Brain, not heart, causes high blood pressure: researchers

[Al-khiyal]

The brain, not the heart is responsible for high blood pressure, according to details of a study by British researchers released Sunday.

The scientists said that hypertension, which can lead to heart attacks, strokes and kidney damage, is an inflammatory vascular disease of the brain rather than the heart, as previously thought.

They discovered that a protein located in the brain, JAM-1, trapped white blood cells, which can then cause inflammation and obstruct blood flow, leading to poor oxygen supply to the brain.

Professor Julian Paton, from Bristol University, western England, said the findings could lead to new ways of treating the condition.

"We are looking at the possibility of treating those patients that fail to respond to conventional therapy for hypertension with drugs that reduce blood vessel inflammation and increase blood flow within the brain," he added.

"The future challenge will be to understand the type of inflammation within the vessels in the brain, so we know what drug to use and how to target them.

"JAM-1 could provide us with new clues as how to deal with this disease."

Conventional treatment for reducing high blood pressure includes eating low fat food, reducing salt intake and regular exercise.

The associate medical director of the British Heart Foundation, Professor Jeremy Pearson, said: "This exciting study is important because it suggests there are unexpected causes of high blood pressure related to blood supply to the brain.

"It therefore opens up the possibility of new ways to treat this common, but often poorly managed condition."

About one in three people in Britain and more than 600 million people worldwide are thought to suffer from hypertension.

The findings are to be published in the next edition of medical journal Hypertension.

Brain, not heart, causes high blood pressure: researchers

[Al-khiyal]

The cause of high blood pressure may lie within the brain, rather than with problems relating to the heart, kidneys or blood vessels, research suggests.

Scientists at Bristol University say the findings could lead to new ways of treating the condition, which affects about one in five Britons.

The scientists isolated a protein, JAM-1, which appeared to trap white blood cells, obstructing blood flow.

This can cause inflammation and result in poor oxygen supply to the brain.

Professor Julian Paton and colleagues believe these, in turn, trigger events that raise blood pressure, the journal Hypertension reports.

Their studies in rats show JAM-1 is linked to raised blood pressure, but the exact mechanisms behind this are still unclear. They are now looking at the human brain to understand more.

Professor Paton explained: "The future challenge will be to understand the type of inflammation within the vessels in the brain, so that we know what drug to use, and how to target them.

"JAM-1 could provide us with new clues as to how to deal with this disease.

"We are looking at the possibility of treating those patients that fail to respond to conventional therapy for hypertension with drugs that reduce blood vessel inflammation and increase blood flow within the brain."

Professor Jeremy Pearson of the British Heart Foundation, which funded the latest work, said: "This exciting study is important because it suggests there are unexpected causes of high blood pressure related to blood supply to the brain.

"It therefore opens up the possibility of new ways to treat this common, but often poorly managed, condition."

It has been known for some time that the brain can affect blood pressure.

A team of researchers, led by Neurosurgery expert Mr Alex Green of Oxford's John Radcliffe Hospital, found they could make patients' blood pressure increase or decrease by stimulating very specific regions of the brain with electrodes.

Mr Green said the latest work was "very exciting" and that it suggested JAM-1 could be a good target for new blood pressure therapies.

Professor Graham MacGregor, chairman of the Blood Pressure Association, cautioned that the work was at a very early stage and much more extensive research was needed.

He said blood pressure medicines currently prescribed by doctors could be very effective, provided they were taken correctly and in combination with leading a healthy lifestyle.

Although high blood pressure, also known as hypertension, can cause headaches, dizziness and problems with vision, the majority of people with the condition do not display any noticeable symptoms.

It can lead to heart attack, stroke and kidney damage, but medication can be used to control its effects if changes to lifestyle fail to lower blood pressure.

Blood pressure 'is in the brain'

[Al-khiyal]

Hypertension

[Cheba_Mami]

Very interesting, it is hard to change the way the brain functions, its more easy to change lifestyle, eatinghabits etc.

[sania]

It should not have taken prolongd reseach to find out such a simple truth.
Hypertension is the result of the brain commanding the heart to pump at a higher pressure,
to push adequate quantity of blood-oxygen to the body as required.

After all, the brain controls and regulates everything that occurs within the body.
Even the breathing, circulation, cell multiplication, ageing are functions of sub-conscious brain,
which are beyond the realm of 'mind'

A dead brain... and all these involuntary actions cease.

That is why death is defined in medical terms as " Irrevocable cessation of the actions of the brain"

[amalgamate]

Brain, not heart, causes high blood pressure

I'm not sure one could come to that final conclusion. the title is deceiving, one would think Hypertension only comes from 'inflamed vascular tissue' from within the brain.

high blood pressure is merely the pressure of the blood pushing against the walls of the arteries. It could come from stress. (usually stress raises blood pressure temporarily) a more severe form of high blood pressure is termed hypertension and hypertension could be caused by a number of factors. kidney disorders , tumors in the brain, abnormal hormone production AND inflamed vascular tissue could also cause hypertension.

i haven't read a statement or herd from anyone saying 'high blood pressure comes from the heart' -all the heart does is beat the blood through the blood vessels. I don't see a direct connection here.

So reading the title of this article, "The Brain, not the heart, causes Hypertension" i was like... what?

someone enlighten me on some past studies that maybe pointed first to the heart as a source of hypertension...

[amalgamate]

It should not have taken prolongd reseach to find out such a simple truth.

After all, the brain controls and regulates everything that occurs within the body.
Even the breathing, circulation, cell multiplication, ageing are functions of sub-conscious brain,
which are beyond the realm of 'mind'

A dead brain... and all these involuntary actions cease.

That is why death is defined in medical terms as " Irrevocable cessation of the actions of the brain"

We all know that without our brain, we're useless. The brain is the ultimate machine that holds our nervous system and regulates bodily functions. But know that if some abnormalities arise from other parts of the body, you cannot immediatly imply that 'the brain is the source of the problem'. if there is a heart failure- one does not point to the brain as primary source to find out what's wrong. diagnosis usually is in the circulatory system- like finding a blood clot in a vein as the primary source. when there is a kidney disorder, it's not because of 'the brain'. the primary search is directed on the excretion system to see what may need repair there. if nothing was found, then other sources wuold be looked into.

so to figure out the cause of hypertension (problem with high pressure in blood vessels) one doesn't automatically say 'it's the brain'. doctors and researchers look into the body's circulatory system. external environmental factors and internal biological factors cause hypertension.


also in each individual the source of hypertension varies, -they all don't come from blood vessel inflamation within the brain.


salaam,