Healthy lifestyle changes can lower your risk of a heart attack, but what about brain health?

Considering they're two of the largest and most important organs in the human body, it’s odd that we can reverse the damage we do to our heart, but the development of a healthy brain is based solely on preventive measures. A study conducted at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine has revealed that by dropping unhealthy habits like smoking while embracing healthy lifestyle choices including regular exercise and a proper diet, adults in their 30s and 40s can manage the potential development of coronary heart disease.

Researchers recruited over 5,000 adults between the ages of 18 and 30 who were assessed by their healthy lifestyle behaviors as well as the calcification and thickening of the coronary artery at the beginning of the study and 20 years after baseline. Healthy lifestyle factors included not smoking, being physical active, having low alcohol intake, a healthy diet, and not being overweight/obese.

Less than 10 percent of study participants reported all five of the healthy lifestyle factors at the beginning of the study; however, 20 years down the road, 25 percent had at least one of the factors, Medical Daily reports. By adding at least one healthy lifestyle factor, participants were able to reduce their risk of calcification and lower-intima-media thickness of their coronary artery.

The finding is important because it helps to debunk two myths held by some health care professionals. The first is that it’s nearly impossible to change patients’ behaviors. Yet 25 percent of adults made healthy lifestyle changes on their own. The second myth is that the damage has already been done — adulthood is too late for healthy lifestyle changes to reduce the risk of developing coronary artery disease. Clearly, that’s incorrect. Adulthood is not too late for healthy behavior changes to help the heart.

According to the American Heart Association, age, gender, and family history are all “non-modifiable” risk factors meaning they cannot be changed. High Blood pressure, high cholesterol, physical inactivity, overweight/obesity, smoking, and diabetes, on the other hand, are “modifiable” risk factors meaning any person can make even modest improvements that could drastically change their heart health.

While healthy lifestyle changes that improve overall heart health are easy to come by, the same cannot be said about brain health. Short of medication and therapy, there are very few treatment options for neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. In order for information to pass between the 100 billion neurons found in the human brain, synapses must serve as a connection that controls impulses and the release of neurotransmitters.

Following the decay of synaptic density which leads to a decline in neuronal connectivity, neurological experts mark a strong correlation to the cognitive impairment observed in Alzheimer’s patients. Although successful research intended to reverse synaptic decay has been sparse, new studies have showed improvements of cognitive function through increases in synaptic density among patients who were given a highly absorbable form of magnesium.