There are things you can do to help keep your brain functioning deep into your golden years.
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00:00This morning on BRN, education, occupation, and wealth have an impact on the risk of cognitive
00:11impairment. And joining me now to discuss this, Dr. Darina Qadar is with the University of
00:18College London. Dr. Qadar, great to see you. Thanks for joining us on the program this morning.
00:23Thank you for having me.
00:24And we're going to talk about some work that you and the team have done on cognitive impairment.
00:30And let's start with the basic question. Is there a link between your education,
00:35your occupation, and your wealth, and the risk of being cognitively impaired?
00:42Yes. So it is well known that these factors do influence the level of cognitive functioning at
00:49any level and any stage across our life. So people with higher level of education tend to do better
00:56in schools in terms of their cognitive functioning across life. And we also see that education,
01:03higher level of education, tend to preserve the level of cognitive decline when people tend to get
01:09older. And what is really important, our study have shown that not only education, but actually the
01:16three markers of socioeconomic factors we looked at, the level of education, the level of occupation,
01:23the type of jobs people do, and the level of household wealth, they're all linked to the level
01:28of cognitive impairment and the transitioning from cognitive impairment to a stage such as dementia or
01:35mortality. So are there things that we can do to mitigate this risk? Like, for example, let's say
01:44that I went, I just graduated from high school here in the States. I'm happy in my job and I have a modest
01:52amount of wealth. Are there things that you can, that we have control over to mitigate some of this
01:57this cognitive risk or this risk of cognitive impairment?
02:03So it's, it's of course difficult because we know people with higher income will have better access to
02:11medical care and there is no way around it. Better wealth offers you better access to services, to better
02:21diagnosis, better treatments, um, and also a better lifestyle and access to better foods and diet. But, uh, we also
02:30have look in our research and it's, there is a lot more that we can do even in the absence of higher level of
02:38income and wealth. Um, in the way we spend our times, the hobbies we have, um, we tend to see in our research
02:47and we have done a couple of studies in the English longitudinal study of aging, which is a national
02:52representative of English population, that people even with, with lower level of income, um, those who
03:00are engaging in, um, hobbies, in activities, in clubs, in sports, uh, doing Sudoku, using mobile phone more and
03:10playing, uh, games, they tend to, to preserve their cognition because they are, you know, using their
03:17brain a lot more. They are mentally stimulated. They're also being part of social networks, having
03:24friends and meeting for different activities tend to offer better resilience, which is protective for
03:31cognitive health.
03:33Yeah. I was going to ask you about, you know, we, we all live through the pen. Many of us lived through the
03:37pandemic. There was a lot of social isolation. Can the communal aspect of our lives working
03:44and being around other people, can that help overcome some of these other factors that in some
03:50ways, doctor there, they can be out of our control. I mean, we can't control how much money we're going
03:55to earn into some level. We can't control, we can control what we put in our mouths and how we eat,
04:01but, uh, does the sense of community and being with others, can that help overcome some of these
04:07other risk factors?
04:09Absolutely. It's really an important aspect which you raise. Um, pandemic has been devastated,
04:15devastating. It has affected people on so many levels, um, not only losing jobs and, but also in
04:23terms of isolation and this level of loneliness always impacts, uh, people wellbeing. Um, and with that
04:30also cognitive functioning again, we, what we, uh, tend to observe that people who are resilient and find
04:37solutions to keep active, they always tend to, um, uh, do better even in maintaining their wellbeing and
04:45cognitive, um, reserve and cognitive resilience. So we, we heard many great stories where people were
04:53engaging in, um, playing chess online or other activities. So in that way, they still have, uh, mates in
05:01which, you know, engage in different activities, different games and basically compensating for that
05:08level of isolation, which was imposed, uh, by the pandemic. All those activities in which people find ways
05:14to stay connected either online, either via, uh, online, uh, reading clubs or games or activities, uh,
05:23that level of communication being maintained, being responsible for, you know, showing up to certain
05:29activities, it always shows positive aspects and that is available to everyone. Um, either the level
05:35of income being low or high, but again, um, sadly we tend to see that again, those with higher level of
05:42education and higher level of wealth tend to also be more engaged in such, um, activities, um, which is
05:50a bit sad, but I think the, the message which should really raise is that everyone could make better
05:57choices in our spare time, in our daily lives. We all can engage in a, you know, a simple walk in a run
06:04around the park, engaging in some activities in the community. And, uh, I think that's really important
06:09to highlight. So, so is it, it sounds like we need to do a better job of informing the public, uh,
06:17whether they're in the UK, like you are here in the States or anywhere, because, because these are,
06:23these factors, doctor impact anybody, whether they're in, in, in Europe, here in the States,
06:29I mean, they're, they're, they're, these are human, human risk factors. So it sounds like,
06:33I don't want to put words in your mouth, but really the lesson here is awareness and raising
06:38awareness, either through government, through public agencies, NGOs, et cetera, to make, say,
06:43hey, you want to be better in life, uh, have a better life and have cut, eliminate the risk.
06:49Hey, these are some of the things you can do. Absolutely. And we have done, uh, great things
06:55in terms of banning smoking, for example, which we've seen in, in the UK and other parts of the world,
07:01um, have, um, heralded good results. And I think more of such, uh, activities can be taken
07:08by governments all over the world to, um, you know, enlist better choices for food,
07:14um, uh, reduce alcohol consumptions, um, which we know it's, it's bad, uh, equally as, as smoking
07:22and promoting those, um, lifestyle choices that are healthier for people, uh, making, I don't know,
07:29gym, uh, more accessible for, for everyone in the UK. We tend to see now that, uh, more green spaces
07:36are adopted and, um, gym, um, equipment is being installed in, uh, national parks.
07:43So those are simple steps taking in the right direction, but I think more we can do at community
07:49level to really instigate those activities that engage people a bit more. Um, and, um,
07:57also what is important to highlight that, uh, many people think of conditions such as cognitive
08:03impairment and dementia slightly too late when they already see some memory lapses, uh, that, uh,
08:10cognition is not as good as in the early days. Uh, but really prevention for such condition,
08:16it should start a lot earlier than people might think. It really should start as early as 30 and 40,
08:22where we really need to adopt a healthier pattern, um, and do, uh, consistent, you know, activities of
08:29maintaining our brain, um, uh, active, but also it's so important to have a good overall health. Um,
08:37and you know, the importance of sleep, the importance of reducing stress, eating healthy,
08:43exercising regularly. Um, I think people are, uh, quite fed up of listening to all this, but they
08:49are so important. And, uh, we, we tend to see, at least in some of our studies, that people with
08:55higher socioeconomic status tend to be better and adopting such healthier lifestyle will be so,
09:01so good that we, uh, try to emphasize this message for everyone.
09:06Yeah. A really good point. Excellent research, doctor. Really appreciate you taking a few moments
09:11to be with us this morning, and we look forward to having you back on the program again, very,
09:15very soon. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you for having us.
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09:23Details, of course, at our website. And we're back again tomorrow for another edition of BRN.
09:28Until then, I'm Jeff Snyder. Stay safe, keep on saving, and don't forget, roll with the changes.