A new editorial in Archives of Internal Medicine looks at the health of people reaching 100 years of age. Today there are 55,000 centenarians in the US. The people that make it that far today generally fare pretty well. That's because it's still difficult to reach that status without some strong genes and a healthy lifestyle.



But modern medicine is pushing more and more people to a ripe old age. In fact, conservative estimates predict 800,000 centenarians by 2050. That's a lot of people reaching 100 so the issue of healthspan becomes a very important consideration. A specific component of healthspan that most people care deeply about is their brainspan, or the number of years you maintain a healthy brain. Alzheimer's disease and other types of dementia are probably the most feared diseases we have. The vast majority of people rate brain health at the top of their list for quality of life indicators. The more fit your brain, the better you feel.

Unfortunately, increases in brainspan have not yet paralleled increases in lifespan. Over the age of 65, there is still a 5% chance of having Alzheimer's disease. Over the age of 85, those odds jump to 50%. But frankly, those statistics are much scarier than they need to be. When people hear statistics like that, they tend to feel helpless, as if they are rolling the dice. However, when it comes to your brainspan you can weight the dice in your favor.

Saying that people over 85 have a 50% chance of having Alzheimer's disease is a little misleading. The real statement is that by the age of 85, 50% of people have Alzheimer's disease. That may seem like the same thing, but it's really a very different statement. Putting it the first way, it seems that everyone has a 50-50 chance of getting the disease, but that's not really true. Some folks have a very high chance, while others are completely safe. Your chance of developing Alzheimer's by the age of 85 is not necessarily 50% - so what is it?

The new editorial cites a 2004 study that looked at correlations between metabolic syndrome and cognitive decline. Metabolic syndrome is a collection of problems, including abdominal obesity, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and difficulty controlling blood sugar (usually insulin resistance).

About 1 in 5 (23%) adults have metabolic syndrome in the US today, but almost 1 in 2 (43%) of folks over 75 find themselves in this state, curiously similar to the number of people with Alzheimer's disease at that age.

In fact, researchers found that those with metabolic syndrome had a much greater chance of experiencing cognitive decline. The good news is that metabolic syndrome is highly preventable by simply eating better and exercising. It just takes a little investment of effort to dramatically shift the odds in your favor.

Now, this study was only observational, meaning researchers can't conclude that metabolic syndrome causes Alzheimer's. However, many other studies show that similar risk factors are involved in both diseases and it's not a stretch to think that if you take care of your body you will also be taking care of your brain.

We understand perfectly well the relationship between saving and investing money throughout your career to enable a comfortable retirement. If you choose not to save anything, you aren't surprised when you retire broke.

Yet, this association of investing in the health of your body and brain doesn't seem to be as obvious to many folks. Perhaps it's because we don't get monthly balance statements to watch our 'health accounts' grow or shrink. Yet, the relationship between lifestyle and late-life brain health is clear.

This is more important today than ever. Since modern medicine will likely help you stretch your lifespan by many years, wouldn't it be nice to do the same for your brainspan?

Copyright (c) 2008 BrainFit For Life