Social isolation is one of 14 modifiable dementia risk factors in the 2024 Lancet Commission. What large cohorts and the best trial actually show, why isolation and loneliness differ, the causation problem, and an eight-week plan for building connection.
The reassuring “moderate drinking is good for you” story has quietly collapsed — and for the brain specifically, no safe level has been found. But that’s not the same as “one glass causes dementia.” Here’s the honest, non-alarmist update: what heavy and moderate drinking each do, how worried to actually be, and the everyday sleep cost most people overlook.
If you could track one number to forecast how your brain ages, cardiorespiratory fitness — VO2 max — would be a strong candidate. Fitter people hold onto cognition longer and face lower dementia risk. Here’s what the evidence really shows, why the most dramatic numbers are overstated, and how to act on it without chasing a figure.
The Lancet Commission ranks hearing loss as the single largest modifiable risk factor for dementia — yet it’s almost never part of the brain-health conversation. Here’s what the evidence actually shows, whether hearing aids slow decline, why the link exists, and the simple, overlooked action worth taking.
Low vitamin D is linked to worse cognition — but does supplementing help? The honest “signal vs hype” answer: correcting a genuine deficiency is worthwhile, yet supplement trials in already-replete people came up empty. Test first, correct if low, don’t megadose.
The brain runs on glucose, so blood sugar and mental clarity are genuinely linked — but the popular story is half myth. What the evidence really shows about low sugar, “sugar boosts,” the afternoon crash, and why chronic high blood sugar matters far more than any single spike.
