wellness | The Memories Project

Tag Archives: wellness

February 8, 2026 · 1:13 pm

The importance of heart health for the brain

February is American Heart Month, which makes it the ideal time to discuss the connection between brain and heart health.

As the American Brain Foundation states, “Heart health is brain health.”

While in the past the connection between vascular and cognitive health was not as clear, we now have a wealth of scientific evidence that captures how the cardiovascular system supports the brain. The Mayo Clinic outlines several forms of vascular dementia, some which are triggered by strokes, while other forms are the result of chronic medical conditions like diabetes or high blood pressure.

The American Brain Foundation points out that “heart disease can be a significant contributing factor to dementia”
due to its critical role in delivering blood flow that provides oxygen and other nutrients to the brain that supports cognitive health.

Heart disease is considered a risk factor for dementia. Poor heart health increases stroke risk, which can disrupt blood flow to the brain. Monitoring cholesterol levels is important because excess cholesterol can lead to blocked arteries and increase stroke risk.

The good news is that there are several lifestyle changes people can make to support their heart and brain health. Here are recommendations from the Mayo Clinic:

Quit smoking
Maintain a healthy weight
Prevent or manage diabetes
Keep your blood pressure and cholesterol levels in check with regular montioring
Exercise

The American Brain foundation also recommends managing stress levels and getting good sleep on a regular basis.

My father never gave up smoking until he was forced to in the memory care center but he became obsessed with cholesterol levels in midlife. It’s hard to know what caused my father’s dementia as he already had a strong family history, and I suppose my father opted to control his diet vs a habit he didn’t think he could quit. If managing heart and brain health feels overwhelming, begin by taking one small action each day and build momentum over time until it eventually becomes a healthy and sustainable lifestyle.

Illustration generated by ChatGPT.

Alzheimer’s Association-U.S. Pointer trial finds lifestyle interventions can improve cognitive health in older adults

The Alzheimer’s Association recently released the results of a trial they funded, called the U.S. Study to Protect Brain Health Through Lifestyle Intervention to Reduce Risk (U.S. Pointer) which found that “Positive, everyday actions can make a difference in brain health, and when combined into a program that targets multiple factors like physical activity, improving nutrition, cognitive and social challenge and health monitoring, we now know it can have an even more powerful impact.”

Following a similar study that was conducted about a decade ago in Finland called the FINGER study, the Alzheimer’s Association wanted to see if that study’s findings of lifestyle changes positively impacting cognitive health could be replicated for the U.S. population. To conduct the study, participants aged 60-79 who did not exercise regularly and who were at increased risk for cognitive decline were recruited and followed for two years. Participants were located near one of the study’s site locations: Chicago, Houston, Providence, Sacramento, and Winston-Salem.

The participants were placed into one of two groups: structured lifestyle intervention and self-guided lifestyle intervention. The structured group attended nearly 40 meetings over a 2-year period while receiving a prescribed program for physical activity, diet, and cognitive training with goal setting and regular reviews and support. The self-guided group six peer team meetings and were encouraged to implement lifestyle changes that best suited them. General support was provided by staff, but no direct goal-setting or coaching was provided.

What surprised me the most about the study results is that both groups demonstrated an improvement in cognition. This is a key finding because it shows that such programs could offer benefits for those in rural, isolated areas where ongoing support services are limited or non-existent. Those in the structured program did exhibit further cognitive health benefits than the self-guided group.

Another positive finding in the study was that the benefits of the lifestyle intervention were not limited by sex, ethnicity, genetic risk or heart health status. I’ve seen studies where benefits may be more apparent in men vs. women, for example, so this is a key takeaway.

So what is the “recipe” of lifestyle interventions that was used for the study? The infographic at the top of the post captures the components:

Exercise: 30-35 minutes of moderate-to-intense aerobic activity four times a week, plus strength and flexibility exercises twice a week. (Strength and flexibility exercises are also critical in fall prevention for elders.)
Cognitive exercise: The study used a computer-based brain training program which participants used three times a week in 30-minute sessions. Regular engagement in intellectually challenging and social activities was encouraged. I’m not sure which brain training program was used, but I’m enrolled in an ongoing study which used a computer-based program to assess changes in cognitive performance. It involves activities like memory retention by recalling patterns.
Nutrition: The MIND diet was prescribed, which emphasizes dark leafy greens, berries, nuts, whole grains, olive oil and fish, and limits sugar and unhealthy fats.
Health monitoring: Regular vital check-ins on blood pressure, weight, and lab work.

Engaging in regular exercise, performing mentally stimulating activities and eating healthy is a common-sense approach for overall good health. One important follow-up to the study will be to see if people can stick with the lifestyle changes once they are no longer part of the study’s structured program. Another analysis that I’d like to see is how many of the study participants go on to form Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia. Do the lifestyle changes prolong cognitive health thereby delaying a dementia diagnosis or do they offer further protective effects? An extension of the study has been funded and may answer some of these key questions.

Infographic image courtesy of the Alzheimer’s Association.