Have you ever had your blood pressure checked at a doctor’s office? The doctor uses a special band that squeezes your arm. Then they tell you two numbers.
Did you know these numbers can tell a lot about your health? Scientists have discovered a connection between these numbers and your brain’s health.
What is Blood Pressure?
Blood pressure is the force of your blood pushing against the walls of your arteries. Arteries are the vessels that carry blood from your heart to the rest of your body.
The blood pressure reading is given as two numbers.
The top number is the systolic blood pressure. It shows the pressure when your heart beats and pumps blood. The bottom number is the diastolic blood pressure.
It shows the pressure when your heart rests between beats. If the bottom number is 80 or higher, doctors say you have high blood pressure.
Why is Blood Pressure Important?
Doctors often focus on the top number to see if you’re at risk for heart disease. Heart disease is when your heart has trouble pumping blood. It’s the leading cause of death in many countries.
New Findings About Blood Pressure
Recently, scientists from the University of Miami have found something interesting. They say the bottom number in a blood pressure test might be very important.
It could help them find out if a person has scars on their brain. These scars are a sign of some serious conditions, like dementia, stroke, or falls.
The Study and Its Findings
In the study, scientists looked at the link between blood pressure and brain scars. They’re called white matter lesions. The researchers checked over 1,200 people who were 50 years old or older.
They discovered that people with the lowest bottom blood pressure number had fewer brain scars. They saw this when they looked at pictures of the brain using a machine called an MRI.
Earlier studies have shown that people with a high top number are likely to have narrow arteries. These can cause brain scars. But this new study found something different.
It showed that people with a bottom number lower than 80 had fewer brain scars. This was compared to people with a bottom number over 90.
What is White Matter?
White matter is a part of the brain. It’s made of nerve fibers that send messages to and from the brain. These messages help us move our muscles, feel things, and think.
The scars can block these messages. This increases the risk of falls and other problems.
These scars also increase a person’s chance of having a stroke. A stroke is when blood flow to the brain is blocked.
The scars can also cause problems with thinking and memory. By the age of 60, between 10% and 20% of people have these brain scars.
Conclusion
This study shows how important it is to know your blood pressure. And to talk to your doctor about the best treatment for you. It also tells us more about how our blood pressure can affect our brain health.
This can help doctors find new ways to prevent brain diseases. So, the next time you get your blood pressure checked, remember that those two little numbers can tell a big story about your health!
If you care about high blood pressure, please read studies that drinking tea could help lower blood pressure, and early time-restricted eating could help improve blood pressure.
For more information about blood pressure, please see recent studies about added sugar in your diet linked to higher blood pressure, and results showing vitamin D could improve blood pressure in people with diabetes.
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