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Blood Pressure and the Brain, Minding Your Blood Pressure
In order to prevent or treat high blood pressure, it’s important to maintain a healthy lifestyle, follow the doctor’s orders and any treatment plans.
Date: 10/9/2016 7:30:45 AM ( 8 y ) ... viewed 539 times Hypertension is at the root of cognitive decline. It's becoming increasingly clear that high blood pressure, or hypertension, is at the root of much cognitive decline that has previously been attributed to aging. The more that scientists scrutinize brain function, and especially memory, the more they conclude that we have the ability to keep our memory and spirit strong well into old age.It's becoming increasingly clear that high blood pressure, or
hypertension, is at the root of much cognitive decline that has
previously been attributed to aging.
Hypertension is defined as blood pressure of 140/90 or above. The
first number is the measurement of the blood's force against artery walls
when the heart is beating. The second number is the pressure between
beats. A person is hypertensive if either number is too high.
Most people think salt is the culprit in high blood pressure. In
the vast majority of hypertensives, salt isn't the root of the problem.
Only about one third of people with high blood pressure are what doctors
call "salt sensitive."
"The rest of the folks can eat all the salt they want without
seeing much change in their blood pressure," says Shari Waldstein, Ph.D.,
associate professor of psychology at the University of Maryland at
Baltimore County, who studies the cognitive consequences of hypertension.
People whose diets are not to blame can pinpoint the problem through a
trial of medications that target differing pathways in the body. Blood
pressure is affected by many of the body's systems, including kidney
function, hormones such as insulin and the sympathetic and
parasympathetic nervous systems.
Regardless of cause, high blood pressure is extremely dangerous,
especially for people who don't know they have it, typically people who
rarely see a doctor. Hypertension has few symptoms; some sufferers
complain of headaches, nosebleeds or shortness of breath but for the most
part the body suffers in silence.
High blood pressure does its damage by weakening the blood vessels,
over time leading the inner lining to slough off. Vessels can be weakened
to the point that they tear, causing sudden death or disability via a
stroke or aneurysm. Hypertension can also lead to heart attacks.
But long before it creates a health emergency, hypertension takes a
subtle toll on mental faculties. It can reduce attention, learning,
memory and decision-making skills in ways that can be clearly seen in
studies.
"Generally, whatever problems impact cardiovascular health also
affect cognitive functioning," says Merrill Elias, Ph.D., a professor of
epidemiology at Boston University who has studied hypertension for 35
years.
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