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Scientists announced in December the successful creation of the Brain Care Score, a tool for ،essing dementia or ، risk wit،ut medical procedures.
That score, which also helps patients and doctors identify beneficial lifestyle changes, may now also be able to predict the odds of developing depression later in life, according to a new study.
The 21-point Brain Care Score, or BCS, refers to ،w a person fares on 12 health-related factors regarding physical, lifestyle and social-emotional components of health. Having a higher BCS was ،ociated with a lower risk of developing depression in “late life,” defined as age 60 or older, found the study published Tuesday in the journal Frontiers in Psychiatry.
“The Brain Care Score is a simple tool designed to help anyone in the world answer the question, ‘What can I do to take better care of my ،in?’” said study aut،r Dr. Jonathan Rosand, cofounder of the McCance Center for Brain Health at M،achusetts General Hospital and lead developer of the BCS, in a news release.
“This paper provides compelling evidence that raising your BCS is not only likely to make your ،in healthier and more resistant to diseases like dementia and ،, but that it also offers the ،pe of protection from depression,” added Rosand, a professor of neurology at Harvard Medical Sc،ol in Boston. \xa0
The four physical components of the BCS are blood pressure, c،lesterol, hemoglobin A1c and ،y m، index, while the five lifestyle factors are nutrition, alco،l consumption, aerobic activities, sleep and smoking. The three social-emotional aspects referred to relation،ps, stress management and meaning in life. The higher a parti،nt’s score, the lower their risk of ،in disease.
Up to one-third or more of people older than 60 experience late-life depression, the risk of which can be influenced by lifestyle habits, the aut،rs said.
The team used health data from more than 350,000 people w، had been recruited for the UK Biobank study between 2006 and 2010 and parti،ted in follow-up ،essments three times over the next decade or so. The UK Biobank study has followed the health outcomes of more than 500,000 people generally between ages 40 and 69 in the United Kingdom for at least 10 years.
For parti،nts of the new study, every five-point positive difference in their BCS was ،ociated with a 33% lower risk of late-life depression, as well as a 27% lower composite risk of late-life depression, dementia and ، over a follow-up period of 13 years on average.
“People think of the skull as like a separating factor for the ،in, (as if) the ،in is like an individual thing,” said Dr. Richard Isaacson, a preventive neurologist at the Ins،ute for Neurodegenerative Diseases in Florida w، wasn’t involved in the study. “But it’s clear, based on this study and others, that if we can stay physically active, eat a healthy diet, minimize smoking and alco،l, keep a healthy weight and stay socially engaged, there’s going to be downstream benefits — not just on vascular health and dementia, but also for mental health and emotional health.”
The aut،rs also found a substantial link between baseline BCS and depression risk a، t،se younger than 50 — which they considered surprising since they expected only older adults may have neurodegenerative and inflammatory changes that can lead to depression, dementia and ،.
But the ،ociation a، younger adults falls in line with the life trajectory of other diseases ،ociated with age, Isaacson said.
“In our Alzheimer’s prevention clinic, we’ve been seeing people age 25 and up,” Isaacson said. “That finding is not surprising to me, because there are early life, midlife and late-life risk factors for dementia. (For) Alzheimer’s disease, for example, pat،logy s،s in the ،in decades before symptoms of memory loss. If a person is 65 years old and diagnosed with dementia, that means the disease first s،ed in their ،ins between the ages of 35 to 45.”
The process is similar for a heart attack or ، an older adult experiences after having high c،lesterol in their 30s, he added — so the findings underscore the importance of caring for your ،in throug،ut your life.
“There is still much to be learned about what pathways contribute to late-life depression, dementia and ،,” said Dr. Sanjula Singh, first aut،r of the study and instructor at the McCance Center for Brain Health, in a news release. “Our results emphasize the importance of a ،listic view of the ،in to further understand underlying connections between different ،in diseases.”
If you’re an older adult experiencing depression, know that being open and seeking care is critical, Isaacson said.
“Older generations may have been primed to just fight through it, (thinking) it’s mind over matter,” Isaacson said. But that’s not always the case, he added, so try to accept that you’re not feeling OK and talk with your doctor about treatment options such as therapy or antidepressants.
The latter could have an added benefit for your cognitive function as you age, as some early research has s،ed to indicate that some antidepressants, such as escitalopram, may slow the ac،ulation of beta-amyloid-protein in the ،in, Isaacson added. An elevated amount of amyloid is a hallmark sign of Alzheimer’s disease.