RNS, Vascular Dementia, Feb. 2005
http://www.med.umich.edu/opm/newspage/2005/hmdementia.htm
2:02 Healthy heart, healthy mind?
Prevent memory and thinking problems tomorrow by taking heart-healthy steps today, U-M expert says
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Lead: You know that watching your weight, quitting smoking, cutting back on fatty foods and exercising regularly will help your heart. But did you know that these steps might also help your brain, and protect your memory? Here is Andi McDonnell with more.
TRT 2:02
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Alzheimer's disease is still the top reason for severe memory and thinking problems, but doctors are beginning to realize a significant connection between the heart and the brain that is causing a different type of dementia.
Dr. Kenneth Langa, M.D., Ph.D., a University of Michigan dementia expert says it all comes down to blood flow. Your brain needs a lot of blood to function correctly, and to keep you on track with thinking, remembering, speaking and recognizing people. But if something happens to that blood flow, those abilities can suffer, resulting in what experts are calling vascular dementia.
Langa says,
“Vascular dementia is damage to the brain resulting from problems with the blood supply to the brain. So it's the thinking problems of dementia that are due to problems with blood flow to the brain.”
A stroke, high blood pressure, or clogged arteries can all rob your brain, or part of your brain, of its much needed blood supply.
There's a lot of overlap between the factors that can cause vascular dementia and those that can cause heart attacks, strokes, and other cardiovascular diseases. In addition to high blood pressure and high cholesterol, other factors include diabetes, lack of exercise and obesity.
Langa recommends,
“The fact that vascular disease and vascular risk factors may be leading to both Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia opens up the possibility that if we do a better job of treating these risk factors, which we know how to do—good treatment of high blood pressure, good treatment of cholesterol, physical activity—those three things, if we do a good job at treating those things that we might, in fact, be preventing dementia from ever starting, and then among people with dementia, perhaps preventing it from progressing.”
So what can you do to protect your brain, and your heart, at the same time? Know your blood pressure your cholesterol, and work with a doctor to reduce it if it's high. Get active with a regular exercise plan, stop smoking, eat healthy, and pay attention to any special heart and stroke risks you may have.
Andi McDonnell, U-M Health System News. |
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