|
E-mail this page to a friend!
Low Blood Flow to Brain May Be A Cause of Dementia
“Diminished cerebral blood flow indeed causes brain
damage.”
Aug. 30, 2005 - The amount of blood flowing into
the brain may play a larger role in the development of dementia than
previously believed, which emphasizes the importance of monitoring both
high and low blood pressure in senior citizens, according to a study in
the September issue of the journal Radiology.
| |
Recent Related Stories |
|
| |
New Dye that Binds to Alzheimer's Plaques Could
Offer Early Diagnosis
Aug. 25, 2005 – MIT scientists have developed a new
dye, called NIAD-4, that can bind to the protein deposits, or plaques,
in the brain that cause Alzheimer's, and then show fluorescence when
exposed to radiation.
Read more...
Alzheimer’s May Begin in Early Adulthood with
Default Mode Switch
Aug. 24, 2005 – Alzheimer’s possibly begins in
early adulthood, according to researchers who made the surprising
discovery that the areas of the brain that young, healthy people use
when daydreaming are the same areas that fail in people who have
Alzheimer's disease.
Read more...
Vitamin B Rich Folates Significantly Reduce
Alzheimer’s Disease Risk
Aug. 12, 2005- A study of senior citizens says
those who eat the daily recommended allowance of folates – B vitamin
nutrients found in oranges, legumes, leafy green vegetables and folic
acid supplements – “significantly reduce” their risk.
Read more...
Cell-Killing Acid Found in Brains of All Dementia
Patients
Aug. 5, 2005 – An acid that kills nerve cells in
the brain, quinolinic acid, was found in all the brains of dementia
patients tested in a recent study.
Read more...
Alzheimer’s Warning Signs Show Up Years Before
Diagnosis
Aug. 1, 2005 - By combing through dozens of
Alzheimer's disease (AD) studies, psychologists have gained a clear
picture of cognitive problems in people who will develop the
degenerative brain disease. The meta-analysis reveals that people can
show early warning signs...
Read more...
Better Alzheimer’s Drugs May Come from Discovery
July 28, 2005 - The mechanism in anti-Alzheimer's
disease drugs that inhibits the production of a destructive,
inflammation-causing protein in the brain has been revealed...
Read
more...
More on dementia & Alzheimer's -
click |
|
Researchers from Leiden University Medical Center
in the Netherlands used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to examine the
brains of elderly patients with and without dementia related to
Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease. As expected, MR images showed that
the patients with late-onset dementia had more brain damage compared
with young adults and with seniors who had optimal cognitive function.
But researchers found that the late-onset dementia group also had a much
lower rate of blood flow to the brain than the other two groups.
"Our findings not only support the hypothesis that
vascular factors contribute to dementia in the elderly, they are highly
suggestive that a diminished cerebral blood flow indeed causes brain
damage," said Aart Spilt, M.D., a Leiden radiology resident and lead
author of the study. "This gives us a clue to the genesis of dementia."
Dementia is a loss of cognitive functions, such as
thinking, remembering and reasoning, that interferes with normal
activities. Although many conditions can produce these symptoms,
Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of dementia. Some patients
with Parkinson's disease also develop dementia.
In the Dutch study, researchers examined 17
patients with late-onset dementia (dementia occurring after age 75),
another 16 seniors of the same age with optimal cognitive function and
15 healthy younger individuals. Researchers used MRI to measure cerebral
blood flow and the extent of structural brain damage in each person and
then compared the results of the three groups.
Average total cerebral blood flow in the healthy
young individuals was 742 milliliters (mL) per minute. Cerebral blood
flow in the two elderly groups averaged 496 mL per minute, or 246 mL per
minute lower than the younger group. In patients with dementia, average
cerebral blood flow was 443 mL per minute, or 108 mL per minute lower
than seniors of the same age with optimal cognitive function (551 mL per
minute).
Although patients with dementia have been shown to
require less cerebral blood flow as the brain becomes less active, Dr.
Spilt's research provides some evidence that the decreased blood flow
may lead to some types of dementia.
"The findings emphasize the importance of
monitoring both high and low blood pressure in older adults," Dr. Spilt
said. "Possible causes of low cerebral blood flow include heart failure
and a narrowing of cerebral or cervical arteries."
About the Source:
Radiology is a monthly scientific journal devoted
to clinical radiology and allied sciences. The journal is edited by
Anthony V. Proto, M.D., School of Medicine, Virginia Commonwealth
University, Richmond, Va. Radiology is owned and published by the
Radiological Society of North America, Inc. (RSNA.org/radiologyjnl)
The Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) is
an association of more than 37,000 radiologists, radiation oncologists,
medical physicists and related scientists committed to promoting
excellence in radiology through education and by fostering research,
with the ultimate goal of improving patient care. The Society is based
in Oak Brook, Ill. (RSNA.org)
"Late-Onset Dementia: Structural Brain Damage and
Total Cerebral Blood Flow." Annelies W.E. Weverling-Rijnsburger, M.D.,
Huub A.M. Middelkoop, Ph.D., Wiesje M. van der Flier, Ph.D., Jacobijn
Gussekloo, M.D., Anton J.M. de Craen, Ph.D., Eduard L.E.M. Bollen, M.D.,
Gerard J. Blauw, M.D., Mark A. van Buchem, M.D., and Rudi G.J.
Westendorp, M.D., collaborated with Dr. Spilt on this paper.
Click to More Senior News on the
Front Page
Copyright: SeniorJournal.com |
