Tag Archives: Longevity rates

Health

A brain expert shares his 7 ‘hard rules’ for boosting memory and fighting off dementia

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The average human brain shrinks by approximately 5% per decade after the age of 40. This can have a major impact on memory and focus.

What’s more, brain disorders are on the rise. In 2020, 54 million people worldwide had Alzheimer’s disease or other dementias, and that number is expected to grow.

But serious mental decline doesn’t have to be an inevitable part of aging. In fact, certain lifestyle factors have a greater impact than your genes do on whether you’ll develop memory-related diseases.

As a neuroscience researcher, here are seven hard rules I live by to keep my brain sharp and fight off dementia.

1. Keep blood pressure and cholesterol levels in check

Your heart beats roughly 115,000 times a day, and with every beat, it sends about 20% of the oxygen in your body to your brain.

High blood pressure can weaken your heart muscle, and is one of the leading causes of strokes. Ideally, your blood pressure should be no higher than 120/80.

Cholesterol is critical to your brain and nervous system health, too. The American Heart Association recommends getting your cholesterol levels measured every four to six years.

2. Manage sugar levels

Blood sugar is the primary fuel of the brain. Not enough of it, and you have no energy; too much, and you can destroy blood vessels and tissue, leading to premature aging and cardiovascular disease.

Keep in mind that sugar isn’t enemy, excess sugar is. It’s easy for grams of sugar to add up, even if you think you’re being careful — and usually, sugar will sneak in through packaged foods.

Where is the sugar hidden? Look for these in the ingredients list:

  • Dextrose
  • Fructose
  • Galactose
  • Glucose
  • Lactose
  • Maltose
  • Sucrose

And be wary of any product that includes syrup, such as agave nectar syrup or high-fructose corn syrup.

3. Get quality sleep

Studies show that people with untreated sleep apnea raise their risk of memory loss by an average of 10 years before the general population.

For most people, a healthy brain needs somewhere between seven and nine hours of sleep a night.

My tips for memory-boosting, immune-enhancing sleep:

  • Keep a consistent bedtime and wake-up schedule.
  • Turn off devices one hour before bedtime.
  • Do something relaxing before bedtime, like listening to soft music or doing mindful breathing exercises.
  • Go outside and get in natural sunlight as soon as you can after waking up.

4. Eat a nutritious diet

One way I keep things simple is to have most, if not all, of these items in my grocery cart:

  • Fatty fish like salmon
  • Avocados
  • Nuts
  • Blueberries
  • Cruciferous veggies like arugula, broccoli, Brussels sprouts and collard greens

When food shopping, I ask myself three questions to help determine whether something is good for my brain:

1. Will it spoil? In many cases, perishable is a good thing. The additives and preservatives that keep food from spoiling wreak havoc on your gut bacteria.

2. Are there tons of ingredients in that packaged food? And for that matter, can you pronounce the ingredients? Or does it look like the makings of a chemical experiment? Also avoid anything where sugar is one of the first few ingredients.

3. Do you see a rainbow on your plate? The chemicals that give fruits and vegetables their vibrant colors help boost brain health.

5. Don’t smoke (and avoid secondhand and thirdhand smoke)

Smokers have a 30% higher risk of developing dementia than non-smokers. They also put those around them at risk: Secondhand smoke contains 7,000 chemicals — and at least 70 of them can cause cancer.

Then there’s thirdhand smoke, which is not actually smoke. It’s the residue of cigarette smoke that creates the telltale smell on clothing or in a room. That residue alone can emit chemicals that are toxic to the brain.

6. Make social connections

In a recent study, people over the age of 55 who regularly participated in dinner parties or other social events had a lower risk of losing their memory. But it wasn’t because of what they ate, it was the effect of the repeated social connection.

To lessen isolation and loneliness, you can also boost brain chemicals like serotonin and endorphins by performing small acts of kindness:

  • Wish others well or check in with somebody.
  • Give a compliment without expecting anything in return.
  • Make a phone call to somebody you don’t usually reach out to.

7. Continuously learn new skills

Maintaining a strong memory is not all about brain games like Sudoku, Wordle and crossword puzzles.

Learning skills and acquiring information are much more effective ways to make new connections in the brain. The more connections you make, the more likely you are to retain and even enhance your memory.

When you think about learning something new, approach it the way you would with fitness training. You want to work out different muscles on different days. The same goes for the brain.

Over the course of this week, try cross-training your brain by mixing mental activities (learning a new language or reading a book) and physical learning activities (playing tennis or soccer) .

Marc Milstein, PhD, is a brain health expert and author of “The Age-Proof Brain: New Strategies to Improve Memory, Protect Immunity, and Fight Off Dementia.” He earned both his PhD in Biological Chemistry and his Bachelor of Science in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology from UCLA, and has conducted research on genetics, cancer biology and neuroscience. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.

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Health

COVID-19, overdoses pushed US to highest death total ever

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NEW YORK — 2021 was the deadliest year in U.S. history, and new data and research are offering more insights into how it got that bad.

The main reason for the increase in deaths? COVID-19, said Robert Anderson, who oversees the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s work on death statistics.

The agency this month quietly updated its provisional death tally. It showed there were 3.465 million deaths last year, or about 80,000 more than 2020’s record-setting total.

Early last year, some experts were optimistic that 2021 would not be as bad as the first year of the pandemic — partly because effective COVID-19 vaccines had finally become available.

“We were wrong, unfortunately,” said Noreen Goldman, a Princeton University researcher.

COVID-19 deaths rose in 2021 — to more than 415,000, up from 351,000 the year before — as new coronavirus variants emerged and an unexpectedly large numbers of Americans refused to get vaccinated or were hesitant to wear masks, experts said.

The coronavirus is not solely to blame. Preliminary CDC data also shows the crude death rate for cancer rose slightly, and rates continued to increase for diabetes, chronic liver disease and stroke.

Drug overdose deaths also continued to rise. The CDC does not yet have a tally for 2021 overdose deaths, because it can take weeks of lab work and investigation to identify them. But provisional data through October suggests the nation is on track to see at least 105,000 overdose deaths in 2021 — up from 93,000 the year before.

New research released Tuesday showed a particularly large jump in overdose deaths among 14- to 18-year-olds.

Adolescent overdose death counts were fairly constant for most of the last decade, at around 500 a year, according to the paper published by the Journal of the American Medical Association. They almost doubled in 2020, to 954, and the researchers estimated that the total hit nearly 1,150 last year.

Joseph Friedman, a UCLA researcher who was the paper’s lead author, called the spike “unprecedented.”

Those teen overdose deaths were only around 1% of the U.S. total. But adolescents experienced a greater relative increase than the overall population, even though surveys suggest drug use among teens is down.

Experts attributed the spike to fentanyl, a highly lethal drug that has been cut into heroin for several years. More recently it’s also been pressed into counterfeit pills resembling prescription drugs that teens sometimes abuse.

The total number of U.S. deaths often increases year to year as the U.S. population grows. But 2020 and 2021 saw extraordinary jumps in death numbers and rates, due largely to the pandemic.

Those national death trends affect life expectancy — an estimate of the average number of years a baby born in a given year might expect to live.

With rare exceptions, U.S. life expectancy has reliably inched up year after year. But the CDC’s life expectancy estimate for 2020 was about 77 years — more than a year and a half lower than what it was in 2019.

The CDC has not yet reported its calculation for 2021. But Goldman and some other researchers have been making their own estimates, presented in papers that have not yet been published in peer-reviewed journals.

Those researchers think U.S. life expectancy dropped another five or six months in 2021 — putting it back to where it was 20 years ago.

A loss of more than two years of life expectancy over the last two years “is mammoth,” Goldman said.

One study looked at death data in the U.S. and 19 other high-income countries. The U.S. fared the worst.

“What happened in the U.S. is less about the variants than the levels of resistance to vaccination and the public’s rejection of practices, such as masking and mandates, to reduce viral transmission,” one of the study’s authors, Dr. Steven Woolf of Virginia Commonwealth University, said in a statement.

Some experts are skeptical that life expectancy will quickly bounce back. They worry about long-term complications of COVID-19 that may hasten the deaths of people with chronic health problems.

Preliminary — and incomplete — CDC data suggest there were at least 805,000 U.S. deaths in about the first three months of this year. That’s well below the same period last year, but higher than the comparable period in 2020.

“We may end up with a ‘new normal’ that’s a little higher than it was before,” Anderson said.

———

The Associated Press Health & Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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Health

5 staple foods of the Mediterranean diet to help you stay healthy, live longer

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Switching up the foods you eat and eliminating bad ingredients can drastically improve your health and longevity. It all depends on your individual needs, as different people may react in different ways to the same foods. (That’s why it’s usually a good idea to check with your doctor first.)

But one diet that has gained popularity in recent years is the Mediterranean diet. In fact, it was recently ranked as first in overall best diets for the fourth year in a row, according to U.S. News & World Report’s annual list.

As a nutritionist, I often recommend trying to incorporate foods from the Mediterranean-style diet — which is high in vegetables, fruits, olive oil and whole grains, and moderate in protein and animal fats — into your eating routine. Research suggests that primary foods in this diet can help ward off chronic diseases and improve longevity. Another study found there may also be benefits for the brain.

Here are five staple Mediterranean diet foods I’ve been eating to stay healthy and strong:

1. Oats

By improving the intestinal transit of food and waste, fiber helps your body eliminate carcinogens. Unfortunately, an estimated 95% of American adults and children don’t consume enough fiber, according to a 2017 analysis published in U.S. National Library of Medicine.

Oats are my go-to for fiber-rich foods. The gluten-free whole grain is a great source for important vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. When slow-cooked, it provides a balanced portion of fats, carbohydrates and plant protein, along with good doses of iron and B vitamins.

In a study last year, researchers found that that higher intakes of fiber resulted in decreased mortality from cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. The American Heart Association Eating Plan suggests that total dietary fiber intake should be between 25 to 30 grams a day (from food, not supplements). 

Oats are also a staple for Adventists, a small community in Loma Linda, California who researchers have found live up to a decade longer than other Americans.

My breakfast often consists of classic oatmeal with fruit, but oats can be prepared in a savory style, too. You can use it as coating in place of breadcrumbs, or in a hearty risotto in place of rice.

2. Extra virgin olive oil

Not all liquid oils (for cooking or cold preparations) are the same. Many nutritionists and health experts recommend that your first choice be extra virgin olive oil.

Extra virgin olive oil contains mainly monounsaturated fat in the form of oleic acid, along with high amounts of antioxidants — both of which researchers say can help reduce biomarkers of inflammation.

A 2020 study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology found that individuals who consumed half a tablespoon or more of extra virgin olive oil per day had a 14% lower risk of cardiovascular disease and an 18% decrease in coronary heart disease risk. Replacing five grams per day of other fats (e.g. butter or margarine) with olive oil also lowered the risk of total cardiovascular disease and coronary heart disease by 5% to 7%.

My favorite way to incorporate extra virgin olive oil is to drizzle a small amount over vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower or carrots before roasting them in the oven.

3. Fish

Fatty fish like tuna, salmon, herring and lake trout contain high amounts of healthy omega-3 fatty acids, which research has shown can improve your cardiovascular health.

If you’re a fish lover like me, the American Heart Association recommends adults eat two servings of fish — particularly the fatty kind — per week, with a serving being 3.5 ounces of cooked fish or roughly ¾ cup of flaked fish. (The U.S. Food and Drug Administration advises that children and pregnant women avoid eating fish with potential for the highest level of mercury contamination, such as shark, swordfish, king mackerel and tilefish.)

Want to get creative with fish? Try using it in place of beef or chicken in your tacos. Salmon patties are also a must-try. Remember to balance your plate with lots of vegetables, fruit, whole grains and other healthy fats as well. 

4. Green leafy vegetables

Leafy vegetables, such as spinach, romaine and kale, are another aspect of the Mediterranean diet. They’re filled with essential nutrients — vitamin A, vitamin C, folate, vitamin K, iron, calcium and potassium.

The amount of vegetables you need, which can vary between one and three cups per day, depends on your age, sex and level of physical activity. In general, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), one cup of vegetables is equivalent to a cup of raw or cooked vegetables or vegetable juice, or two cups of raw leafy greens.

Make yourself a fresh salad with a variety of leafy vegetables for a mix of nutrients and flavor. You can also add them to whole grain pastas or soups. To get a green kick that will instantly wake me up, I like throwing some kale into my breakfast smoothies.

5. Berries

Although there are several essential fruits in the Mediterranean diet, berries — especially blueberries and strawberries — rank high on my list of favorites, due to their rich levels of antioxidants.

Berries also have lots of anthocyanins, a type of flavonoid. Research suggests that anthocyanins can have several positive effects on the body, including lowering blood pressure and making blood vessels more elastic.

Dr. Eric Rimm, associate professor at the Harvard School of Public Health and Harvard Medical School, has done a significant amount of research backing the benefits of berries. He recommends three or more servings of a half-cup of blueberries or strawberries each week. One cup of whole strawberries will provide you with almost 100% of your daily vitamin C needs, according to the USDA.

I usually start the day with blueberries in my yogurt, cereal or oatmeal. And my salads are never complete without berries (along with sunflower seeds, nuts and beans for added protein).

Lauren Armstrong is a registered dietitian and personal nutrition coach. Formerly, she worked as a nutritionist for the Women, Infant and Children (WIC) program. Lauren received her bachelor’s degree in dietetics from Western Michigan University, and has written for several publications, including Livestrong and HealthDay. Follow her on Instagram @laurenarmstrong.rdn.

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