Try This: Prevent Memory Loss, Workout Cheat Codes, and Happiness Advice

Try This readers, today I’m sharing some fascinating research in brain health and some practical and valuable life advice. 

High level: 

• Could this therapy hold the key to protecting women’s brains from Alzheimer’s? (Women approaching menopause, listen up!) 

• The invisible threat we breathe in every day (with a hidden link to memory loss) 

• 10 rules to transform your relationship with exercise (workout advice a 60-year-old researcher wishes he knew at 25) 

• The difference between an addicted mind and a happy mind (this one gave me a lot to think about) 

Let’s get into it!

32% Lower Risk of Developing Alzheimer’s Disease

This is really promising news for women in early menopause. 

Shout-out to my friend @MaxLugavere for sharing this study. A recent meta-analysis suggests that when women begin hormone replacement therapy (HRT) close to menopause, it may significantly affect their risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. 

The study reviewed over 50 trials and observational studies to compare Alzheimer’s outcomes in women who started HRT early versus later in life or not at all. Those who initiated HRT within about five years after menopause showed a 20–30 percent lower risk of Alzheimer’s compared to nonusers. 

The idea is that early estrogen supplementation helps preserve neural communication, reduce inflammation, and maintain brain vascular health during a window when the brain is more responsive. If HRT is delayed, those protective effects may be lost. 

If you’re at this life stage and concerned about memory, it could really be worth talking to your provider. Timing, type of hormones (estrogen alone vs combination with progestin), dose, and individual factors like age, genetic risk, and cardiovascular health all matter and require an individualized approach, but I suspect that HRT will become an extremely helpful tool for cardiovascular and brain-related concerns. 

Pollution and the Brain: The Link You Can’t Ignore

Breathing polluted air, especially the tiny particles called PM_2.5 (which are so small they can slip into your bloodstream), might speed up dementia, particularly Lewy body dementia and Parkinson’s with dementia. 

A huge study of over 56 million people found that folks living in areas with more long-term PM_2.5 exposure had a noticeably higher risk of being hospitalized with these brain disorders, including a 12.5 percent increased risk of developing Lewy body dementia.

A possible mechanism? In animal studies, mice breathing polluted air for months started showing memory and behavior problems, built up abnormal clumps of a protein called α-synuclein (a hallmark of Lewy bodies), and even lost volume in brain regions tied to memory. 

Interestingly, mice that didn’t produce this protein were protected, meaning α-synuclein could be the link between pollution and deterioration. 

What’s even wilder is that these protein clumps also showed up in the lungs and gut, hinting that the gut-brain connection may be part of how air pollution harms our brains.

I don’t want to freak you out, but this is just one more reason to invest in a HEPA filter so that you can at least keep your home protected. Here’s my favorite filter. 

Workout Cheat Codes This 60-Year-Old Doctor Wish He Knew at 25

If you listened to my conversation with cardiologist and professor Dr. Eric Topol, you might have heard that exercise is the ONLY evidence-based tool we have to lower our biological age, and it’s one of the most effective tools we have to prevent brain-related disorders. This means we should ALL be doing it. But don't make it complicated if it doesn’t have to be. 

If you’re feeling lost when it comes to movement, or if you need more motivation, here are workout cheat codes to live by from orthopedic surgeon Howard Luks, MD (@hjluks on X). 

If you don’t move your body or prioritize exercise, I can almost guarantee you will wake up one day regretting it. Start where you are, build up, and watch your life change. 

Grow What Makes You Happy 

I love this graphic from @drex_dsgn, inspired by the work of Dr. Andrew Huberman. 

In the words of Andrew Huberman:

“Addiction is a progressive narrowing of the things that bring you pleasure. Happiness is a progressive expansion of the things that bring you pleasure. The former emerges passively. The latter takes work. ‘Work’ in this context could be: deliberate abstinence from no-effort-to-high-dopamine behaviors and drugs, directed attention, conscious understanding, mindfulness, and on and on…Beware anything that delivers high dopamine with minimal effort. Keep the amount of effort scaled with the amount of dopamine.”

It’s a good reminder to step away from mindless hits of dopamine and actively seek out rewarding yet challenging habits that expand our sense of joy. For me, that means working out, maintaining solid relationships with friends and family, and working on projects I’m passionate about. 

What is it for you? 

See you next week,
Dhru Purohit