Fight Aging! Newsletter, April 4th 2016

This study shows for the first time that increasing arterial stiffness is detrimental to the brain, and that increasing stiffness and brain injury begin in early middle life, before we commonly think of prevalent diseases such as atherosclerosis, coronary artery disease or stroke having an impact." The study also noted that elevated arterial stiffness is the earliest manifestation of systolic hypertension. The large study involved approximately 1,900 diverse participants in the Framingham Heart Study, who underwent brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), as well as arterial tonometry. The tests measured the force of arterial blood flow, the carotid femoral pulse wave velocity or CFPWV - the reference standard for noninvasive measurement of aortic stiffness - and its association with subtle injury to the brain's white and gray matter. The research found that increased CFPWV was associated with greater injury to the brain. The reasons this is so are complex, and more study is needed. However, with age high blood pressure causes the arteries to stiffen, further increasing blood pressure as well as increasing calcium and collagen deposits, which promotes atrophy, inflammation and further stiffening, decreasing blood flow to vital organs including the brain and promoting brain atrophy. "Our results emphasize the need for primary and secondary prevention of vascular stiffness and remodeling as a way to protect brain health." KURZWEIL'S VIEW IN BRIEF, IN HIS OWN WORDS https...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs