Worried about dementia?… Exercise, meet people, and stimulate your brain[건강수명 UP!]｜Dong-A Ilbo

〈Episode 1〉 Protect your brain health
Dong-A Ilbo-Korea University Medical Center joint planning
Dementia begins with cognitive decline… Parkinson’s disease, loss of motor function
Two diseases overlap or depression occurs… The solution is to increase the brain’s resilience
Meet people frequently, increase contact, and enjoy brain-activating games.

《According to Statistics Korea, the life expectancy of Korean citizens is 82.7 years as of 2022. On the other hand, the healthy life expectancy is 65.8 years. This means that although people live in good health until the age of 65.8, they live with disability or disease for the next 16.9 years. The bigger problem is that healthy lifespan is getting shorter. Healthy life expectancy in 2020 was 66.3 years. A decrease of 0.5 years in 2 years. Increasing healthy lifespan has become the biggest healthcare issue. Dong-A Ilbo and Korea University Medical Center are jointly hosting a series seeking to extend healthy lifespan.》

Dementia and Parkinson’s disease are representative neurodegenerative brain diseases. Add depression to this and life in old age becomes difficult. However, I did not consider it ‘my problem’ until I reached middle age. This is a wrong idea. You need to pay attention to your brain health starting in your 40s. It may be too late to find a solution after you become old and get sick. What should I do?

● Dementia and Parkinson’s, let’s be careful in advance

Normally, even if abnormal proteins accumulate in the brain, they are naturally removed. As we age and brain function declines, abnormal proteins continue to accumulate, causing dementia and Parkinson’s disease. Because the symptoms progress slowly, it is often not until much later that the person becomes aware of the disease.

Doyoung Kwon, Professor of Neurology, Korea University Ansan Hospital Doyoung Kwon, Professor of Neurology, Korea University Ansan Hospital, said, “Dementia is caused by abnormal proteins accumulating from the cortex of the brain and moving inwards, so symptoms such as cognitive impairment and memory decline appear in the early stages. On the other hand, in Parkinson’s disease, abnormal proteins accumulate from the brainstem inside the brain and spread upward, so movement disorders that reduce motor function first appear,” he said.

The average age of onset is slightly different. Dementia usually occurs after the age of 65. About 10% of people after the age of 65 develop dementia. On the other hand, about 3 to 4% of people with Parkinson’s disease develop after the age of 65. Parkinson’s disease occurs more often in younger people, around the age of 60. It may occur in people in their 40s.

No matter what brain disease you have, over time, the two diseases may overlap. In general, Parkinson’s has a slow body and slow walking. My hands are shaking. Dementia is a significant decline in cognitive function. This means that over time, all of these symptoms can appear at once.

There have been recent notable achievements in the field of dementia treatments. It is an ‘antibody injection’ developed overseas, and is highly effective in removing abnormal proteins such as amyloid. This treatment is expected to be introduced in Korea as early as next year.

Channyeong Lee, Professor of Neurology at Korea University Anam Hospital Channyeong Lee, Professor of Neurology at Korea University Anam Hospital, explained, “If existing drugs slow down the progression of dementia by 3 to 4 years, the new antibody injection delays it by 9 to 10 years.” However, it does not completely cure dementia. Another challenge is that injections must be administered once every two weeks, which costs approximately 35 million won per year, increasing the financial burden.

● We need to increase the resilience of the brain

Professor Kwon said, “If you manage it well, you can keep your brain young. All you have to do is increase its ‘resilience’ to withstand aging and shocks and return to normal.” By increasing the resilience of the brain, dementia or Parkinson’s disease can occur later or have milder symptoms even if the brain shrinks or functions poorly.

To increase brain resilience, you must first quit smoking and maintain an appropriate weight. At the same time, you need to manage your emotional state to avoid feeling depressed. Another important thing is physical activity.

Professor Kwon recommended high-intensity exercise. Professor Kwon said, “Walking at the level of a walk may be good for improving your mood or dieting, but it is not enough to increase the resilience of the brain,” and added, “You must walk or run quickly at an intensity that leaves you out of breath.” If your knee joints hurt, it is a good idea to substitute riding an indoor bike or climbing stairs while placing your hands on the wall.

Professor Kwon recommended that strength training be combined with aerobic exercise. This is because muscles rapidly decrease as we age. Among various strength exercises, you should especially do exercises that strengthen your core muscles. The easiest thing to do is squats.

There are many other methods. First, lie down facing the ceiling. Put your knees up. Raise your hips, waist, and back as much as possible. Hold for 10 to 30 seconds and then return to the first position. It is best to do this 5 to 10 times. There is also another movement. Lie down on your stomach and stretch your feet out. Place both arms next to your chest. Place your forehead on the floor. Then, raise only the upper body in that order: chest, shoulders, and head. Maintaining it for 10 to 30 seconds and performing it 5 to 10 times is the same.

● Stimulate the brain and increase social contact

To prevent dementia or delay the disease in the early stages of cognitive impairment, it is best to frequently play games that stimulate the brain. Games like Hwatu or puzzles are suitable. However, playing the same game all day reduces brain stimulation, so it is better to change the type often.

Enjoying watching digital content such as YouTube is not very helpful for brain health. Professor Kwon said, “Because they do not think on their own and only input data, not much brain activity such as imagination occurs.”

Whose brain is healthier: the person who climbs a mountain every day or the person who chats with friends on the phone every day? Professor Kwon said, “As a result of the actual experiment, the brains of people who chatted were more active.” This is because you need to increase your contact with other people to be less socially withdrawn, less anxious, and able to function stably.

According to the medical community, domestic dementia policies are not far behind compared to developed countries. However, shortcomings still remain. Professor Lee said, “Because each dementia patient has different symptoms, the treatment must be different,” adding, “But so far, all treatments are the same. “We need to research ways to change it to suit patients,” he said. He added, “Nursing hospitals must develop beyond just accommodating dementia patients to providing direct care.”

● Beware of depression after middle age

There are many different types of geriatric depression. Depression that has existed since before middle age may recur in old age. In people who have a tendency to be depressed, it may appear as an adjustment disorder or mood disorder.

Depression also increases the risk of dementia or Parkinson’s disease. In addition to forgetfulness, the most common symptom in the pre-dementia stage is depression. 40-50% of elderly depression patients come to the hospital in the pre-dementia stage.

Hyeon-kang Jeong, Professor of Psychiatry at Korea University Guro Hospital Hyeon-kang Jeong, Professor of Psychiatry at Korea University Guro Hospital, said, “When you suffer from depression, the brain secretes cortisol hormone, which causes toxicity, and this can cause neurodegenerative changes.”

However, not all patients with depression deteriorate into dementia. Professor Jeong said, “If depression is accompanied by symptoms such as decreased motivation, sad mood, loss of appetite, insomnia, and difficulty concentrating, it is a good idea to get a thorough examination to see if it is in the pre-dementia stage.”

Conversely, dementia often causes depression. This kind of depression is called secondary depression. When dementia occurs, brain damage occurs, which leads to abnormalities in the secretion of serotonin, a neurotransmitter that can cause depression.

In order to increase your healthy lifespan, you must be careful not to get depressed. Let’s pay special attention starting from the age of 40. Any method to improve brain function, such as increasing brain resilience, helps prevent depression. To add one more thing, it is important to find activities that can relieve stress. Also, trying to have positive thoughts is good for preventing depression.