Controlling Hypertension Slows Cognitive Decline

The study here shows that given a population of individuals with hypertension, those who manage to control their high blood pressure go on to suffer lesser degrees of cognitive decline. Numerous mechanisms may link hypertension to structural damage in the brain: degeneration of the blood-brain barrier, allowing inappropriate molecules and cells into the brain, leading to neuroinflammation and other effects; rupture of capillaries causing microbleeds, effectively tiny strokes; outright pressure damage in tissue very close to small vessels that directly harms brain cells; and so forth. This damage adds up, but note that it is a set of physical issues that stem from increased pressure rather than the biochemistry that causes that increased pressure. Therefore these downstream issues can be suppressed by any method that reduces blood pressure consistently, even though that will leave the underlying damaged biochemistry to continue to cause other issues. High blood pressure appears to accelerate cognitive decline among middle-aged and older adults, but treating high blood pressure may slow this down, according to a preliminary study. According to the American Heart Association's 2017 Hypertension Guidelines, high blood pressure affects approximately 80 million U.S. adults and one billion people globally. Moreover, the relationship between brain health and high blood pressure is a growing interest as researchers examine how elevated blood pressure affects the brain's blood...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs