I wanted to know how Petersen\u2019s extensive knowledge of dementia and ageing informs his own daily routines and habits. So I caught up with him on the phone from Chicago, where he recently received a lifetime contribution award from the National Academy of Neuropsychology. (He had other trips to San Diego and then Fort Lauderdale, Florida, lined up the following week.)<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s what he recommends and does for healthy cognitive ageing.<\/p>\n
Exercising at least three times a week<\/p>\n
\u201cIf somebody pushed me to the wall and said: \u2018You got to do one thing. What would it be?\u2019\u201d his answer would be exercise, Petersen said.<\/p>\n
When he isn\u2019t travelling, he exercises about three to four days a week, often with his wife at a health club. \u201cI\u2019ll do brisk walking. I sometimes do a treadmill up and down a little bit and change the velocity,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He also plays golf and does resistance training, such as leg presses and upper body presses, and flexibility exercises. These, he said, are the key to helping with balance and preventing falls \u2013 \u201ca real bugaboo of ageing\u201d.<\/p>\n
Petersen\u2019s work and subsequent research have found that exercise can slow cognitive decline, reduce Alzheimer\u2019s risk and promote better brain health.<\/p>\n
Petersen recommends 150 minutes of aerobic exercise a week. Even a little bit, such as 10 minutes of super-slow jogging, helps, research shows. \u201cJust doing more than you\u2019re doing now is probably the single best item,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Staying intellectually active<\/p>\n
Petersen stays busy with his work. So he tries to relax when he\u2019s not working.<\/p>\n
He isn\u2019t one of those people who do Sudoku\u201a crosswords or brain games, he said. He doesn\u2019t watch a lot of TV, but when he does, it\u2019s either the news or sports. (Being in Minnesota, he roots for the Vikings, the Twins, the Timberwolves, the Lynx and his grandkids\u2019 teams. The night before we spoke, his oldest grandchild played a section playoff soccer game in 48-degree rain and wind. \u201cThey went into double overtime and won,\u201d Petersen said.)<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t read as much as I could, should and would like, but I like to read more nonfiction than fiction,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m reading a book right now called \u2018The Gales of November,\u2019 and it\u2019s about the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald up on Lake Superior. It\u2019s just fascinating.\u201d<\/p>\n
Staying mentally active \u2013 learning a language, listening to music, engaging in hobbies, using new technology \u2013 has both short- and long-term benefits for the brain, research finds.<\/p>\n
He advises people that intellectual activities can help benefit your brain health \u2013 whether it\u2019s reading the newspaper, going to lectures or just discussing things with others. But he recommends \u201cto find one that\u2019s fun, that you enjoy doing and look forward to doing each day\u201d.<\/p>\n
Eating a heart-healthy diet<\/p>\n
It\u2019s hard to know whether a particular diet is better than another for the brain, Petersen said, but eating a heart-healthy diet \u2013 such as the Mediterranean diet or MIND diet \u2013 is a good idea. Studies have shown that focusing on foods such as vegetables, nuts, beans, fruits and seafood may cut the risk of cognitive decline and dementia, particularly in people already at higher risk.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we should be doing for our heart health, I think is good for the brain as well,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
For his part, Petersen is \u201can omnivore\u201d. He often eats granola and yoghurt with berries for breakfast. Lunch is \u201con-the-fly,\u201d but he will sometimes have fruit, yoghurt and granola as well. He doesn\u2019t eat a lot of red meat \u2013 about once every two weeks. So for dinner, he prioritises chicken and fish but admits he eats some junk food too, especially when he\u2019s travelling.<\/p>\n
In terms of alcohol, researchers have found a link between alcohol consumption \u2013 especially heavy amounts \u2013 and increased dementia risk. But Petersen does drink \u201ca bit of alcohol\u201d \u2013 usually on Fridays and Saturdays when out with family or friends. (He prefers beer, especially Wisconsin-based Leinenkugel\u2019s Red Lager or Original.)<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s always an enjoyment aspect, too. You know, patients say, \u2018Should I be drinking?\u2019 I say, \u2018Well, if you don\u2019t drink, I wouldn\u2019t start drinking. But if you do drink and you enjoy the one cocktail in the afternoon or the one glass of wine with dinner, that\u2019s probably okay.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Getting regular, quality sleep<\/p>\n
Sleep becomes more difficult as we age. \u201cUsually what happens is the quantity increases and the quality decreases,\u201d Petersen said. \u201cSo we may spend more time in bed but we\u2019re awakened [and] we can\u2019t get back to sleep.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sleep is important for strengthening memories and clearing out waste from the brain. Disorders of sleep, including increased sleepiness or chronic insomnia, have been linked to higher risk of dementia and cognitive decline.<\/p>\n
Petersen follows common advice: he avoids stimulants such as caffeine at night, goes to bed roughly at the same time (around 10.30pm) and gets up roughly at the same time (6.30am) and has a cup of coffee. (Though he may sleep in a bit on weekends.)<\/p>\n
He said that it\u2019s important to be mindful about sleep breathing disorders, such as sleep apnoea, and that naps are generally considered fine, as long as they aren\u2019t too long.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome people can go down for 10-15 minutes and \u2013 bingo \u2013 bounce right back in with the game and feel refreshed. And you know, I think that\u2019s fine. I\u2019m a little more concerned when you go down for an hour, two hours, something like that in the middle of the afternoon.\u201d<\/p>\n
That could be a sign of a sleep disorder and should be discussed with your healthcare provider.<\/p>\n
Staying connected<\/p>\n
Petersen has two children and six grandchildren who all live relatively nearby, and he gets together with them weekly. Family, social connectedness, networking and being with friends are all important, he said. Studies have shown that feelings of loneliness can increase the risk for dementia; conversely, having strong social connections is key to cognitive health.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s easy when you age to withdraw,\u201d Petersen said. \u201c\u2018Oh, I\u2019m not going to go out. No, I don\u2019t want to do this. Let\u2019s stay home,\u2019 that type of thing. And I think fighting that tendency is a worthwhile recommendation.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I wanted to know how Petersen\u2019s extensive knowledge of dementia and ageing informs his own daily routines and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":648294,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[88233,10791,1975,1596,111572,799,1601,692,134,97058,5110,26098,5420,293,221,26522,111,139,69,215779,387,312,1954,684,6035,3010],"class_list":["post-648293","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-88233","tag-ageing","tag-at","tag-brain","tag-cognitive","tag-dementia","tag-expert","tag-he","tag-health","tag-healthier","tag-healthy","tag-heres","tag-hes","tag-his","tag-how","tag-keeps","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-petersen","tag-researcher","tag-says","tag-simple","tag-there","tag-things","tag-top"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/648293","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=648293"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/648293\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/648294"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=648293"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=648293"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=648293"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}