Blocked blood vessels: New research from Rush University
September 1, 2011 at 1:28pm
Dr. Aron Buchman is a neurologist at Rush University in Chicago. For the past 20 years, he has been studying the aging brain and subtle changes that preceed Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diagnoses. Here is the press regarding his most recent study, which looks at the brains after the participants have passed---
Signs of aging may be linked to undetected blocked brain blood vessels
Many common signs of aging, such as shaking hands, stooped posture and walking slower, may be due to tiny blocked vessels in the brain that can't be detected by current technology.
In a study reported in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association, researchers from Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, examined brain autopsies of older people and found:
Microscopic lesions or infarcts — too small to be detected using brain imaging — were in 30 percent of the brains of people who had no diagnosed brain disease or stroke.
Those who had the most trouble walking had multiple brain lesions. Two-thirds of the people had at least one blood vessel abnormality, suggesting a possible link between the blocked vessels and the familiar signs of aging.
"This is very surprising," said Dr. Aron S. Buchman, lead author of the study and associate professor of neurological sciences at Rush. "The public health implications are significant because we are not identifying the 30 percent who have undiagnosed small vessel disease that is not picked up by current technology. We need additional tools in order to identify this population."
