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Promoting Health to Reduce Risk Like the Mercers, the Laditkas are partners in every sense of the word. But unlike Laura and Greg, Jim and Sarah Laditka, both of whom are UNC Charlotte associate professors of public health sciences, made the choice to battle Alzheimer’s disease through academia. The weapons in their arsenal are trained on information, research and education. In 2005, Congress appropriated money for the first time to study the possibility of promoting health to reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease, and more generally to promote brain health. Jim was tapped to lead a national research effort funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with support from the Alzheimer’s Association, known as the “Healthy Brain Study.” One of the largest qualitative research studies to be conducted in the United States, the project involved nine universities and took four years to complete. Researchers held 85 focus groups and many extended interviews in four different languages at multiple locations. “We collected data to understand people’s views, thoughts, beliefs and concerns about brain health generally, to better understand how they view the role of brain health in aging well,” Jim said. “That allowed us to gain data from various population groups that would help us identify differences in the way people thought about these issues, as well as differences in their views about the behaviors now thought to be associated with brain health.” Sarah led the massive task of analyzing the Healthy Brain Study data, managing and coding thousands of pages of transcripts. The data has been used in nearly 20 peer-reviewed papers, published in premier academic journals. Ultimately, the Laditkas hope the information will reach policy makers and researchers. “There were relatively few publications in this area prior to this work; we helped to establish the field through this publication stream,” Jim said. The Laditkas see a chasm between the information resulting from the study and widespread understanding of cognitive health. They are hoping to bridge the divide by crafting public health interventions and communications that help people understand the potential that exists in maintaining and promoting cognitive health through healthy behaviors. 14 UNC CHARLOTTE magazine
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Jim and Sarah Laditka led a national research effort funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with support from the Alzheimer’s Association, known as the “Healthy Brain Study.”
‘Desperately Concerned About Brain Health’ National surveys indicate that among people ages 50 and older, cognitive health is the primary health concern. “They are desperately concerned about their brain health. When they learn there is the possibility to reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and increase the likelihood of maintaining their brain function over time through relatively simple behaviors, that’s a motivator we haven’t had before. That’s a motivator for good health habits that are associated with all sorts of tremendously positive health outcomes,” Jim explained. Sometimes even the most clear-cut health messages — for instance, being physically active, eating a heart healthy diet and staying socially involved will reduce one’s risk of cognitive decline — get convoluted by competing messages in the media. For example, Sarah noted that a recent New York Times article presented a confusing picture of the evidence about the relationship between healthy behaviors and brain health. “That data was being promoted through the lens of popular communication, and it gave the impression that it doesn’t matter what you do — that there’s no way to reduce your
risk of cognitive decline,” Sarah said. “I can say from my reading of the literature in the last five or six years that the evidence in terms of epidemiology is very compelling to me that being physically active reduces cardiovascular risk and is directly tied to reducing risk of cognitive decline.” Working in concert with confusing media messages are cultural norms that conflict with healthy behaviors, community environments that inhibit behavior change and the all-too-human tendency to seek a simple solution for complex problems — taking a pill is far more convenient than changing one’s health behaviors. Complementary and alternative medicines (CAM) seem to have gained a foothold in the vacuum of pharmaceutical solutions. A research study conducted by the Laditkas and two UNC Charlotte health services research doctoral students found that approximately 10 percent of older people are using CAM specifically with the expectation that it will improve their cognitive health. “Gingko biloba is one of the most widely used herbal supplements for cognitive health, and that’s one area where we have very strong science that there’s probably no benefit, and it can have a negative www.UNCC.edu