Defy Dementia Episode 21: The Heart of a Healthy Brain
This episode of Defy Dementia delves deep into the cardiovascular risk factors of dementia, such as blood pressure, LDL cholesterol, and exercise. Nicole McLachlan shares her experience suffering from a heart attack as a fit and healthy 42-year-old, and her subsequent road to recovery. Then, Dr. Paul Oh (Toronto Rehabilitation Institute) discusses the latest research on how our heart health impacts our brain health. Tune in to learn how to make small changes to your lifestyle to protect your heart and reduce your dementia risk.
Key messages
- What’s good for the heart is good for the brain.
- Cardiovascular risk factors for dementia like blood pressure may be obvious, but others like air pollution and traumatic brain injury are not.
Key actions
- Think about why you want to make sustainable lifestyle changes.
- Try to exercise every day, eat a healthy diet, and monitor your blood pressure and LDL cholesterol.
- Lifestyle factors are important, but medications can also play a key role.
Learn more about our guests
In 2021, 42-year-old Nicole McLachlan was in her apartment, planning to go for a walk with a friend and her dog. She got up from her desk and suddenly felt “weird.” She lay down and when she tried to get up, she felt extreme pain on the right side of her body, in her jaw, neck, and shoulder. Nicole called Ontario’s health information line (now called Health811), who sent an ambulance to her address.
Nicole was treated for a heart attack at St. Michael’s Hospital. Imaging revealed that the heart attack was caused by a Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection (SCAD), a deadly condition where a tear forms in the wall of a coronary artery, slowing or blocking blood flow to the heart. Nicole recovered and was referred to the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute (TRI) to rehabilitate her cardiovascular health and learn about a heart-healthy lifestyle. Since then, in addition to her role as a Senior Consultant at TD Bank, Nicole has been active in an online community of women recovering from SCAD-related heart attacks.
Dr. Paul Oh is the GoodLife Fitness Chair in Cardiovascular Rehabilitation and Prevention, Medical Director of the Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation Program at the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, and a Senior Scientist at :the KITE Research Institute at University Health Network. Dr. Oh's research activities examine ways to design, implement, and evaluate the best approaches to cardiac rehabilitation. His research themes include the role of exercise, risk factor management, enhanced self-management, technologies to support healthy behaviour, patient education models, and analyzing cardiovascular databases to better understand long-term patient outcomes.
The GoodLife Fitness Centre of Excellence in Cardiovascular Rehabilitation Medicine helps people with heart disease improve their cardiac health and fitness, while supporting patients to reduce their chance of future cardiac incidents by making lasting lifestyle and behaviour changes.