upbeat attitude tend to live longer.
And I make it a point to know my numbers and make sure they are under control.
You’re incredibly busy. You teach around the world, and you’ve earned advanced degrees in medicine, law, business and more. How do you manage to fit in exercise?
I will say that I could do better. But one of my strengths is that as much as possible, I really try to do things that I enjoy. I love learning. Some people might see that as onerous, but that actually fuels me.
Sometimes I feel I’ve never really balanced things properly. But I will say that I try to mostly do things that fuel me.
Is there a direct benefit to brain health from staying intellectually engaged?
Absolutely. When you look at lifestyle factors in terms of reduced risk for Alzheimer’s disease, you find that people who were exposed to a lot of cognitive stimulation – reading, writing, engaging – tend to be at lower risk.
One of the things I try to do is read quite a bit. I always have a book that I’m reading, usually nonfiction.
In terms of your own routine, is there anything you could do better?
We’ve realized that sleep is very important for cardiovascular health. I’m passionate about doing things, and I love what I do. But I think I would like to improve in that area by doing a little bit less so that I can have full and restful sleep. Because increasing data are showing how the duration of your sleep and the number of times you wake up at night potentially could be associated with poorer brain health and an increased risk of stroke or heart attack.
I get no more than five hours, and we’re increasingly finding that although there might be differences, adults need at least a good seven, eight hours of sleep.
What else do you wish people understood about stroke risk?
Strokes used to be called cerebrovascular accidents. They are not accidents. Thankfully, that nomenclature was stopped.
But even “stroke,” I feel sometimes, has the connotation of “a stroke of bad luck.” It’s actually not, in most cases. It’s really an opportunity for us to live our lives a little bit better, so that we’re healthier for longer.
By American Heart Association News