Try This Simple Test Of Brain Health -- You Can Do It Standing On One Leg

Forbes reports:

Once in a while, brain research dishes out a simple, practical way to run a self-diagnostic test on your brain’s health. A recent study from Japanese researchers offers such a test, and it’s simple enough that almost everyone can give it a try. Here’s what you do: stand up, raise one leg in front of you bent at your knee, and try to maintain your balance in that position for as long as you can. Do that twice and record your time with a stopwatch both times.

According to the study, people who aren’t able to stay balanced on one leg for longer than 20 seconds should consider further evaluation from a doctor. The reason is that imbalance strongly correlates with the presence of tiny lesions, or “microbleeds”, in the brain, which can be there even when you’re otherwise feeling healthy. Over time these microbleeds can lead to serious issues such as stroke and dementia.

Can you do the 20 second test?