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The Science of Keeping the Brain Healthy | Episode 7 - David Sinclair
Lifespan with Dr. David Sinclair
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The Science of Keeping the Brain Healthy | Episode 7

Lifespan with Dr. David Sinclair

Matthew LaPlante, David Sinclair

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37 Clips
Top Moments

There are a lot of studies that have shown that deficiencies in B12 accelerate a variety of diseases. Heart disease is the major one but also dementia ... I think what's going on is that aging is being accelerated when you don't have enough of these B vitamins.

B Vitamin Deficiencies Accelerate Aging, Increasing Dementia & Heart Disease Risk

In an elderly cohort, they had 451 people, just 10 weeks of strength training increased the level of factors that grow new brain cells, new nerves. This marker is called BDNF, or brain-derived neurotrophic factor.

10 Weeks of Strength Training Increases BDNF in Elderly Individuals

It's very clear in over a dozen studies that a Mediterranean-type diet protects the brain from aging and can even reverse aspects of aging in the elderly with mild cognitive impairments.

A Mediterranean Diet Reduces Dementia Risk & Protects Against Brain Aging

There was a second study that I found fascinating ... There was a 10% reduction in dementia risk for people on the Mediterranean diet.

A Mediterranean Diet Reduces Dementia Risk & Protects Against Brain Aging

Often your doctor, but not all the time, measures homocysteine levels because it's been shown to go up as a predictor of heart disease and dementia. And high levels are particularly dangerous. Most doctors would want you to have <10 mmcol/L; some people go as high as 100. If you're that high, you're certainly going to die in the next few years of cardiovascular events.

Elevated Homocysteine (>10 mcmol/L) Indicates Poor Cardiovascular Health

What you do in your 20s and 30s will impact how healthy you are in your 70s, 80s, and 90s.

Without Intervention, Alzheimer's Disease Rates May Double By 2060

mTOR responds to insulin signaling and fasting. And in response, it mobilizes proteins to be recycled and made into new proteins when you're hungry, and that's called autophagy—the garbage collection and trash recycling system of the cell.

While Fasting, mTOR Activates Autophagy — The Recycling of Misfolded Proteins

In the mouse, in 2008, we published that just upregulating the SIRT1 gene in the nerve cells of a mouse's brain was sufficient to slow aging and prevent those loops and bundles from changing. And that was the first evidence you could even slow down a mouse's brain age.

Upregulating SIRT1 in the Nerve Cells of Mice Slows Brain Aging

What is really important to understand if you start to lose the function of SIRT1 and have low NAD levels, you're probably not going to sleep well, but also, you're going to age prematurely.

SIRT1 & NAD Control the Sleep-Wake Cycle; Deficiencies Impair Sleep

What they found was that, in people that had very little sleep, the risk of dying was 30% higher than those that got a natural, normal night's sleep.

Sleep Deprivation Dangers: Elevated Amyloid-Beta & Increased Death Risk

The volume of the brain after the age of 40 reduces about 5% per decade, and that's got cognitive implications for all of us as we enter what used to be called our middle years.

The Average Lifespan > The Average Age of Dementia Onset

In dozens of studies, it's been shown that if you do aerobic exercise or even just walk, that'll improve your chances of having a better memory and cognition as you get older.

Aerobic Exercise Improves Executive Function in Sedentary Adults
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