Research has found what we all probably suspected, that when you take good care of your heart, you may be taking good care of your brain as well.

Many recently published studies indicate that the same lifestyle measures that guard against heart attacks, notably regular exercise and a fibre-rich, low-fat diet akin to the Pritikin Program, may help protect against mental deterioration as well.

The need for preventive measures against dementia, an incurable disease, is vital. Nearly 18 million people worldwide suffer from dementia. By 2025, the number is predicted to rise to 34 million, with more than 70% of victims coming from developed countries like the U.S. The most common cause of dementia is Alzheimer’s disease,

Here are key research findings linking heart-healthy lifestyles with brain health:

Lowering Cholesterol Levels:

In the November 2005 issue of Nature Cell Biology, scientists from the University of Heidelberg, Germany, showed that higher cholesterol levels are linked with higher levels of a protein called amyloid-beta (AB). Accumulation of this protein, numerous studies have found, is a key characteristic of Alzheimer’s disease. Cutting cholesterol levels through a low-fat, fibre-rich diet could stave off not only heart disease and stroke but also Alzheimer’s disease, the researchers concluded.

Eating Seafood:

Several studies have found that seafood benefits the heart. Now scientists are learning that eating fish may help keep the brain in good shape, too.

In a six-year study involving more than 6,000 Chicago residents ages 65 and over, scientists found that those eating seafood at least once a week experienced markedly slower declines in mental function than non-fish-eating peers. People eating two or more servings of seafood weekly staved off mental deterioration even longer, the equivalent of “being three or four years younger in age,” reported the authors, from Rush University Medical Centre in Chicago.(1)

Weight Management:

Obesity raises the risk of many illnesses, including heart disease, high blood pressure, and type 2 diabetes. New studies show it may also increase the risk of dementia in later life.

In a newly announced investigation that followed nearly 1,500 middle-age men and women for 21 years – till they had reached ages 65 to 79 – researchers from the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden found that those who were overweight or obese at midlife were far more likely to develop dementia.

I am sure that it will be a relief to many that we can now try to take steps, perhaps, to prevent this disease that has, until now, been seen very much as a random thing.