No one wants to imagine losing themselves or someone they love to dementia at the end of their lives, but it’s a reality for thousands of people every year.
Scientists have been working on ways to predict as well as treat diseases like dementia for some time, and now they think they’ve found a link between it and struggling with high blood pressure.
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A new study published in the European Heart Journal maps how high blood pressure can affect specific areas of the brain, presenting compelling new evidence in the process.
They also state in a press release that struggling with high blood pressure could be a direct cause of brain dysfunction.
“Our study has, for the first time, identified specific places in the brain that are potentially causally associated with high blood pressure and cognitive impairment.”
In fact, high blood pressure may even be a direct cause of brain dysfunction.
The team studied MRI brain scans and genetic data for over 30,000 patients, then used Mendelian randomization (that eliminates confounding factors by focusing on genes that predispose someone to certain conditions), and found that nine parts of the brain changed in related to high blood pressure and a decline in cognitive function.
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They say they double-checked their findings on a second batch of patients in an entire other country, too.
“In our study, if a gene that causes high blood pressure is also linked to certain brain structures and their function, then it suggests that high blood pressure might really be causing brain dysfunction at that location, leading to problems with memory, thinking, and dementia.”
To eliminate any room for doubt, the researchers then double-checked their findings with a separate batch of patients in Italy.
The two most notable affected areas were the putamen and the anterior thalamic radiation. The former, which is located in the front of the brain, is responsible for controlling movement and facilitating learning. The latter is where we house our executive function.
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Even though it’s troubling when you know that around 30% of the world suffers from high blood pressure, more information is always helpful when trying to solve a problem.
“It has been known for a long time that high blood pressure is a risk factor for cognitive decline, but how high blood pressure damages the brain was not clear. This study shows that specific brain regions are at particularly high risk of blood pressure damage, which may help to identify people at risk of cognitive decline in the earliest stages, and potentially to target therapies more effective in the future.”
This seems like one more step in the right direction when it comes to better health into old age.