AUTHOR=Kip Elodie , Parr-Brownlie Louise C. 

TITLE=Healthy lifestyles and wellbeing reduce neuroinflammation and prevent neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Neuroscience

VOLUME=Volume 17 - 2023

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnins.2023.1092537

DOI=10.3389/fnins.2023.1092537

ISSN=1662-453X

ABSTRACT=Since the mid-20th century, Western societies have considered productivity and economic outcomes are more important than focusing on people’s health and well-being. This focus has created lifestyles with high stress levels, associated with overconsumption of unhealthy foods and little exercise, which negatively affect people’s lives, and subsequently lead to the development of pathologies, including neurodegenerative and psychiatric diseases. Prioritising a healthy lifestyle to maintain well-being may slow the onset or reduce the severity of pathologies. It’s a win-win for everyone; for societies and for individuals. A balanced lifestyle is increasingly being adopted globally, with many doctors encouraging meditation and prescribing non-pharmaceutical interventions to treat depression. In psychiatric and neurodegenerative diseases, the inflammatory response system of the brain (neuroinflammation) is activated. Many risks factors are now known to be linked to neuroinflammation such as stress, pollution, and a high fat diet. On the other hand, many studies have linked healthy habits and anti-inflammatory products with lower levels of neuroinflammation and a reduced risk of neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders. Sharing risk and protective factors is critical so that individuals can make informed choices that promote positive ageing throughout their lifespan. Most strategies to manage neurodegenerative diseases are palliative because neurodegeneration has been progressing silently for decades before symptoms appear. Here, we focus on preventing neurodegenerative diseases by adopting an integrated “healthy” lifestyle approach. This review summarizes the role of neuroinflammation on risk and protective factors of neurodegenerative and psychiatric diseases.