{"id":23110,"date":"2023-03-16T14:32:28","date_gmt":"2023-03-16T14:32:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/solongevity.com\/?p=23110"},"modified":"2023-03-16T14:32:28","modified_gmt":"2023-03-16T14:32:28","slug":"to-save-the-brain-protect-the-heart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/solongevity.com\/en\/longevity-news\/to-save-the-brain-protect-the-heart\/","title":{"rendered":"To save the brain, protect the heart"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3>Cognitive abilities and vascular health<\/h3>\n<p>What do heart and <strong>vascular health<\/strong> have to do with <strong>cognitive ability<\/strong>? A lot. In fact, a whole lot. Suffice it to say that <strong>cerebrovascular problems<\/strong> are the second leading cause of <strong>dementia<\/strong> in the over-60s (which in this case is called <strong>vascular dementia<\/strong> precisely) and are also related to<strong>Alzheimer&#8217;s<\/strong> disease. It is no coincidence, then, that vascular dementias occur precisely in people who have <strong>cardiovascular risk factors<\/strong>, such as<strong>hypertension<\/strong>, <strong>diabetes mellitus<\/strong> (or type 2 diabetes), high <strong>cholesterol<\/strong> and <strong>triglyceride<\/strong> values (hyperlipemia).<\/p>\n<h3>What are the symptoms of vascular dementia?<\/h3>\n<p>It is mainly <strong>memory<\/strong> that is affected, but problems in <strong>executive function<\/strong>, difficulty initiating actions, slowdowns in reasoning, changes in mood and personality, and language deficits can be found. Symptoms can vary, however, because they depend on the parts of the brain affected: directly causing these deficits are many small brain infarcts or small hemorrhages. Although the deficits are irreversible, the good news is that their onset is slow.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Cerebrovascular problems are the second leading cause of dementia<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h3>What is the link between hypertension and cognitive problems?<\/h3>\n<p>As for hypertension, we now know that it is not only a risk factor but is now established to be a real<strong> causative factor<\/strong> of ischemic diseases. In the long run, it can in fact lead to <strong>deterioration of cerebral vessels<\/strong> and, consequently, vascular dementia. At the physiological level, the mechanisms underlying this association are quite complex, as reported in a review of studies published in <em>Nature Reviews Nephrology.<\/em> To simplify, dysregulation of blood flow in the brain causes increased <strong>oxidative stress<\/strong> and <strong>inflammatory status<\/strong>, and <strong>damage at the cellular level<\/strong>. Not only that, hypertension also predisposes to the formation of <strong>atherosclerotic plaques<\/strong> in the <strong>cerebral arteries<\/strong>, hindering proper blood flow and increasing the risk of <strong>ischemia<\/strong> and <strong>stroke<\/strong>. Evenmore, it has been hypothesized that it promotes the accumulation of amyloid <strong>plaques<\/strong>, the deposits of beta-amyloid protein aggregates typical of Alzheimer&#8217;s, which may explain why in people with hypertension the risk of developing Alzheimer&#8217;s disease appears doubled.<\/p>\n<h3>What is the role of oxidative stress?<\/h3>\n<p>Many chronic diseases, including cardiovascular diseases, are related to oxidative stress. This is a condition of &#8220;chemical&#8221; imbalance, whereby excess <strong>free radicals<\/strong> are formed that are not neutralized and damage cells and tissues. Lifestyle plays an important part in this: excessive or improper diet, alcohol consumption, smoking and sedentary lifestyle (as well as excess physical activity) are all <strong>pro-oxidant factors<\/strong>. Oxidative stress not only causes the onset of certain chronic diseases, but is also directly involved in <strong>cellular aging<\/strong> processes: tissue undergoes biological decline and reduces its ability to adapt to stress. At the same time, the increased level of oxidation increases the expression of certain <strong>pro-inflammatory genes<\/strong>, which in turn promote oxidation.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>In people with hypertension, the risk of developing Alzheimer&#8217;s disease doubles<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h3>How to prevent this?<\/h3>\n<p>Because the onset of vascular dementia and its progression are irreversible phenomena, it is more crucial than ever to plan ahead and focus on prevention. That comes first of all from lifestyle, as we have just mentioned. In this sense, it is possible to &#8220;feed the mind&#8221; in the right way, providing our bodies with all the necessary elements to counteract cognitive decline. But not only that, we can also givr ourselves the elements that can fight oxidative stress and can help maintain the health of the cerebrovascular system. In this area, SoLongevity research has developed a combined strategy of interventions and developed two <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/solongevity.com\/en\/nutraceuticals\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">nutraceuticals<\/a><\/strong>, <a href=\"https:\/\/solongevity.com\/nutraceutici\/cardioage\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>CardioAge<\/strong><\/a> e <a href=\"https:\/\/solongevity.com\/nutraceutici\/neuroprotection\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>NeuroProtection<\/strong><\/a>, which aim to support vascular health and cognitive performance, respectively.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Vascular problems and oxidative stress underlie the decline in cognitive performance associated with aging, and may contribute to the development of dementia and Alzheimer&#8217;s disease. But action can be taken to reduce risks<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":23421,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[158],"tags":[163,168,170],"class_list":["post-23110","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-en","tag-cognitive-ageing","tag-nutraceutics","tag-prevention"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>To save the brain, protect the heart - SoLongevity<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/solongevity.com\/en\/longevity-news\/to-save-the-brain-protect-the-heart\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"To save the brain, protect the heart - SoLongevity\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Vascular problems and oxidative stress underlie the decline in cognitive performance associated with aging, and may contribute to the development of dementia and Alzheimer&#039;s disease. 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