The Best States for Your Brain
Where you live may have a bigger impact on your brain health than you thought. Find out where your state ranks in America's Brain Health Index.Friday, September. 23, 2011 - Well done to the Old Line State: Maryland has emerged as the state with the greatest brain health in the 2011 America's Brain Health Index. Established by National Center for Creative Aging, the index ranks all fifty states and the District of Columbia on twenty one brain health indicators together with diet, physical health, social well-being, and mental health. This is the second time the index has been calculated; the first one appeared in 2010.
The Brain Health Index was created by health experts including Michael Roizen, MD, chief wellness officer at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio and creator of the RealAge concept, and Majid Fotuhi, MD, PhD, chairman of the Neurology Institute for Brain Health and Fitness and assistant professor of neurology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore. The index was created as part of a national health education campaign called Beautiful Minds: Finding Your Lifelong Potential, aimed at encouraging adults in the second half of life to develop and maintain brain health. It's sponsored by Life'sDHA, a supplement created by the nutritional products company Market Biosciences Corporation.
In the 2011 report, Maryland edged out the District of Columbia, which slipped to number 2 from its 1st-place 2009 ranking. Maryland took top honors because it experienced a decrease in Alzheimer's disease-related deaths, and because residents consume a high amount of fish, a natural source of DHA (docosahexaenoic acid), an omega-3 fatty acid that is tied to brain and eye health. Residents of Washington, DC, came in second due to its high proportion of active readers - more than any of the 50 states.
Breaking Down the Brain Health Statistics
States that ranked high in the 2011 America’s Brain Health Index share some traits, such as good diets and higher levels of physical activity, and residents of the top states tend to be intellectually curious. "It's so important to have an intellectual passion and hobbies," says Cleveland Clinic chief wellness officer Dr. Michael Roizen. The Beautiful Minds campaign also highlights inspiring seniors who are putting their minds to good use by volunteering, teaching classes, writing novels, and even bodybuilding.
"Spirituality and religious practices may also help slow the getting worse of cognitive abilities caused by Alzheimer's disease," adds Roizen.
Roizen notes that many of the states in the South rank at the bottom of the list, which he attributes to unhealthy diets and physical inactivity, reflected in the high incidence of diabetes.
Although healthy living habits are always important for your mind and body, they take on special importance in the mid-fifties and beyond. From the age of fifty five, our faculties begin to decline, and we are less able to multitask. "Our goal with the Beautiful Minds campaign is to motivate people to change how their minds age," Dr. Roizen told Everyday Health. "Keeping the brain healthy is easier than many people realize."
Roizen outlines the following steps you can take to improve your brain health:
Get more physical activity. Exercise doesn't just help your body - "Staying fit can actually help reconstruct your brain," says Roizen. Although any exercise you enjoy doing is fine, Roizen recommends interval training, meaning doing an exercise at a moderate pace and then ramping up to a faster pace during the last minute, provided that your doctor says you are fit enough. For example, if you spend twenty minutes on a treadmill, spend the last minute running at a higher speed.
Roizen notes that many of the states in the South rank at the bottom of the list, which he attributes to unhealthy diets and physical inactivity, reflected in the high incidence of diabetes.
Get your blood pressure checked. The brain is dependent on blood supply, and as we get older, these blood vessels age, too. "When we're older, our brains actually decrease in IQ every five years," says Roizen. Keeping your blood pressure within a healthy range will help your blood vessels stay as healthy as possible. A study published in the journal Neurology found that treating traditional risk factors for heart disease such as high blood pressure and high cholesterol may also help to prevent the progression of cognitive problems into full-blown Alzheimer's disease.
Be socially engaged. People who are involved with their family, friends, and community tend to stay sharper than those who aren't. In addition to socializing with your immediate circle, brain health experts suggest getting involved with your community through religious or spiritual activities as a way to lower your stress levels. "In research, men and women who had the most social interaction within their community had less than half the rate of memory loss as those with the least social engagement," says Roizen.
Get more DHA in your diet. The Memory Improvement With DHA Study (MIDAS) presented at the 2009 Alzheimer's Association International Conference on Alzheimer's Disease found that DHA supplements may help slow the rate of progression of age-related mental decline in healthy seniors. "The best natural sources of DHA are salmon and trout. DHA is also in fortified foods like soy milk, eggs, and nutrition bars, or in supplements," Roizen says. Of course, eating a healthy, well-rounded diet is important too.
"Spirituality and religious practices may also help slow the getting worse of cognitive abilities caused by Alzheimer's disease," adds Roizen.
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