High blood pressure increases vulnerability to Alzheimer’s
High blood pressure reduces blood flow to the brains of ageing adults with Alzheimer’s disease and increases their vulnerability to the progressive effects of the fatal, mind-robbing condition, scientists say.
“While hypertension is not a cause of Alzheimer’s disease, our study shows that it is another hit on the brain that increases its vulnerability to the effects of the disease,” said study co-author Dr Cyrus Raji, a scientist at the University of Pittsburgh where the study was conducted.
“This study demonstrates that good vascular health is also good for the brain,” said co-author Dr Oscar Lopez, professor of neurology and psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh. “Even in people with Alzheimer’s disease, it is important to detect and aggressively treat hypertension and also to focus on disease prevention.”
The research findings were presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America.
The study, which analysed MRI results, showed that in all patient groups, blood flow in the brain was substantially decreased in patients with hypertension compared to those without. Cerebral blood flow was lowest among the Alzheimer’s patients with hypertension, but the normal group with hypertension showed significantly lower cerebral blood flow than the normal group without hypertension.
“These results suggest that by changing blood flow to the brain, hypertension – treated or untreated – may contribute to the pathology of Alzheimer’s,” Dr Raji said.
