Keeping your cool could be the key to keeping your mind.
Researchers have long known that dementia risk goes up with age, family history, poor diet, lack of exercise and even the loss of hearing, sight, smell and taste.
But a new paper says chronic stress is also a silent saboteur — one that can set the stage for long-term cognitive decline if left unchecked.
“It is hard to overstate the impact of stress on your cognitive health as you age,” Jennifer E. Graham-Engeland and Martin J. Sliwinski, healthy aging professors at Pennsylvania State University, wrote in The Conversation.
“This is in part because your psychological, behavioral and biological responses to everyday stressful events are closely intertwined and each can amplify and interact with the other.”
For example, chronic stress can keep you up at night, which can make you too tired to exercise, which can make it harder to eat healthy — and so on.
Here are the four ways these experts suggesting fighting back against stress-related cognitive decline:
Rethink your routine
A few lifestyle tweaks could go a long way. Regular exercise, balanced meals, quality sleep, and a little mindfulness each day can reduce stress levels and strengthen your brain.
It’s not about running marathons or eating kale by the pound — even small shifts in your day-to-day habits can help calm your nervous system and reduce long-term risk.
Mind your mind
Just like you’d treat a sore throat, mental health needs care too.
Therapy, meditation apps, breathing exercises — whatever helps you decompress is worth taking seriously.
Chronic anxiety and depression often go hand-in-hand with stress and can amplify cognitive strain.
Call the doctor
Think stress is a problem for a therapist, rather than a PCP? Think again.
Primary care doctors can help spot physical signs of chronic stress, recommend next steps or refer you to a specialist.
Don’t wait until symptoms pile up — early intervention can make all the difference.
Socialize more
Strong social ties can reduce stress, improve mood and even slow cognitive decline.
Whether it’s dinner with friends, volunteering or just chatting with neighbors, regular interaction helps keep the brain sharp.
And it doesn’t have to take long.
“Research suggests that adding just one extra interaction a day — even if it’s a text message or a brief phone call — can be helpful and that even interactions with people you don’t know well, such as at a coffee shop or doctor’s office, can have meaningful benefits,” they wrote.
Bottom line: stress isn’t just a state of mind — it’s a health hazard.
But with a few mindful changes, you can help your brain stay cool, calm and collected for years to come.
