Women’s Brain Health Day: Advocates say brain-aging disorders under-researched in women

More than 402,000 Canadian seniors are living with dementia and two-thirds of them are women.

Alzheimer’s is considered the most common form of dementia and while 70 per cent of those who suffer from the brain disorder are women, a bulk of the research focuses on men, according to the Women’s Brain Health Initiative (WBHI).

WBHI works to address this disparity and was instrumental in getting December 2 recognized as Women’s Brain Health Day by the Canadian government in 2019.

“[The day is to raise awareness] about the research discrepancy, but also to raise awareness about what people can do, men and women, to protect their brain health and where there is a difference for women, to identify what that is,” said Lynn Posluns, President and CEO of Women’s Brain Health Initiative.

“Bikini Medicine” leads to lack of research in women

Posluns says part of the reason why medical research focuses on men rather than women is a concept referred to as “bikini medicine.”

“Anything that the bikini covers — scientists, researchers look at it by sex. So breast cancer, ovarian cancer, pregnancy menopause, obviously they’re going to look at women,” explained Posluns. “But it’s expensive to do research and the hormone cycle for women, even at the rat level, makes it more complex. So the idea was, unless it was one of those areas that the bikini covered, let’s study male … and apply it to female.”

Posluns says this archaic approach to research does not address the reasons women are disproportionately affected by brain aging disorders.

“Why are women more effected by diseases like Alzheimer’s than men? [We] need to understand what those differences are and you can’t just say ‘let’s study male and apply it to female’ — it’s just not good enough. We’re more complex — we still need to be studied.”

Women’s Brain Health Day 2021

To mark Women’s Brain Health Day, WBHI picks an activity every year that people can participate in and then share on social media to raise awareness and encourage others to donate and fund research that better meets women’s needs.

The initiative is called the ‘Stand Ahead’ challenge and this year they’re asking people to take on the “other hand challenge.”

Watch Toronto Mayor John Tory take the challenge

“This is something that is simple, but not easy to do,” explained Posluns. “The idea here is to challenge your brain to do something new because new learning is important for developing new neural pathways in the brain.”

She says to start by writing your name with your dominant hand and then try it with your less dominant hand. Take a photo or video of the process and challenge others on social media to do the same.

“We’re hoping that through this challenge, we can raise funds so that we can do more research for women in terms of brain health,” said Posluns. “We have a fabulous partner in brain Canada, and they will match the first $250,000 that we raise through this challenge.”

WBHI will also host a free, virtual livestreamed event on Dec. 2 at 8 p.m. ET with special guests, research presentations and entertainment.

How to protect your brain health

“Up to 40 per cent of all cases of dementia can be avoided through the lifestyle choices that you make, which means we have more control over our cognitive destiny than we may have realized,” said Posluns. “Just because you’re getting old does not mean that dementia is inevitable.”

She says there are 6 pillars of brain health:

Nutrition

What you eat affects not only your body, but your brain as well.

Posluns says following the “mind diet” has proven to be very effective for maintenance of brain health, even for those with mild cognitive impairment.

The “mind diet” is a combination of a Mediterranean style diet rich in fruits, vegetables, olive oil and lean protein and the DASH diet which is low in sodium, that helps control hypertension.

Exercise

Exercise increases blood flow and oxygen to the brain.

“You have to move your body,” says Posluns. “Exercise actually allows the hippocampus, which is part of the brain that is very important for learning and memory. to grow new brain cells.”

The more active you are, the better, but Posluns says even going for a walk is beneficial to your brain health.

Mental stimulation and new learning

Learning something new stimulates the brain and helps develop new neural pathways. The more complex the activity, the better.

“Learn a new language, learn how to tango dance,” said Posluns, as long as it’s something you did not know before and challenges your brain. “If you’re a chess player, it’s not about playing more chess — it’s about learning something new.”

Sleep

Sleep is important for consolidating your memories and getting rid of the toxins in your brain.

Posluns says the daily recommended seven to eight hours for average adults plays a vital role in brain health, especially for women, who tend to sleep fewer hours and less well.

Stress reduction

Posluns says stress prematurely ages all the cells in the body, including brain cells.

“Whatever you can do to reduce your stress, whether it’s yoga, meditation, going for a walk, having a pet, shopping — whatever you can do to reduce your stress is very important,” she said.

Staying socially active

Relationships with close friend and family have been proven to have a neuroprotective effect on the brain says Posluns. Interacting with people is vital to mental health and consequently, brain health.

“It prevents isolation and depression, both of which are precursors to dementia and cognitive impairment,” she said.