Stroke Causes Cognitive Problems
by Aleks Strande, N.D., Ph.D.
A recent study found that high blood pressure and other known risk factors for stroke also increase the risk of developing cognitive problems, even among people who had never had a stroke. The results emphasize the importance of early prevention to treat high blood pressure and preserve cognitive health prior to a stroke or other cerebral event.
Strokes, which affect some 795,000 Americans each year, occur when the blood vessels that supply the brain rupture or become blocked. A stroke can cause a host of cognitive disabilities, including effects on memory, speech, and language, and everyday problem solving. But even without suffering a stroke, individuals at risk for stroke may experience cognitive problems as their blood vessels deteriorate. Risk factors include age, high blood pressure, diabetes and heart problems.
A study conducted on 24,000 study participants who had no history of cognitive impairment or stroke, and no evidence of stroke during the study. At the start, the researchers assessed each person’s stroke risk with the Framingham Stroke Risk Profile. They also assessed cognitive health with a six item screening test that required participants to give the year, month and day, and to remember three items from a list after a short delay. The test was repeated annually. Over the course of the study, 1,907 people without an evident stroke showed cognitive impairment, which was significantly associated with their baseline Framingham score. In this group, age and left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH), an enlargement of the heart, were the only score components that independently predicted cognitive decline. Similar to the risk of stroke, each 10-year increment in age doubled the risk of cognitive impairment. LVH, when adjusted for other factors, increased the risk by about 30 percent.
Since LVH can result from high blood pressure, the researchers did a separate analysis excluding people with LVH. In this smaller group, high blood pressure was an independent predictor of cognitive decline, with each 10 mm Hg increase in systolic blood pressure bumping up the risk by 4 percent. Consistent with a prior report, demographic risk factors for stroke were also risk factors for cognitive decline. Men, African-Americans of both sexes, and residents of the Stroke Belt (Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee) had a higher risk of cognitive decline. Education was also a factor, with the risk of cognitive decline decreasing as education increased. The people who experienced cognitive decline may have had silent strokes or other subclinical changes affecting the brain’s blood supply. Scientists say that there is growing recognition of an overlap between the pathology of stroke and Alzheimer’s. The two conditions share several risk factors – including high blood pressure.
There are a lot of wonderful herbs that normalize blood pressure, restores hardening arteries, and diminished inflammation. Studies suggest taking the right nutrients at the right doses extends the lives of humans and animals by 33%. Poisonous drugs, also known as medications, are not going to prevent or heal anything. Only natural agents can heal and restore the tissue. The bottom line is, people suffering from strokes, hardened arteries, and high blood pressure will degenerate mentally and physically faster than the people without these risk factors. Let’s not get drugged, let’s get better!
Alex Strande, ND, Ph.D., is a naturopath and microbiologist. His primary location is in Houston, Texas. If you have any issues concerning your health, please visit us at www.simplyhealingclinic.com or call us to set up a consultation on 713.660.1420. We do long distance phone/Skype consultations with people from all around the world.