How heart health is linked to brain health

You've seen this theme before - exercise is linked to decreased stroke risk. This study looked at heart health, brain size, and what it means - how heart health is linked to brain health later in life:

Those who scored high at the start were more likely to have higher brain volume when they reached middle age. The study authors say that every point lower a person scored on the Life's Simple 7 corresponded with about one year of age-related brain shrinkage.

"Larger brain volume, relative to head size, is associated with better health," explains study author Michael Bancks, a postdoctoral fellow in preventive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, in an email to TIME. "Brain atrophy — smaller brain volume — is associated with death and disability." Prior studies have linked smaller brain size to lower cognitive function scores and an increased risk for health events like stroke in middle age and beyond.

'Aphasia Choir' uses music for help in recovery

I've posted before about my own story about stroke recovery, aphasia and singing. Here's a recent story about an "Aphasia Choir" in Vermont:

How is it that survivors of stroke and certain brain injury are often unable to speak but they still can sing? The answer lies in the brain's physiology. By tapping into the undamaged right hemisphere, the stroke survivor can recall familiar melodies and express them through song. Enter, the Aphasia Choir.

More millennials are having strokes

Is a stroke tsunami heading this way? That's one thought expressed in this piece on how more millennials are having strokes:

Although many of the details are murky, the potential impact is clear: In the short term severe strokes among younger adults are a big problem because disability in people in their peak earning years can severely impact their families and future lives, Elkind says. Longer-term, more strokes — even relatively mild ones — among younger adults are worrying because they portend an upcoming epidemic of worse attacks in another 30 years (since survivors’ second strokes are more likely to be stronger and potentially fatal). “We are just seeing those little waves hitting the beach now but that tsunami will come in the future,” says Elkind, who notes that risk factors such as obesity and smoking are cumulative over time.