Importantly, the study only evaluated the BCS at a single timepoint in people’s lives. What’s good for the brain is good for the heart and the rest of the body.” “The components of the BCS include recommendations found in the American Heart Association’s Life’s Essential Eight for cardiovascular health, as well many modifiable risk factors for common cancers. Kistler Endowed Chair in Neurology at MGH, and a professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School. “Patients and practitioners can start focusing on improving their BCS today, and the good news is improving on these elements will also provide overall health benefits,” says senior author Jonathan Rosand, co-founder of the McCance Center for Brain Health at MGH, the J.P. Jonathan Rosand, co-founder of the McCance Center for Brain Health As a result early dementia can often be missed until it progresses further. The authors concluded that these lower estimates were because dementia in individuals in this age group can often be more slowly progressive. Estimates for those older than 59 years (8 percent lower risk of dementia and 33 percent lower risk of stroke) were lower. Similar estimates were found for participants aged 50–59 years (32 percent lower risk of dementia and 52 percent lower risk of stroke). Investigators found that those with a higher BCS had a lower risk of developing dementia or stroke as they aged.įor example, each five-point positive difference in the BCS was associated with a 59 percent lower risk of developing dementia and a 48 percent lower risk for experiencing a stroke among adults younger than 50 years old at enrollment. Because the UK Biobank had collected nearly all, but not all, components of the BCS in its study design, scores in the UK Biobank ranged from 0-19.ĭuring a median follow-up of 12.5 years, there were 5,354 new cases of dementia and 7,259 strokes among the 398,990 UK Biobank participants in the study. In the original BCS, scores range from 0–21, with a higher score indicating better brain care. Social-emotional components involve stress management, social relationships and meaning in life.Lifestyle components include nutrition, alcohol consumption, smoking, aerobic activities and sleep.Physical components of the brain score relate to blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol, and body mass index.The list, which looks at physical, lifestyle, and social-emotional components of health, was developed and validated in research published in Frontiers in Neurology by investigators from the McCance Center for Brain Health at Massachusetts General Hospital and their collaborators in the United States and Europe.įor the study, the scientists derived a baseline Brain Care Score (BCS) at the start of enrollment for 398,990 adults aged 40–69 years in the UK Biobank. By focusing on a list of 12 steps covering modifiable behaviors, adults can greatly reduce their risk of developing brain diseases such as dementia and stroke, according to a new study.
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