Four Habits That Keep Your Brain Young

The four habits a neurosurgeon sees again and again in brains that stay young, and how to bring them into your own life. Dr. Ravi Kumar, a board certified neurosurgeon, has had his hands inside more skulls than he can count, and some 80 year old brains look 10, 15 or 20 years younger than their peers. Dr. Kumar shows what aging actually does to the brain: it is mostly a plumbing problem. Tiny arteries thinner than a hair feed the deep parts of the brain, and when they clog or leak you get silent strokes you never feel, plus shrinkage that hits the memory center first. Then the four things he sees in people with younger looking brains, backed by the research: well controlled blood pressure, a strong body, good hearing and deep sleep. None of them is a supplement or a hack, and most of them are free. IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL DISCOVER Why brain aging is mostly a plumbing problem: your brain is about 2% of your body weight and takes about 20% of your blood flow. What silent strokes are, and why about one in five older adults in the Rotterdam Scan Study had at least one without knowing it. Why the memory center shrinks faster than the rest of the brain after 60, and how a shrunken brain sets up a subdural hematoma. What the SPRINT MIND trial found: a 19% lower rate of mild cognitive impairment with tighter blood pressure control. How leg power predicted cognitive aging ten years later in identical twins, and how a year of brisk walking grew the hippocampus by about 2%. Why the Lancet Commission ranks hearing loss among the biggest risk factors for dementia you can change, and what the ACHIEVE trial found with hearing aids. How deep sleep lets your brain wash out the waste that builds up in Alzheimer's disease. LINKS AND RESOURCES Brain Gamer, Dr. Kumar's brain training app: https://braingamer.app/ Dr. Ravi Kumar's Website: https://drkumardiscovery.com/ The Dr. Kumar Discovery on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-dr-kumar-discovery/id1808415094 The Dr. Kumar Discovery on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3UJhg3Y5jjLP8zO6hbpwfT The Dr. Kumar Discovery on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thedrkumardiscovery/ Dr. Ravi Kumar on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ravi-kumar-md/ REFERENCES Silent brain infarcts in the Rotterdam Scan Study (Stroke 2002): https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11779883/ Silent brain infarcts and the risk of dementia (New England Journal of Medicine 2003): https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12660385/ SPRINT MIND, intensive blood pressure control and cognitive impairment (JAMA 2019): https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6439590/ Leg power and cognitive ageing in twins (Gerontology 2016): https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26551663/ Exercise training increases the size of the hippocampus (PNAS 2011): https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3041121/ Dementia prevention, the Lancet Commission (2024): https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39096926/ ACHIEVE, hearing intervention and cognitive decline (The Lancet 2023): https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(23)01406-X DISCLAIMER This show is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice. Dr. Kumar is a physician, but he is not your doctor, and nothing discussed here should replace a conversation with your own care team. This show is completely separate from Dr. Kumar's role as assistant professor at UNC. #BrainHealth #BrainAging #Neurosurgeon #Dementia #Memory #HealthyAging #BloodPressure #TheDrKumarDiscovery