138 – How to Promote Brain Health & Memory in Aging

In This Episode:

Leslie Kernisan, MD MPH, explains the best ways to boost brain health in aging, to help memory and thinking, as well as to prevent cognitive decline. Learn which approaches geriatricians find most effective, plus which vitamins and supplements are likely to help. Dr. K also covers emotional well-being in aging, and how this affects cognitive health.

Topics discussed:

• Helping older adults maintain brain health and memory
• Why promote your brain health
• The difference between normal and abnormal brain changes with aging
• FAQ: How to know what’s happening in your brain
• Why emotional well-being matters
• 3 key ways to boost brain health
• How to be positive about your aging
• What’s good for brain health
• What’s bad for brain health
• If you’re worried about someone else’s brain

Related episode: 

• 073 – Anticholinergic Medications & Protecting Brain Health

Related Resources:

• How to Promote Brain Health: The Healthy Aging Checklist, Part 1
• 4 Types of Brain-Slowing Medication to Avoid if You’re Worried About Memory
• Scholarly references:
• Role of Positive Age Beliefs in Recovery From Mild Cognitive Impairment Among Older Persons (2023)
• Subliminal strengthening: improving older individuals’ physical function over time with an implicit-age-stereotype intervention (2014)
• Vitamin D Supplements and Prevention of Cancer and Cardiovascular Disease (2019)
• Marine Omega-3 Fatty Acids and Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease and Cancer (2019)
• Effect of Vitamin D Supplementation, Omega-3 Fatty Acid Supplementation, or a Strength-Training Exercise Program on Clinical Outcomes in Older Adults: The DO-HEALTH Randomized Clinical Trial (2020)
• Effect of multivitamin-mineral supplementation versus placebo on cognitive function: results from the clinic subcohort of the COcoa Supplement and Multivitamin Outcomes Study (COSMOS) randomized clinical trial and meta-analysis of 3 cognitive studies within COSMOS (2024)
• Long-Term Cannabis Use and Cognitive Reserves and Hippocampal Volume in Midlife (2022)