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(CNN) – Seniors with above-average blood pressure have more markers of brain disease than their average-pressure peers, according to a study published Wednesday in the journal Neurology. In particular, researchers saw increased signs of cerebral infarction, or areas of dead tissue caused by a blockage of blood supply to the brain, during post tissue examination. -Mortem under the microscope.
"We know that blood pressure, especially if it is elevated, is related to stroke and dementia," said Dr. Zoe Arvanitakis, lead author. from the study and professor of neurology at the Rush University Medical Center in Chicago
"In this study, we wanted to examine the relationship between blood pressure and a range of values - not only high, but also normal and low. to both the most common causes of stroke and dementia, "said Arvanitakis. These causes are brain infarctions (also called brain lesions) and characteristic biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease: plaques and tangles, both made of different proteins, in the brain.
Glance on Brain Tissue
The force to which blood flows in our veins, arteries and capillaries, according to the American Heart Association. Too large a force means high pressure; a weak force means weak.
In figures, high blood pressure is considered something above 140/90. The first number, the systolic pressure, reflects the pressure in the vessels when the heart beats. The second number, diastolic, measures when the heart is at rest. Low blood pressure is deliberately left undefined because no number is considered too low as long as there are no troubling symptoms such as dizziness, nausea and problems concentrating .
Arvanitakis and colleagues to understand how blood pressure relates to stroke and dementia with 1,288 people, all aged 65 and over and about two-thirds of them are women. Participation included annual physical exams, neuropsychological tests and records of their medical history and medications.
Participants also consented to an autopsy of the brain upon their death;
"What we wanted to do, is look at the actual brain tissue to see if we have seen the underlying changes in the brain that cause stroke or the underlying changes in the brain that cause dementia "Arvanitakis said.
Participants' data showed a mean systolic blood pressure of 134 and an average diastolic blood pressure of 71. Two-thirds had a history of hypertension, and 87% had taken medication for hypertension blood. 19659002] "We looked at blood pressure in several ways," including how changes in blood pressure – such as lowering blood pressure – "could be badociated with brain damage at the time of death," says Arvanitakis. Higher pressure, increased risks
Research has found that "the higher the average arterial pressure, the more likely a person is to have brain damage," said Arvanitakis
. 46% increased risk of having one or more brain lesions, especially infarction, the badysis showed. This same higher than average systolic pressure (147 vs the group average of 134) also meant 46% more chance of larger lesions plus a 36% higher risk of very small lesions, the results indicated.
Mean diastolic blood pressure also showed a relationship with brain damage, the researchers found. The researchers found that people with above average diastolic pressure (79, for example, compared to the group average of 71) had an increased risk of 28% of one or more lesions.
Arvanitakis and colleagues also found that systolic blood pressure was badociated with more tangles in brain tissue, common sign of Alzheimer's disease – but not at the amyloid plaques, another common feature of neurodegenerative disease.
Arvanitakis says this finding is difficult to interpret
The Importance of Blood Pressure Monitoring
Dr. Joe Verghese, professor of neurology and medicine and director of the Resnick Gerontology Center at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, said the highlights of the new study include high participation rates and badessments of blood pressure and cognition. "
Verghese, who was not involved in the research, added that his main weakness was the somewhat" limited "data available.But he says that the study has adopted a" different approach "in his review of brain health in the elderly." In previous studies, the focus was on clinically diagnosed dementia "- in a medical office, based on tests were still alive, Verghese has wrote in an email.However, Arvanitakis and his colleagues showed a direct relationship between blood pressure and the signs of the causes of stroke and dementia: "the presence of vascular pathology in the post-mortem brains."
"The study supports the treatment of life to prevent cerebrovascular disease," said Verghese. "The story regarding Alzheimer's risk is less clear."
Yet, previous research, including co including that of Verghese, showed that abnormal blood pressure in the middle and late life was badociated with the risk of dementia
. The medical journal concluded that there was evidence to recommend the management of blood pressure to reduce the risk of cognitive decline and the risk of dementia, "said Arvanitakis, about the accident cerebrovascular or dementia. "Since blood pressure is an important risk factor for the disease, we really need to understand how it affects the brain," she said. "The research really needs the participation of volunteers and needs ongoing scientific funding to continue to make important discoveries."
The-CNN-Wire
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