of exercise, poor diet, cognitive engagement, our heart health among others.

The study showed an impact on cognition for those that had more structure and support, Snyder said.

An estimated 188,000 Georgians are living with Alzheimer’s, and more than 390,000 family members and friends are providing their care.