Understanding the Relationship Between Your Brain and Blood Pressure

Healthy functioning of our body depends highly on the circulatory organ system. In humans, the blood circulatory system transports oxygen and minerals alongside other essential nutrients to different parts of the body. Blood pressure is the measure of force by which your heart pumps out blood to the arteries. It is composed of two components, the systolic and diastolic pressure. Hypertension or high blood pressure is one of the most common diseases arising from abnormal blood pressure. It has been categorised as cardiovascular disease and affects all the organs of the body. The most significant effect of hypertension is on the eyes, brain and kidneys.

What Is A Stroke?

Stroke is the damage to the brain due to ruptured blood vessels.

There are many types of strokes.

1. Ischemic Stroke
   It accounts for approximately eighty-seven per cent of all the strokes. It is caused due to the blockage of an artery to the brain. The brain tissue eventually dies as it runs out of oxygen and blood supply.
2. Intra Cerebral Haemorrhage
   It is caused due to a leakage in the blood vessel in the brain. This is often the result of persistent high blood pressure.
3. Embolic Stroke
   It is caused due to a blood clot that has travelled from another part of the body to the brain blood vessels.
4. Haemorrhagic Stroke
   It accounts for approximately thirteen percent of the strokes and is caused by ruptured blood vessels. It is considered far more severe than an ischemic stroke.
5. Subarachnoid Haemorrhage
   It is caused due to the bleeding in the space between the skull and the brain and arises due to an aneurysm.
6. Thrombotic Stroke
   It is caused by a blood clot that has formed where an artery narrows due to atherosclerosis.

How Is Dementia-related To Hypertension?

While the loss of one’s mental ability is one of the signs of ageing, many older individuals experience progressive memory loss at the early stages of ageing. Multi-infarct dementia is a medical condition wherein the brain’s smaller vascular system becomes diseased due to oxygen and glucose deprivation. Therefore, recovery becomes complicated when a large number of memory cells become damaged.

Five Steps That Can Help

The key is to lower the blood pressure and maintain normalcy. Five steps that can help you achieve normal blood pressure are:

1. Diet

   Reduce the sodium intake alongside the reduction in processed foods and increase in fruits, vegetables, fish and whole grains.

2. Exercise

   Regular exercise and maintaining a proper weight can help keep your blood pressure in control.

3. Moderate Alcohol

   It is essential to reduce heavy drinking and to maintain moderate drinking to keep your blood pressure regular.

4. NSAID

   You must reduce your intake of Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs) to maintain normal blood pressure.

5. Stress

   One of the significant factors that keep blood pressure in control is stress. You must ensure a stress-free environment to have healthy blood pressure.

Conclusion

High blood pressure and the complications that arise from it are very common to our changing lifestyle. Therefore, it is essential to monitor our blood pressure regularly. You must visit your doctor if you observe consistent high blood pressure and always maintain normal blood pressure levels.

Note of Caution: This article is for information purpose only. Always consult your doctor in case of any blood pressure or other health-related problems.