初级保健医生可以帮助保持大脑健康

Primary care doctors can play an important role in helping to preserve brain health by encouraging healthy behaviors and addressing risk factors associated with cognitive decline, 根据一项新的科学报告.

The 美国心脏协会声明 published Monday in the journal Stroke outlines seven lifestyle targets and six risk factors for brain health that primary care doctors should address in adults of all ages. The statement also has been endorsed by the American Academy of Neurology as an educational tool for neurologists.

随着国家老龄化，保持大脑健康已成为人们日益关注的问题. Mild cognitive impairment affects an estimated 1 in 5 Americans age 65 and older; 1 in 7 has dementia – a number expected to triple by 2050.

"Primary care is the right home for practice-based efforts to prevent or postpone cognitive decline,——罗纳德·拉扎尔, 科学声明写作小组主席, 在沙巴足球体育平台发布会上说. 拉扎尔是伊夫林. 他是阿拉巴马大学伯明翰分校麦克奈特大脑研究所的研究员.

"Prevention doesn't start in older age; it exists along the health care continuum from pediatrics to adulthood," he said. "The evidence in this statement demonstrates that early attention to these factors improves later life outcomes."

The statement asks primary care doctors to integrate brain health into their treatment of adults guided by the AHA's Life's Simple 7, a collection of lifestyle targets shown to help achieve ideal heart and brain health. 其中包括控制血压, cholesterol and blood sugar levels; increasing physical activity; eating a healthy diet; losing weight; and not smoking.

The statement also asks them to assess their patients' risk factors for cognitive health, 包括抑郁症, 社会隔离, 过度饮酒, 睡眠障碍, 低教育水平和听力损失.

"Scientists are learning more about how to prevent cognitive decline before changes to the brain have begun," Lazar, 神经学和神经生物学教授, said. "We have compiled the latest research and found Life's Simple 7 plus other factors like sleep, mental health and education are a more comprehensive lifestyle strategy that optimizes brain health in addition to cardiovascular health."

Dr. Deborah Levine, 该声明的共同作者之一, said it is never too soon to target risk factors for ideal heart and brain health. 而且永远不会太迟.

"For example, lower blood pressure levels reduce the risk of cognitive impairment and dementia in older adults," she said. “在所有年龄段的成年人中, 《沙巴体育平台点击进入》中的指标可以预防中风, 中风使患痴呆症的风险增加了两倍多."

Additional risk factors can help physicians identify which patients may need special attention, said Levine, an associate professor of medicine at the University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor.

For example, "Primary care doctors can help their patients reduce dementia risk by identifying and aggressively treating vascular risk factors like high blood pressure. 黑人和西班牙裔, women and individuals with lower educational levels appear at higher risk for dementia, 所以这些高危人群是重中之重," Levine said.

根据声明, 最近的研究表明高血压, diabetes and smoking in adulthood and midlife increase the odds of cognitive decline in middle age. 它们还会加速老年人的认知能力下降.

“很多人想到的是高血压, 2型糖尿病和其他风险因素只影响心脏健康, 然而，这些同样的风险因素也会影响我们的大脑健康," Lazar said. "Patients might be more likely to pay attention to the importance of addressing modifiable risk factors if they understood the links."

该声明用“认知”一词来定义大脑健康, 包括记忆, thinking, reasoning, 沟通和解决问题.

Together, these functions enable people to navigate the everyday world, according to the report. 思考的能力, solve problems, remember, perceive and communicate are crucial to successful living; their loss can lead to helplessness and dependency.

"Studies have shown that these domains are impacted by factors that are within our control to change," Lazar said. “预防和缓解很重要, 因为一旦人们认知受损, 目前的治疗选择非常有限."

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