How to keep your brain healthy in retirement

The Street

There are things you can do to help keep your brain functioning deep into your golden years.

Transcript

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.

09:18And don't forget to subscribe to our daily newsletter of the morning polls for all the news in one place.

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.

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