Don’t let high blood pressure “steal” your memory

  Currently, cardiovascular deaths in China account for 41% of total mortality, with 3.5 million deaths per year, of which 70% of strokes and 50% of myocardial infarctions are related to hypertension. Controlling hypertension has become the entry point for cardiovascular disease prevention and treatment. Bad lifestyle, continuous high pressure environment and even cervical spondylosis are important causes of hypertension. In addition to the impact of hypertension on a variety of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, it also affects the patient’s memory and cognition.  1, persistent mental stress leads to hypertension primary hypertension is a lifestyle disease, 70%-80% of hypertension occurs due to poor lifestyle related. These poor lifestyles include: high sodium and low potassium diet, obesity, long-term excessive alcohol consumption, long-term mental stress, lack of physical exercise, etc.  The incidence of hypertension in young people is increasing year by year, some patients are only 30 years old, a person if long-term high pressure, tension, rest is not good, the balance of neurological experience will break, the heart rate accelerates, peripheral vasoconstriction, which leads to increased blood pressure, the heart is overburdened, resulting in heart rate arrhythmias, serious induced acute myocardial infarction.  2, cervical spondylosis can lead to high and low blood pressure cervical spondylosis may lead to high and low blood pressure, which is related to the cervical spine hyperplasia of the bone stimulation sympathetic nerves in the spinal canal, the patient may be accompanied by a series of symptoms such as neck pain, soreness, upper limb numbness. If these patients are treated as ordinary hypertensive patients, the effect is often poor, only after finding the root cause and controlling cervical spondylosis, blood pressure will then drop.  3, high blood pressure is “stealing” the memory of the elderly We often find that the elders suffering from high blood pressure as soon as they get older, memory will follow the decline, some even grocery bills will be wrong, this may be related to high blood pressure! The latest research shows that high blood pressure can quietly steal the memory of the elderly, because it can cause brain atrophy, accelerating the loss of memory and other cognitive abilities of the elderly. As people with hypertension get older, the degree of brain atrophy gets worse, and elderly people with hypertension have a hard time remembering!  A high percentage of Alzheimer’s patients have combined hypertension. Hypertension impairs cognitive function, mainly in the areas of number-crunching, composition, generalization, and attention. Usually these aspects are more closely related to work, but because most elderly people have left work long ago, they are not easily detected, and dementia caused by hypertension is insidious. Many patients with Alzheimer’s eventually die because of complications, and hypertension can lead to cerebrovascular disease and blood clots, which are potentially fatal complications. Therefore, it is recommended that elderly people with early cognitive impairment should have their blood pressure checked regularly.  According to the results of the 2013 Multicenter Cross-sectional Study on the Prevalence of Diabetes in Chinese Outpatients with Hypertension, the prevalence of diabetes among hypertensive patients was 24.3% (including diagnosed and newly diagnosed patients). The prevalence of diabetes mellitus among hypertensive patients was 24.3% (both diagnosed and newly diagnosed patients), with 34.7% of newly diagnosed diabetes.  An increase in cardiac output without peripheral changes can cause an increase in blood pressure; an increase in peripheral resistance without changes in cardiac output or blood volume can also increase blood pressure. And both changes are present in diabetic patients, so they can cause a rapid rise in blood pressure and serious complications. On the other hand, hypertension may affect glucose metabolism, which can also aggravate diabetes, including the effect on small vessels and kidneys, creating a vicious circle. Therefore, for patients with hypertension combined with diabetes, blood pressure needs to be lowered along with sugar.  5, treatment for 4 weeks does not meet the standard must adjust the program At present, the domestic hypertension guidelines point out that normal people’s blood pressure control in high pressure 140, low pressure 90, for diabetes, patients with kidney disease blood pressure control in high pressure 130, low pressure 80. After five years of investigation, it reduced the mortality rate by 25%. This will also inspire domestic clinical guidelines to guide physicians in further lowering patients’ blood pressure. Studies have shown that achieving blood pressure within 4 weeks reduces the incidence of coronary heart disease and stroke more than achieving it later. Antihypertensive drugs reach 50% of their maximum efficacy in the first week of treatment; most of the reduction in blood pressure comes in the first 4 weeks of treatment. Therefore, those who fail to reach the blood pressure target in 2-4 weeks should adjust their treatment regimen.  When the memory of the elderly at home is getting worse and worse, even accompanied by numbness of the limbs, slurred speech, mood changes, etc., it is important not to avoid the disease, timely hospital visits, brain imaging (CT, MR or DSA), as well as blood lipids, blood sugar, heart and other factors leading to atherosclerosis, for comprehensive treatment. In addition, it should be reminded that patients with hypertension should neither control their blood pressure nor take excessive medication, as low blood pressure can also lead to cerebrovascular disease. Hypertension is a chronic disease and should be taken for life, and medication should be reasonably adjusted according to your blood pressure.