Women live longer than man, says the statistics. However living longer doesn’t necessarily mean living better. Too often dementia robs older women of what could be the happiest time of their life.
Our brain requires a lot of blood and very proper blood circulation is critical for the brain. Along with oxygen rich blood, brain also needs valuable nutrients and fats to thrive.
What Role Does Cholesterol Play in Brain Health?
One simple rule to follow: “What’s good for your heart is good for your brain.” Alzheimer’s Australia’s dementia risk reduction program, recommends five steps to reduce your risk of dementia, and ‘Look after your heart’ is rule number one!
What’s Bad!
When women develop a high level of LDL, or bad cholesterol, it starts clogging the blood vessels which ultimately decreases the blood flow to the brain.
Starving the brain of oxygen and enough nutrients causes a drastic decline in cognitive function, including the ability to remember learned information and the ability to form new memories.
If this goes untreated, dementia develops at a much faster rate.
What’s Good!
On the other hand woman with normal levels of HDL, or good cholesterol which carries cholesterol from other parts of your body back to your liver, showed less damage to the brain when conducted late-life brain MRI scans a decade later.
Researchers believe that normal HDL levels may protect against Alzheimer’s because of their ability to reduce a person’s risk of stroke, and may also help prevent amyloid proteins from accumulating in the brain.