Washington: Brain health isn’t determined only by genetics or what happens later in life. A growing body of research shows that a range of factors—from mental health and sleep to environment, lifestyle and social conditions—play a powerful role in shaping how the brain functions and ages.
A new American Heart Association scientific statement highlights how experiences starting early in life and continuing through life may influence brain health and affect the risk of stroke, cognitive decline or dementia in later years, according to a new American Heart Association scientific statement, published in the Association’s peer-reviewed scientific journal Stroke.
The aging of the U.S. population is expected to increase the prevalence of brain conditions that affect memory, thinking, communication skills and mental health.
“As medical and scientific advancements have extended life expectancies, brain health has become increasingly important,” said the Chair of the scientific statement’s writing group, Elisabeth Marsh.
Previous research about brain health has considered factors that damage blood vessels and reduce blood flow to the brain, which can increase the risk of developing stroke, cognitive decline and/or dementia.
Recent research has also focused on the role of psychological, environmental, lifestyle and social factors that affect brain health over a lifetime.
“One of the most important messages in this scientific statement is that brain health is shaped across the entire life span. What happens early in life can matter decades later, which also means there are opportunities at every life stage to support healthier brain aging,” Marsh added.
