AARP report looks at what can hurt and help your brain health

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AUSTIN (KXAN) -- A new report from the AARP's Global Council on Brain Health found societal, political, and environmental factors can all have an impact on cognitive decline.

While the report encourages people to live healthy lifestyles, they say people too often face barriers related to government policy, health care, and culture itself preventing them from taking the steps necessary.

Scientific research, technology, city planning, healthcare, and employers all have a role in improving brain health and cognitive resistance.

The report said failing to do so will have "economic and social costs."

KXAN talked with AARP Policy and Brain Health Senior Vice President Sarah Lock about the report and possible solutions.

Tom Miller: Your new report says that brain health decline isn't inevitable as we get older, but what are some of the things that do lead to that cognitive decline?

Sarah Lock: The Global Council on Brain Health just put out a report talking about how it's more challenging for some people to institute what we call the "six pillars of brain health" than others. We recommend that you be social, engage your brain, manage stress, exercise, sleep, and eat right. But it can be more challenging for some groups of people to do that than others. That leads to increased rates of cognitive decline in communities that are more vulnerable than others.

Tom: What are some of the factors that determine your brain health? And do they impact all of our communities equally or differently?

Sarah: Your social, your physical, your financial environment, the things that create your life, create the circumstances for you to have good brain health or not. We call them the social determinants of health. It's a fancy way of saying that, it's a lot easier if you're economically secure, and you've got access to health care, to do the things that can reduce your risk and prevent cognitive decline, because your health is determined by the things you do throughout your life. Your employer has a tremendous impact on your ability to thrive because you're spending a lot of the time in your day in an environment that might make it harder. If it's stress-inducing, if they don't encourage wellness, for example, those are all ways that can influence a person's environment. Things like complete streets, whether you have sidewalks, whether there's crime in your community, you don't want to go out and exercise if there's not a safe place for you to do it. Things like the light that's coming into your window, if sirens are blasting everywhere, you've got a lot of problems sleeping in urban areas. So there are lots of social, economic, and financial impacts that decide for you whether it's going to be harder or easier. And that's why we want to encourage employers, communities, and healthcare providers to help us help ourselves.

Tom: What can people do on their own to improve their brain health, and is it a case of where the earlier you start, the better off you'll be later on in life?

Sarah: That's the great news. It's never too late to make a difference. So the first thing that we say is be aware that there are things you can do to help your brain health as you age. So knowing what to do, and then the people around you. If you surround yourself with people who are doing these healthy behaviors, it makes it a lot easier for you to do it. If you're not around people, that can be something that increases your risk for dementia by up to 50%. Not knowing what works and not being around people that are doing healthy behaviors are some of the biggest barriers.