Posted on 02/06/2023 9:23:21 PM PST by ConservativeMind
Among people who received more intensive treatment for high blood pressure, evaluations of MRI scans indicated a positive change in brain structures involved in its ability to clear toxins and other byproducts.
The study is the first to examine whether intensive blood pressure treatment may slow, or reverse structural changes related to the volume of the brain's perivascular spaces, areas of the brain around the blood vessels that are involved in the clearance of toxins and other byproducts.
"If the brain cannot properly clear toxins and metabolic byproducts, they will accumulate and may contribute to the development of dementia," said Kyle Kern, M.D., M.S. "Some research has proposed that the pulsations of the cerebral arteries with each heartbeat help to drive the clearance of these toxic brain byproducts in the perivascular spaces. However, high blood pressure over the long term stiffens arteries, impairing function and the ability to clear toxins, resulting in enlargement of perivascular spaces."
After an average 3.9-year follow-up period, 243 people in the intensive treatment group (systolic blood pressure goal of 120 mm Hg) and 199 people in the standard treatment arm (systolic blood pressure goal of 140 mm Hg) had pre– and post–MRI scans that were analyzed for the percentage of brain tissue taken up by perivascular spaces.
At the start of the study, the volume of perivascular spaces was similar among participants in both blood pressure treatment groups. After almost 4 years of high blood pressure treatment, the volume of perivascular spaces had decreased significantly in the intensive treatment group but did not change in the standard treatment group.
"Our secondary analysis findings from SPRINT-MIND MRI suggest that intensive blood pressure control may be beneficial by reducing damage to the brain's toxin and byproduct clearance pathway," Kern said.
(Excerpt) Read more at medicalxpress.com ...
I really like your short, concise and informative summaries like that. Thanks for condensing the articles and getting it down to the key point or two.
And this will help Former Vice President Joe Biden exactly how?
(Read later)
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