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Doing aerobic exercise is one of 12 factors that could help reduce the risk of developing depression later in life, according to a new study.
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Scientists announced in December the successful creation of The Brain Care Scorea tool to assess the risk of dementia or stroke without medical procedures.
That score, which also helps patients and doctors identify beneficial lifestyle changesThe chances of developing depression later in life could now also be predicted, according to a new study.
He Score of 21 points in Brain Careor BCS, refers to how a person fares on 12 health-related factors in regards to physical, lifestyle, and social-emotional components of health. Having a higher BCS was associated with a lower risk of developing depression in “older age,” defined as age 60 or older, the study found. The study published on Tuesday in the journal Frontiers in Psychiatry.
“The Brain Care Score is a simple tool designed to help anyone in the world answer the question, ‘What can I do to take better care of my brain?’” said study author Dr. Jonathan Rosand, co-founder of the McCance Center for Brain Health at Massachusetts General Hospital and lead developer of the BCS. in a press release.
“This paper provides compelling evidence that increasing BCS will not only make the brain healthier and more resilient to diseases like dementia and stroke, but also offers hope for protection against depression,” added Rosand, a professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School in Boston.
The four physical components of BCS are blood pressure, cholesterol, hemoglobin a1c and body mass index, while the five lifestyle factors are nutrition, alcohol consumption, aerobic activities, sleep and smoking. The three socio-emotional aspects relate to relationships, stress management and meaning in life. The higher a participant’s score, the lower their risk of brain diseases.
Up to a third or more of people over age 60 experience depression in later life, the risk of which may be influenced by lifestyle habits, the authors said.
The team used health data from more than 350,000 people who had been recruited for the UK Biobank study between 2006 and 2010 and participated in follow-up assessments three times over the next decade or so. The UK Biobank Study It has followed the health outcomes of more than 500,000 people, generally aged 40 to 69, in the UK for at least 10 years.
For participants in the new study, each five-point positive difference in their BCS was associated with a 33% lower risk of late-life depression, as well as a 27% lower composite risk of late-life depression, dementia, and stroke over an average follow-up period of 13 years.
“People think of the skull as a separator from the brain, as if the brain is an individual thing,” said Dr. Richard Isaacson, a preventive neurologist at the Florida Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases, who was not involved in the study. “But it’s clear from this study and others that if we can stay physically active, eat a healthy diet, cut down on tobacco and alcohol, maintain a healthy weight and stay socially active, there will be downstream benefits — not just in vascular health and dementia, but in mental and emotional health as well.”
The authors also found a substantial link between baseline body condition and depression risk among those under age 50, which they found surprising since they expected that only older adults might have neurodegenerative and inflammatory changes that can lead to depression, dementia and stroke.
But the association among younger adults is consistent with the life trajectory of other age-related diseases, Isaacson said.
“In our Alzheimer’s prevention clinic, we’ve been seeing people ages 25 and older,” Isaacson said. “That finding doesn’t surprise me, because there are risk factors for dementia in early childhood, middle age and old age. (In the case of) Alzheimer’s disease, for example, the pathology begins in the brain decades before symptoms of memory loss appear. If a person is 65 and is diagnosed with dementia, that means the disease began in their brain between ages 35 and 45.”
The process is similar to what an older adult goes through when they have high cholesterol at age 30, he added, so the findings underscore the importance of taking care of the brain throughout life.
“There is still much to learn about which pathways contribute to depression, dementia and stroke in later life,” said Dr. Sanjula Singh, first author of the study and an instructor at the McCance Center for Brain Health, in a news release. “Our results emphasize the importance of a holistic view of the brain to better understand the underlying connections between different brain diseases.”
If you are a senior citizen experiencing depressionKnow that being open and seeking care is key, Isaacson said.
“Older generations may have been primed to fight the problem, thinking it’s a matter of mind over matter,” Isaacson said. But that’s not always the case, she added, so try to accept that you’re not feeling well and talk to your doctor about treatment options, such as therapy or antidepressants.
The latter could have an added benefit for your cognitive function as you age, as some preliminary research has begun to indicate that some antidepressants, such as escitalopram, may slow the buildup of beta-amyloid protein in the brain, Isaacson added. high amount of amyloid It is a hallmark sign of Alzheimer’s disease.
