Harvard Scientists Unveil ‘Brain Scorecard’ That Predicts Your Hidden Risk for Cancer, Dementia, and Depression—Are You at Danger?

So, you ever get handed a scorecard and immediately think, “Great, time to see how many laps I crushed at go-karting”? Yeah, me too. But hold onto your helmets, because this new brain scorecard from some smarty-pants scientists at Harvard’s Mass General Brigham hospital isn’t about racing victories. Nope, it’s about something a bit more — shall we say — morbid: your risk of cancer, dementia, and depression. I know, talk about taking the fun out of scorecards! Instead of handing you a doom-and-gloom tally of your brain’s fate, it serves up a ‘McCance Brain Care Score’ that actually aims to nudge you towards healthier habits. Created by a team led by Harvard neurology lecturer Dr. Andrew Budson, this first-of-its-kind tool shows how your current lifestyle could shape your brain’s future health. Intrigued yet? You probably should be — this isn’t your typical go-kart brag sheet. LEARN MORE

Usually if you’re given a ‘scorecard’ it’s logging how well you’ve done on something, maybe even just from a round of go-karting with your mates.

But this ‘brain scorecard’ tells you your risk of cancer, dementia and depression – morbid, I know. Created by scientists at the Harvard-affiliated teaching hospital Mass General Brigham in Boston, US, the new study is said to create a simple tool for individuals.

Described as being the first of its kind by Harvard Medical School lecturer in neurology Dr Andrew Budson, the ‘scorecard’ is designed to predict how your current habits may impact your brain health in the future.

Rather than giving you some kind of ranking of, well, how doomed your brain is, it gives a ‘McCance Brain Care Score’.

The study was completed with Harvard-affiliated centres. (Sophie Park/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

What is included on the Harvard brain scorecard?

The McCance Brain Care Score wraps up points from 12 physical, lifestyle and social emotional domains.

Physical categories:

· Blood Pressure

· Blood Sugar

· Cholesterol

· BMI

Lifestyle categories:

· Nutrition

· Alcohol

· Smoking

· Aerobic Activities

· Sleep

Social Emotional categories

· Stress

· Social Relationships

· Meaning in Life

Not exactly your normal scorecard (McCance Centre for Brain Health)

What does the McCance Brain Care Score indicate?

Published in the Family Practice, the study was developed to ‘convey actionable knowledge to individuals everywhere that can motivate change in health-related behaviours and thereby reduce the risk of dementia, stroke, and late-life depression ‘.

The conclusion explains: “Although developed specifically as an actionable tool to guide individuals in reducing their risk of common age-related brain diseases, we show that it may also offer ancillary benefits, providing a single place to start for guiding individuals toward improving their chances of healthy aging more generally.”

Not included in the analysis, Budson previously said: “All these physical and lifestyle factors can contribute to the risk of dementia to some extent through strokes.

“Those that aren’t a risk through strokes are usually related to the fact that a healthy brain is a brain that’s using all of its parts. Engaging in healthy relationships and meaningful activities helps us maintain good brain structure and function.”

Senior author Sanjula Singh says that the study’s findings reinforces the idea that by taking better care of your brain ‘you may also be supporting the health of your heart and body as a whole simultaneously’.

It’s hoped the scorecard can help improve brain health. (Getty Stock)

The goal of the McCance Brain Care Score

So, the goal of the McCance Brain Care Score is to ‘empower individuals to take small, meaningful steps’ to improving brain health.

Lead author Jasper Senff continued: “Taking better care of your brain by making progress on your Brain Care Score may also be linked to broader health benefits, including a lower likelihood of heart disease and cancer.”

Singh added that the scorecard has ‘enormous promise’ in aiding primary care providers.

“Not only for supporting brain health, but also for helping to address modifiable risk factors for a broader range of chronic diseases in a practical, time-efficient way,” the researcher added.