In this ISLAND Newsletter

• Cardiovascular Health - Healthy Heart = Healthy Brain
• Vascular Dementia
  
• Eating Healthy on a Budget
• Time to Book a Heart Health Check?
• Listen to Associate Professor Jane Alty talk about cognitive reserve

Thanks for being involved in ISLAND and helping us reduce dementia risk in Tasmania. 

Healthy Heart = Healthy Brain

Your heart is about the size of your fist and beats around 100,000 times every day to pump about 5 litres of oxygen rich blood through your system of blood vessels to every part of your body. Your blood also carries vital nutrients, hormones, vitamins and antibodies around your body and takes waste to be cleared in your lungs, kidneys and digestive system. You need a healthy heart and blood supply to enable you to have a healthy body and a healthy brain.

Cardiovascular disease is the term used to describe the different problems that can affect your heart and your blood vessels. The three most common cardiovascular diseases in Australia are: -

1. Coronary heart disease including heart attacks which are caused when there is a sudden blockage to a blood vessel supplying the heart. The blockage causes damage to the heart muscle.

2. Stroke which happen when a blood vessel taking blood to the brain becomes blocked (ischaemic stroke) or bursts causing a bleed into the brain (haemorrhagic stroke). 

3. Heart failure which happens when something happens to the heart and it is less able to pump blood around the body. This can happen suddenly, but usually develops slowly as the heart gradually becomes weaker. 

Other types of cardiovascular diseases include high blood pressure, peripheral arterial diseases and other conditions that affect the heart and blood vessels. If you want a healthy body and a healthy brain, you need to prevent cardiovascular disease by following a heart healthy lifestyle. If you already have cardiovascular disease, anything you do to improve your heart health will also improve your brain health. The Mayo Clinic has some great advice on their strategies to prevent heart disease page.

Risk factors that increase your risk of developing cardiovascular disease include high blood pressure, smoking, being overweight and obesity, a diet low in fruit and vegetables, diabetes, lack of exercise and high cholesterol. You can reduce your risk of developing cardiovascular disease by following a healthy lifestyle paying special attention to the risk factors mentioned above. If you are concerned, please speak with your GP.

You may already be familiar with the above heart healthy tips - here you can read some fun facts about the heart that you might not know.  

Vascular Dementia

Vascular dementia is the second most common form of dementia after Alzheimer's disease. Vascular dementia is caused when the blood flow to the brain is interrupted and the brain is damaged. Damage can involve a partial blockage or a complete blockage within a blood vessel inside the brain.

Dementia Australia and John Hopkins both release interesting information about this type of dementia. 

Time to book a Heart Health Check?

The Heart Foundation are encouraging anyone over 45 years of age - or 30 years of age for anyone of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Island descent - to book a heart health check.

Their website contains information as to what is involved, the benefits of getting a check and how your GP and nurse will support you to make positive changes to lower your risk. Check out their Heart Health check information on their webpage and book an appointment if you need to. 

Eating Healthy on a Tight Budget

A healthy diet can reduce your chances of developing cardiovascular disease. 

However, eating healthy foods and managing a budget can be a challenge. You might like to look over the Heart Foundation UK article that gives sound information on how to look after your heart and your bank balance. There's plenty of practical advice and ideas and recipes, including tips for leftovers to reduce waste. Please have a read here. 

Our own Heart Foundation in Australia offers similar advice, including the importance of not overeating and the types of food that aren't part of a heart healthy diet. You can access their information here. 

Listen to Associate Professor Jane Alty talk about cognitive reserve

Associate Professor Jane Alty - our ISLAND Clinic neurologist - spoke recently about male and female specific protective effects of cognitive reserve on age related cognitive decline. Our researchers are trying to understand why women are more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease. They are also trying to determine if cognitive reserve (education and IQ) slows down age related cognitive decline equally in males and females. 

You can listen to Jane's podcast here.

This work has also been published in the prestigious Neurology Journal, the highest cited neurology journal in the world. It's also been in the national news if you would like to have a read. 

The University of Tasmania received funding from the Australian Government. Views and conclusions expressed in this publication are those of its authors, and may not be the same as those held by the Department of Health.

CRICOS Provider Code: 00586B | ABN 30 764 374 782