Boosting your Brain Health

Protect against dementia and promote your mental wellbeing.

Our brains are amazing! They are the most complex organ in our body, constantly filtering and making sense of a huge amount of information from our surroundings. The brain controls our movement and balance, our senses and how we respond to sensations, our thinking, learning and remembering, as well as how we understand and act on our emotions.
Our brains deserve to be looked after! Researchers are learning more about the things that we can do throughout our lives to keep our brains healthy. The Lancet Commission have summarised the most up to date research which provides hopeful evidence about dementia prevention, intervention, and care.

Discover what you can do to protect your incredible brain, reducing the risk of dementia and boosting your mental wellbeing, and learn about some of the wider factors influencing our brain health.

Connecting with people

Social contact with friends and family, taking part in group activities, and how we feel about our connections with others is important for our brain health.
Several studies have shown a link between these factors and our brain’s memory and thinking functions.
Connecting with others is also essential for good mental wellbeing. Doing things that we enjoy with other people not only feels good but often also provides a chance to talk about how we’re feeling and what is going on in our lives. This can help us to keep things in perspective and cope through more difficult times.
Get inspired about ways to connect with others. Connections – Hapus

Looking after our bodies

Our physical and mental wellbeing are closely connected. Looking after our bodies protects us throughout life.

The movement of blood around our body is important for our overall health. And we know that caring for our heart is important for protecting our brain and reducing the risk of dementia. Quitting smoking, limiting alcohol and being a healthy weight all helps to limit risks to our minds and bodies.

Physical activity at all ages helps to keep our brain, heart and digestive system healthy. Being active can also boost our mental wellbeing. It releases feel-good hormones and helps us regulate our thoughts and feelings.

Being active can often involve doing things in a group or a team, or being outside. This brings added benefits to our wellbeing through socialising and spending time in the outdoors.

Keeping our brains and bodies safe from injury is important when being active, particularly protecting our heads when playing sport or exercise.

There is emerging evidence that the quality of the air we breathe is linked to risks to the health of our brains. Limiting exposure to air pollution in the outdoors as well as inside our homes, from things like wood and coal burning stoves, appear to be important.

Find resources to help you look after your physical health. Wellbeing tools – Hapus

Getting help when we need it

We can all experience challenges with our physical and mental health. Getting timely help when experiencing difficulties throughout our lives is important for protecting the health of our brain.

Research shows that using hearing aids is protective against dementia for those reporting hearing loss.

Getting early help with vision loss, particularly removing cataracts and managing diabetes related eye conditions, can also help to prevent dementia.

Improved control of long-term conditions, such as diabetes, high blood pressure and maintaining healthy cholesterol levels, can reduce risks for our brain. Seeking support from health professionals can help with this, whether its discussing lifestyle changes or options for medications.

There is evidence to suggest a link between depression and risk of dementia, particularly when depression is experienced in mid-life. We can all do things to protect our mental health and wellbeing. Timely support to treat depression is not only important for quality of life, but can also help to reduce the risk to our brain health.

It’s a strength to ask for help when we are struggling. Visit Looking for help and support? – Hapus to learn more about mental health and wellbeing support available in Wales.

Learning, hobbies and interests

There is strong evidence that good quality education from childhood is protective to our physical and mental health throughout our lives.

We can also keep learning throughout life. Research has shown that learning new things and using skills, can make a difference to our brain health in adult life, even for those who had little education as children. This can include stimulating our brains in the workplace, which has been shown to reduce the risk of dementia.

Engaging in hobbies and interests can be another way to learn new things and keep our brains active. Regularly making time to really focus on something we enjoy is important for our mental wellbeing too. This can calm our minds, re-energise us, and help us to process thoughts and problems.

Learn more about how immersing yourself in things you enjoy can boost your mood and help to make life meaningful. https://hapus.wales/news/finding-flow-to-boost-your-mood-and-make-life-meaningful/

Protecting and improving your wellbeing through wellbeing-promoting activities can also keep our brains and bodies healthy, reducing the risk of developing dementia.

Visit Think Brain Health Check-in – Think Brain Health – Alzheimer’s Research UK ] and use the Think Brain Health Check-in to get personalised tips for better brain health.