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THE LATEST ON TAKING CARE OF YOUR BRAIN

May 13, 2022 6 Comments

Did you watch Davina McCall’s latest menopause documentary last week? If you missed it, you can catch up on All4 here. It seems to have caused both celebration and some alarm. Celebration that discussion of menopause happens in prime time, that fabulous women come forward and share their stories and that knowledge about HRT continues to spread; but some commentators have suggested the programme is alarmist in its depiction of menopause symptoms, and too heavy handed in its emphasis on the benefits of HRT. What do you think? I’d love to know your thoughts.

Of particular interest to me are the interviews with brilliant Drs Lisa Mosconi and Roberta Diaz Brinton. These two women have blazed a trail in female brain health, blowing apart the idea that twice as many women as men get Alzheimer’s simply because women live longer. It’s more fundamental than that: changes in the brain that happen around the time of menopause can increase our risk of developing Alzheimer’s. The structure of the brain alters in response to diminishing oestrogen levels, energy metabolism falters and beta amyloid deposits (a sticky plaque linked to Alzheimer’s) increase. You can read their research here.   Or find it in a slightly more digestible form on Lisa Mosconi’s website here. And we’ve written more about why Alzheimer’s is a women’s issue here

HRT AND THE BRAIN

Dr Mosconi is the author of The XX Brain – one of our favourite age-well books – and an advocate of a Mediterranean diet and regular exercise to keep our brains healthy. I knew less about Dr Brinton and her work before I watched the Davina documentary. Dr Brinton has studied the medical insurance records of almost 400,000 women and found that those who’d taken HRT at the time of menopause lowered their risk of developing Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases later in life by 50%. You can read that research here and The Menopause Charity has a good run down of it here.

HRT is currently prescribed for menopause symptoms and bone density loss here in the UK. Could that change in the future? Is there a chance it could be prescribed to women in perimenopause to reduce the risk of dementia? Dr Brinton and her lab have developed a plant-based form of HRT called, Phytoserm (which stands for ‘plant-based, selective, oestrogen receptor modulators’ and means it promotes oestrogen-like action in the brain) and which should be safe for women who are advised not to use HRT due to breast cancer risk. Last month her lab received a grant to test the efficacy of this supplement. We’ll keep an eye on that research.

WOMEN RESPOND BETTER

Leaving aside menopause, there’s plenty of new research into reducing dementia risk we should pay attention to. One bit of good news – despite the fact that women are more at risk of Alzheimer’s than men – research published last month found that women respond better than men to early Alzheimer’s intervention. The research comes from the Comparative Effectiveness Dementia and Alzheimer’s Registry (CEDAR) trial, at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, where Lisa Mosconi is Associate Professor of Neuroscience. The project is following 154 people for a 10-year period. Each of them has a family history of Alzheimer’s, and each has been given a personalised lifestyle plan tailored to their own genetic profile and health.

The latest research released from the study showed that women following the treatment have greater improvements in cardiovascular health and cholesterol biomarkers than men. Why is this important? Because what’s good for the heart is good for the brain. “Vascular risk factors such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, high blood sugar or diabetes may not be the cause of Alzheimer’s disease, but it can fast-forward Alzheimer’s pathology,” said Dr Richard Isaacson, who co-authored the research paper. “I would prefer to slam on the brakes rather than rev the engine on the path to cognitive decline.”

THE BLOOD-BRAIN BARRIER

Research by the University of Reading has another take on the role of cholesterol in cognitive decline. Scientists there have hypothesised that external lipids like cholesterol and fatty acids passing through a damaged blood-brain barrier may contribute to brain shrinkage, and development of the amyloid plaques and tau tangles, linked to Alzheimer’s.

The study’s author, Dr Jonathan Rudge, said: ‘A healthy blood brain barrier is incredibly important to how our brains function effectively. If the barrier gets damaged, as is the case with people who develop Alzheimer’s, external lipids like cholesterol and fatty acids get a chance to pass through.’ We’ve written about how to keep the blood-brain barrier healthy here.

GREEN, YELLOW, ORANGE

We know the importance of a healthy diet in maintaining brain function, and research published last week has been able to link specific nutrients to reduced risk of cognitive decline. A study found that people with the highest levels of the antioxidants lutein, zeaxanthin and beta-cryptoxanthin in their blood were less likely to have developed dementia at a 16-year follow up than those with lower levels. Find lutein and zeaxanthin in green leafy vegetables like kale, broccoli, cabbage and spinach, and yellow vegetables like peppers and sweetcorn. Beta-cryptoxanthin can be found in orange citrus fruits and papaya.

RECIPE: DOUBLE SWEETCORN SALAD WITH JALAPENO AND LIME DRESSING

This recipe is from The Age-Well Project. With its mix of raw and grilled sweetcorn, alongside yellow peppers, it provides a hefty dose of lutein. It’s a perfect BBQ side dish now the weather’s getting warmer and one of my absolute favourites from the book.

Serves 4 as a side dish

  • 3 corn on the cob
  • 2 yellow peppers
  • 1 tbs of jalapenos (from a jar), finely chopped
  • 1 tbs bring from the jalapeno jar
  • 2 tbs Olive oil
  • Juice of half a lime
  • 1 tbs fresh coriander, chopped

Grill or barbeque the peppers until the skins blacken and blister. Put in a heatproof bowl and cover with clingfilm. Leave to one side to allow the skins to steam off.

Meanwhile, grill or barbeque two of the corn cobs until they start to brown in patches. Leave to cool then stand a cob on one end on a chopping board. Run a sharp knife down the sides of the cob to release the ears of corn. Repeat with the other two cobs, so you have a mixture of cooked and raw corn. Put in a serving bowl.

When the peppers are cool enough to handle rub off the skins and slice the flesh. Put in the serving bowl with the corn, and any juice which has collected in the bowl with the peppers.

Mix the jalapenos, their brine, lime juice and olive oil together then pour over the corn and peppers. Mix well, top with coriander and serve.

AND A GIVEAWAY!

We’re celebrating three years since the publication of The Age-Well Project this month. We’ve got five copies of the paperback version (the smaller one – it’s very cute) to give away. Head over to our Facebook and Instagram pages, find the post with a picture of the book, follow us, tag a friend and if the Wheel of Names picks you out, you’ll both win a copy. If you’re a social media refusnik, drop an email to theagewellproject@gmail.com with the subject line ‘book’ and we’ll add you to the draw. Giveaway closes at midnight BST on Tuesday May 24th. Good luck!

 

Susan

 

Photo: Hari Nandakumar on Unsplash

« HOW WALKING POLES CAN HELP US AGE WELL
HOW TO WALK TO IMPROVE YOUR MOOD »

Comments

  1. Maria says

    May 13, 2022 at 3:40 pm

    Ok dear ladies, I got HRT in my fifties and from the beginning on my left breast started hurting. I went back to the gynaecologist and his ultra sound specialist who said ‘if it hurts it is never cancer’ and ‘the idea that estrogen gives you breast cancer is a fairy tale’ and ‘by the way the ultrasounds of your breast look perfect’. This went on for four years till the pain got unbearable. I changed my gynaecologist who wanted me to stop right away. She started checking my breast with her hands and while touching me she screamed to her assistent to call the hospital right away. I had a 6 cm tumor. Because it was an invasive lobular carcinoma it was rather undetectably with mammogram or ultra sound. Even an MRI didn’t say much. Only my pain, the hands of a doctor and a few biopsies showed what was going on. I was suddenly a high risk cancer patient with all the surgeries, mastectomy, treatments and misery that followed in the past few years. I’m not there yet and I immensely regret taking hormones after my 50th birthday. My hero doctor – who saved my life with her touch – told me that women think too lightly about hormone intake. She was afraid for a stroke and later in life for Alzheimer, she knows her literature and after a career of 30 years as a gynaecologist she speaks out of experience. She says that most research is focussed on the male body and many doctors have no clue. Well, that’s my experience. Unfortunately. I was with ‘the best’ Women’s Health Center in Amsterdam. I wrote to them but never got an answer. Please learn from my story and let nature do it’s job. Now I’m convicted to 5 years of Tamoxifen which can cause Uterus cancer and….Alzheimer. Why risking all this?

    Reply
    • Susan Saunders says

      May 13, 2022 at 11:00 pm

      Hello Maria, I’m so sorry to read this, what a terrible time you’ve had. Thank goodness for that doctor. And thank you so much for sharing your story and your experience with us.Susan x

      Reply
  2. Kate says

    May 14, 2022 at 11:18 am

    A question – when you stop HRT, do you then experience all the menopausal symptoms you would have had anyway? I’ve asked my friends who take it, but no one seems to know. A quick Google suggests that all one is doing is deferring it, in which case …

    Reply
    • Susan Saunders says

      May 15, 2022 at 4:18 pm

      A very good question Kate! With the usual caveat that I’m a health coach not a doctor or nurse, my understanding is that HRT essentially runs down the clock on menopausal symptoms.The SWAN study in the USA found that vasomotor (hot flushes, night sweats etc) symptoms persisted, on average, 4.5 years after the final menstrual period (FMP). So if Ms Average takes HRT for four years after her final period, she’ll still have hot flushes etc when she stops. But if she takes HRT for five years, she won’t. Of course, every woman’s response is entirely individual, and I’ve had health coaching clients in their 70s who are still having hot flushes. And there are many other symptoms of menopause, some of which (like vaginal dryness and anxiety) seem to hang around for a very long time. Hope that helps. Susan x

      Reply
  3. Sonya says

    December 15, 2022 at 3:47 pm

    After watching the 2 programmes I went to my doctor & got the patches & also the progesterone to protect from cancer.
    I have had a really challenging 2-3 years as I have been studying & also teaching commerce at high school. All very cerebral activities which have been a real struggle because I’ve really suffered from forgetfulness where my mental sharpness was something I could always rely on. I am very hopeful that this medication will help some of that return. I thought I just had to suck it up! I’m so grateful for the programme.

    Reply
    • Susan Saunders says

      December 18, 2022 at 5:18 pm

      Yes Davina’s programmes have had an incredible impact. I hope you find the HRT helpful

      Reply

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Welcome to The Age-Well Project

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Everything we’ve learnt about ageing well points Everything we’ve learnt about ageing well points to a time (for women at least) in their mid-60s when the chronic conditions of ageing, like diabetes, heart disease and dementia, are - statistically - more likely to kick in. 

And we know that our reproductive hormones do so much more than prepare us to have periods and babies, we have receptors for them throughout our bodies and brains. 

Oestrogen, in particular, helps keep bones strong, blood vessels flexible, brains firing and inflammation levels low. Essentially, it wraps us up in a cosy protective cloak to keep us safe and healthy while we're able to reproduce, but once the eggs have run out - we're on our own! 

Between the average age of menopause at 51, and that time in our 60s when the chronic conditions of ageing are more likely to kick in, we have a decade or so in which it’s vital to focus on our health.

And how to do that? It’s on the blog - link in bio

#longevity #womenover50 #agewell #ageingwell #agingwell #longevityblog #healthblog #agewellblog #over50bloggers #womenover50 #healthspan #womenover60 #menopause #menopausehealth #postmenopause #postmenopausefitness #postmenopausal #oestrogen #hormonalhealth
If you’re lucky enough to have good metabolic he If you’re lucky enough to have good metabolic health you might want to thank your Mum today. Recent studies have found that women who move around during their reproductive years and during pregnancy and then breastfeed for a bit pass on a compound in their milk called 3SL which provides lifelong protection against poor metabolic health. The offspring of moving, breastfeeding Mums appear to have a lower lifetime risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes and other chronic metabolic disease. Even gentle strolling during pregnancy and while nursing can produce this compound. So today we thank our Mums for that - as well as everything else.  Susan’s mum in the hat. Annabel’s mum in the pony tail. 

#mothersday #mothers #move #agewell #goodhealth #longevitylifestyle #longevity #walk
There’s been lots of good news for walkers recen There’s been lots of good news for walkers recently. A study published last month found that over-60s who walked between 6000 and 9000 steps a day cut their risk of heart disease (including strokes and heart attacks) by 40-50 percent, when compared to a more typical 2000 steps a day. In fact this study found that for every additional 1000 steps walked, the risk fell still further. 

How far are you walking to age well? Let us know in the comments and there’s more on the power of walking on the blog - link in bio

#longevity #womenover50 #agewell #ageingwell #agingwell #longevityblog #healthblog #agewellblog #over50bloggers #womenover50 #healthspan #womenover60 #walking #womenwhowalk #womenwhohike #reversewalking #backwardswalking #walkingbackwards
A big hug from us to you to mark International Wom A big hug from us to you to mark International Women’s Day! 

The campaign this year reminds us to embrace equity as a way to recognise that each of us has different circumstances, and we need different resources and opportunities to reach an equal outcome. Of course, this is as vital in ageing and health outcomes as in every other field.  

So we’re embracing our age and hoping to grow older in a more equitable society ❤️

#internationalwomensday #embraceequity #embracequity2023 ##longevity #womenover50 #agewell #ageingwell #agingwell #longevityblog #healthblog #agewellblog #over50bloggers #womenover50 #healthspan #womenover60 #iwd2023 #madformidlife
We’ve learned to love walking backwards! So many We’ve learned to love walking backwards! So many benefits when it comes to ageing well. 

If you’re not sure how to start or are worried about looking silly (we were) - there are lots of tips on the blog, link in bio. 

If you’re a backwards walker, let us know in comments below! 

If you’re planning to start, save this post for when you’re ready for some reverse walking 

#longevity #womenover50 #agewell #ageingwell #agingwell #longevityblog #healthblog #agewellblog #over50bloggers #womenover50 #healthspan #womenover60 #walking #womenwhowalk #womenwhohike #reversewalking #backwardswalking #walkingbackwards
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