Hypertension may contribute to the pathology of Alzheimer's

( high blood pressure reduces blood flow in the brains of adults )

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"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 Cyrus Raji, scientist and M.D. and Ph.D. candidate at the University of Pittsburgh where the study was conducted.
Hypertension is a condition in which the blood circulates through the arteries with too much force. According to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, approximately 50 million Americans have hypertension. People with hypertension are at elevated risk for heart attack, stroke and aneurysm. Recently, there has been mounting evidence tying cardiovascular health to brain health.
"This study demonstrates that good vascular health is also good for the brain," said co-author Oscar Lopez, M.D., 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."
For the study, the researchers used arterial spin-labeled magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), which can measure blood flow in the brain, to image 68 older adults. Arterial spin-labeled MRI is a novel, noninvasive technique that requires no external contrast agent.
The patient group included 48 normal individuals, including 38 with hypertension and 10 without; 20 Alzheimer's patients, including 10 with hypertension and 10 without; and 20 adults with mild cognitive impairment, 10 with hypertension and 10 without. Mild cognitive impairment, which affects brain functions such as language, attention and reasoning, is a transition stage between normal aging deficits in the brain and greater levels of dementia.
The 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," Raji said. ...http://www.medicalnewstoday.com

How to Be Younger, Longer

What you eat can dramatically influence how fast your body ages, according to mountains of research. Here are four important rules for aging slowly and fighting chronic disease.

1. Get plenty of antioxidants. A leading cause of aging, experts say, is "oxidative stress," which results when cells become dysfunctional over a lifetime or die because of attacks from internal and external chemicals known as "free radicals." Consuming lots of antioxidant-packed foods, mainly fruits and vegetables, boosts your cells' power to resist attack.

2. Infuse your body with omega-3s. Chronic inflammation speeds up aging, promoting heart attacks, arthritis, skin diseases and Alzheimer's, while reducing memory, immunity and muscle function. The omega-3 fatty acids found in fatty fish, such as salmon, dampen chronic inflammation, studies show. Red meat promotes inflammation.

3. Control blood sugar. Eating foods that spike your blood sugar and keep it chronically high leads to cell changes that promote aging and chronic diseases, including type 2 diabetes, gallbladder and heart disease, Alzheimer's, and breast, ovarian and endometrial cancers. What spikes your blood sugar: white bread, white potatoes, most white rice, processed grains and sugary cereals.

4. Maintain a normal weight. Obese people are more apt to have type 2 diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disease and mental deterioration. MRIs show faster brain aging in overweight Americans, says new research at the University of California, San Francisco. Other research finds that heavier adults harbor higher brain levels of toxic amyloid beta, a protein involved in Alzheimer's. Restricting food intake slows many aging processes and prolongs life in animals. ...http://www.stopagingnow.com

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