AHA calls for lifelong brain health strategy to prevent cognitive decline

From childhood stress and pollution to sleep, inflammation, and the gut microbiome, the AHA’s new framework shows why protecting brain health must begin long before old age.

Study: Brain Health Across the Life Span: A Framework for Future Studies: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association. Image Credit: Anton Vierietin / Shutterstock

In a recent American Heart Association scientific statement published in the journal Stroke, researchers outline the rationale for expanding brain health beyond vascular risk factors to a holistic, lifelong framework. The modernized framework emphasizes optimal cognitive, emotional, and behavioral functioning throughout the life course.

The comprehensive scientific statement highlights that, with the global population of adults aged 65 and older expected to exceed 2 billion by 2050, identifying modifiable vascular and nonvascular contributors to brain health, cognitive decline, and neurodegeneration is a clinical priority.