What you’re doing to quicken cognitive decline and memory loss

Our brains undergo changes as we age, and there’s nothing we can do about it.

Certain parts of the brain shrink, including those important to learning and other complex mental activities. Neurotransmission — the connection among brain cells — may become less effective. Blood flow may decrease. Inflammation, which occurs when the body is fighting off an infection, may also have an impact. In fact, scientists are finding that inflammation may be complicit in many disorders.

Some of our lifestyle choices, however, have an impact on how quickly our brains age and we lose cognitive function, including memory.

Here are some ways we accelerate brain aging and its effects (memory loss, mild cognitive impairment, dementia and Alzheimer’s, to name a few).

Before we begin, though, I want to make two points.

First, many factors contribute to how a brain ages, including genetics, hormones and neurotransmitters. People with a parent or sibling with Alzheimer’s have a higher risk of developing the disease than those who don't. However, not everyone with a family history of Alzheimer’s will develop the disease, and not everyone who develops Alzheimer's has a family history. Early life can also influence the outcome, such as low birth weight.

Second, aging also may bring with it positive cognitive changes. For example, older adults have larger vocabularies and greater knowledge of the depth of meaning of words than younger adults, according to research studies. We also have stored many years of accumulated knowledge and experience, which we can call on when needed.

That said, there are things we choose to do that end up slowing cognitive function and accelerating memory loss and brain aging.

Be sedentary.

Age brings with it aches, pains and fatigue, and it’s tempting to just kick back in the recliner to take a load off. Stay sedentary, and you will likely be accelerating memory loss and brain aging.

Although research indicates that physical activity boosts proteins and glucose metabolism and may even be associated with an increase in brain structure, go ahead and skip getting 30 to 45 minutes of activity a day if you don’t want to be like the “super-agers” in their 80s and 90s.

Keep drinking alcohol like you did 30 years ago.

When we’re younger, our bodies are able to process alcohol more quickly and get it out of the body faster. This changes with age, as we lose muscle and it takes longer for our bodies to break down alcohol.

So if you’re still having a few cocktails at 5 o’clock as you once did, just keep that up if you want to shrink your brain. Not only will you find your hangovers are lasting longer, but you may start seeing signs of brain aging, such as memory loss, besides making it harder for your body to fight off infections, including pneumonia.

Don’t challenge your brain.

Many older adults, when they retire, let their minds go on vacation, along with their physical selves.

If you want to shrink your brain faster, don’t bother doing anything that challenges your brain’s capacity for memory, logic and thinking. That includes opting out of traveling, volunteering, working a part-time job, learning a different language, picking up a new instrument, or playing games like Scrabble, Clue, crosswords, sudoku or chess.

Ignore your loss of hearing.

You can’t hear the TV or follow conversations as you once did, but that’s OK. Hearing loss is a part of aging and you can learn to live with it, even though it may shrink the part of your brain associated with speech and sound and lead to greater social isolation.

Even though Medicare covers hearing tests, it doesn’t cover hearing aids, so they’re too expensive anyway. Don’t bother shopping around, checking your Medicare Advantage plan for coverage, investigating direct-to-consumer models, or looking into payment plans and charities that might help.

Don’t watch what you eat.

There’s no definitive link between specific foods and cognitive health, so eat whatever and however you want, even though obesity, diabetes and heart disease are associated with cognitive decline and a healthy diet may provide additional nutrients and antioxidants that your brain needs to stay strong.

So if you want to take that risk, don’t worry about eating leafy greens, nuts, beans and fish and load up on red meat and sweets.

I hope by now you’ve realized that I’m employing a bit of reverse psychology to get you to consider how lifestyle choices may affect the quality of an aging brain, which directly impacts the quality of life. This is one column in which I don’t want you to take my advice!

• Teri (Dreher) Frykenberg is a board-certified patient advocate. A critical care registered nurse for 30+ years, she is founder of NShore Patient Advocates (www.NorthShoreRN.com). Her book, “How to Be a Healthcare Advocate for Yourself & Your Loved Ones,” is available on Amazon. She is offering a free phone consultation to Daily Herald readers; email her at teri@northshorern.com.