Health
Brain blood flow could play a role in dementia
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Sept. 19, 2005
The volume of blood flowing to the brain may play a significant role in the development of dementia, according to a paper in the September issue of Radiology.
Researchers used magnetic resonance imaging to examine the brains of 17 people with late-onset dementia, 16 elderly people without dementia and 15 younger patients who were healthy. Those with dementia had significant damage to their brains as well as reduced blood flow.
The authors suggest that this further implicates cardiovascular health in the ability of the brain to function.
"Our findings not only support the hypothesis that vascular factors contribute to dementia in the elderly, they are highly suggestive that a diminished cerebral blood flow indeed causes brain damage," said Dr. Aart Spilt, lead author and a radiology resident at Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2005/09/19/hlbf0919.htm.
