Exercise, social connections can improve cognitive health

As a geriatrician, the most common questions I get from patients and their adult children are about cognition. “My mom’s memory seems to be slipping — what can we do?” “I don’t want to get dementia like my father—what can I do?” 

Cognitive decline can be devastating and scary, and there’s still so much we do not know about what causes it. There have been some exciting developments in recent years for treatment of certain kinds of dementia, and I expect there’s more scientific progress on the horizon. But for most people, most of the time, the best and most accessible actions to maintain good cognitive health are quite simple:

Take a walk. There’s a ton of good data showing how physical activity is good for cognitive health. So, wherever you are, find ways to be more physically active. That might mean walking to the mailbox and back a couple times a day. It might mean joining a club or program where you’re walking two miles a day. 

Connect with others. Another seemingly basic thing that’s incredibly important as we age is social connection. There’s an increasing body of research showing how being socially isolated is terrible for your health. As you or your loved ones get older and life changes, it might take some creative thinking to accomplish social connection. Maybe you’ve moved or you can’t do the things you used to. If you can’t play tennis anymore, can you play shuffleboard? Join a garden club? Play cards or chess? Volunteer? I can’t overstate how important it is for overall health to find something that brings joy, purpose, and human connection.

Audit your medications. One of the first things we do in my practice is to look carefully at what medicines people are on and make sure they’re only taking the ones that are most beneficial for the goals that are important to them. We call it a “medication checkup.” It’s very common for older adults to be taking too many medications or taking things that don’t work well together, and in that case we will “de-prescribe” medications. The New York Times did a story a couple years ago that features a doctor who worked with a patient who was confused and tired all the time. The patient’s cognition improved dramatically simply by removing some of her medicines. 

Those kinds of experiences are far more common than you might think. I advise everyone to know what medicines you are taking and why, and to be able to share that with various providers you see.