Brain health Archive

Pain from migraines, cluster headaches, and other types of headaches require very different treatments.

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Pain around the eye and throbbing on one side of the head — they're common headache symptoms, but what do they mean? "Many times people assume a headache is due to sinusitis, and they put up with it for years," says Dr. John ­Pettinato, a neurologist with ­Harvard-affiliated Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

Understanding your pain can help you find the best approach to treatment.

Want to keep your mind sharp? Be aggressive about treating your high blood pressure.

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If you're like a lot of people, you probably think of your heart when you think about blood pressure. But you should also think about your mind.

"High blood pressure is not just a disease or condition. It's actually a risk factor. It's a risk factor for heart disease and stroke, and it's a risk factor for cognitive decline and dementia," says Dr. Natalia Rost, a stroke neurologist at Massachusetts General Hospital and associate professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School.

Comprehensive programs for chronic pain involve a variety of components, from body mechanics to nutrition to occupational therapy and beyond. And while there is no easy fix for chronic pain, and sometimes no permanent fix at all, unexpected victories can be made in the search for answers.

Sleep gives the brain the opportunity to rid itself of proteins believed to contribute to the development of Alzheimer’s disease, and now research is showing an association between poor sleep and the accumulation of those proteins.

Can getting quality sleep help prevent the disease?

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A good night's sleep does more than rejuvenate you for the next day. It may help protect you against Alzheimer's disease. Research has begun to show an association between poor sleep and a higher risk of accumulating beta-amyloid protein plaque in the brain, one of the hallmarks of the disease.

"Observational studies have found that adults over age 65 with amyloid plaques in their brain have reduced slow-wave sleep, which is thought to play an important role in memory function, even though these people do not yet show signs of Alzheimer's, like memory loss and cognitive decline," says Dr. Brad Dickerson, associate professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School. "It may be that quality sleep could play a role in who may get Alzheimer's."

Exercising, maintaining good health, socializing, and learning new information may help keep you sharper, longer.

Everyone wants to live an active, vibrant life for as long as possible. And that goal depends on robust brain health. While we don't have a guaranteed way to prevent dementia, we do have increasing evidence that engaging in healthy lifestyle habits may help.

For example, a 2015 randomized controlled trial from Finland suggested that older adults with a number of healthy habits — such as eating a healthy diet, exercising regularly, and socializing — improved or maintained thinking skills and reduced the risk of cognitive decline.

News briefs

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Many studies have suggested that drinking alcohol in moderation — one drink per day for women, one or two drinks per day for men — may offer some protection against heart disease. But a study published June 6, 2017, in The BMJ suggests that moderate alcohol drinking may not protect the brain. Researchers studied over 500 men and women, average age 43, who reported the number and size of alcoholic drinks they had each day. Participants underwent tests of their thinking skills periodically and had MRI scans of their brains at the end of the study. A typical drink was considered to be a 12-ounce beer or a 5-ounce glass of wine. The results after 30 years: drinking just over seven typical drinks or less each week did not appear to either hurt or protect brain health. But drinking eight drinks or more per week was associated with shrinkage in the hippocampus (important to memory) and deterioration of white matter (part of the brain's internal wiring), both of which are associated with decline in thinking skills. The study was observational and did not prove that drinking alcohol caused mental decline. The jury is still out, but this study suggests that it would be wise to avoid averaging more than one alcoholic drink per day.

Research we're watching

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New research suggests that eating plenty of nitrate-rich vegetables — such as lettuce, spinach, and beets — may lower your risk of dying of a stroke or heart attack.

During digestion, your body converts nitrates into nitric oxide. This compound relaxes and widens blood vessels, which helps lower blood pressure. But does that translate to a longer life? To find out, researchers studied the diets of 1,226 older women who had no signs of fatty plaque in their arteries (atherosclerosis) and tracked them for 15 years.

Q. What exactly happens when I eat something cold and get an ice cream headache? Is it harmful in any way?

A. Ice cream headache, also known as "brain freeze" or cold-stimulus headache, is a headache some people get when they consume a cold food or beverage quickly. The pain is usually in the forehead or both temples, and it usually lasts less than five minutes.