Brain Connection To Hypertension? 92
The possibility that one cause of high blood pressure lies within the brain, and not the heart or blood vessels, has been put forward by scientists at the University of Bristol, UK. A research group there found a novel role for a protein called JAM-1, located in the walls of blood vessels in the brain. JAM-1 traps white blood cells, which can then cause inflammation and may obstruct blood flow, resulting in poor oxygen supply to the brain. The article notes that the idea that hypertension is an inflammatory vascular disease of the brain is somewhat controversial.
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Re:Tongue Connection To Hypertension? (Score:4, Informative)
If it were so, then diuretics would not be a first line drug for hypertension, and considered to be the most effective ones at that. What you are saying is true for those who are not hypertensive, yes... but eating high amounts of salt, over time, puts serious strain on the kidneys, and can lead to future hypertension. If you are hypertensive, then sodium management plays a BIG role in your blood pressure.
Americans eat more than 8 grams of sodium per day, on average... some people more than 10 grams... That's a hell of a lot of salt... Since sodium is about half the weight of salt, you are looking at about 16 grams of salt per day.
In other words, Americans eat, on average, almost 3 tablespoons of salt a day... and the kidneys have to filter all that stuff out. It's not easy. Sodium filtration is very hard on the kidneys--it's the most challenging of all the kidney's filtration processes. One of the reasons why blood pressure increases with high sodium is that the kidneys need extra pressure to force the sodium through it's sodium "filter", especially if the kidneys have been damaged (and we all suffer some kidney damage as we get older). High salt really gives the kidneys a workout, and over time, causes them to wear out. When the kidneys get less effective in managing fluid balance, it can cause an incredibly dramatic shift in blood pressure. An increase in blood volume of only 2% can cause a 20 point increase in blood pressure. *ALL* essential hypertensives have fluid balance problems (many secondary hypertensives have other causes, like thyroid, adrenal, or neurological problems.. that is a different story). that is why hypertension docs are nephrologists... kidney specialists. The kidneys, and their regulation of blood volume, are the key to hypertension in 90% of cases.
Our bodies are not designed to handle the incredibly high loads of salt we ingest daily. We were made to eat fresh food, where sodium (except for meat) is rather low...
Low salt diets really work. I am on one... my parents are on one... If you do it right, you can avoid nasty blood pressure medicines that make you miserable.
Thanks,
Mike
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Diuretics are the first drug tried because they are cheap, rarely have unpleasant side affects, and work for about 50% of hypertensives.
***Americans eat more than 8 grams of sodium per day, on average***
More like 3.5 grams on average -- about twice the minimum recommended value. (Humans need some dietary Sodium and Chloride to function). Now the Japanese ... they
Summary is misleading (Score:5, Informative)
FTFA:
As there is still poor understanding about what changes occur in people when hypertension develops, the finding of JAM-1 is of great interest and opens up multiple new avenues for further research and potential treatment.
Re:Summary is misleading (Score:4, Funny)
Also (Score:3, Funny)
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Oh really? So a physics professor can't be skeptical of evolution and still be considered a "scientist?" I didn't realize the criteria for science was: "must improperly and broadly apply Darwin's theory of natural selection to human origins." Darwin wrote two major works: The Origin of Species and The Descent of Man. The first one describes
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If a physicist is a creationist, he's not applying science to his biological ideas. Creationism is based on a refusal to argue with evidence. Your claptrap about Darwin's writings being racist is an example. It's interesting that creationists seem inca
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I think you're operating under a flawed definition of "scientist." A scientist is someone who, according to Merriam-Webster, specializes in a branch of the natural sciences. That's it. Nowhere in there does it equate someone's evolutionary viewpoint with their validity as a scientist. Perhaps you define scientist as "someone who applies the Scientific Method to every aspect of their lives." If
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Yeah, I thought it was a no brainer.
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It's controversial because it's new, and some minds are slow to adapt to new paradigms...</troll>
More seriously, as every new finding/hypothesis it has to be taken carefully, assessed in va
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(loved your mental dialogue, btw)
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There are many proteins/lipids/cytokines such as A1+32 (a subunit of good cholesterol, HDL) that cause inflammation in the vascular wall, some are caused by oxidation of these antigens and there are many others, such as this newly named JAM-1, that we are yet to understand.
A scientific finding does not a breakthrough make, and
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I'm unsure of what you perceive I need to get over ........
"You've got a chart filling a whole wall with interlocking pathways
and reactions to shock and the researcher says "If I can just control
this one molecule/enzyme/compound I'll stop the whole negative
physi
JAM-1 behavior (Score:2, Interesting)
Is it possible that this is unintended behavior on the part of the protein or does the behavior serve some purpose?
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Heliobacter P. was controversial... (Score:5, Interesting)
Not too long ago a http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helicobacter_pylori [wikipedia.org] was a similarly 'radical' concept. We know how that ended up changing things with regard to the treatment of ulcers.
What I'm interested in is if there's a link with migraines. Hypertension medication is quite often helpfull in preventing or modulating migraine attacks in severe sufferers. The underlying mechanisms of migraines are not fully known and what mechanisms are known, are poorly understood. There seems to be concensus that it involves a chemical inflamation proces of arteries in the skull, though and if this proposition holds, that might explain how these medications work for migraines, too.
Re:Heliobacter P. was controversial... (Score:4, Informative)
Your link says that nothing substantial changed, as the new conventional treatment doesn't work just like the old conventional treatment didn't work:
Some people will benefit from any treatment, of course, due to the placebo effect, and sporadic success of treating ulcers with antibiotics is not indicative of accuracy of the theory ('ulcers are caused by bacteria').
Incidentally, your link reminds me of a different overview for health I ran across some years back. Information doesn't sell nearly as well as pharmaceuticals, and the site disappeared sometime last year. Archive.org fortunately still has a copy: Stomach Ulcers to Indigestion from Too Little Acid in the Stomach [archive.org]. If I may be so bold as to summarize this website, it says that stomach ulcers result from an excess of metabolic acids in the body-system; the presence of large colonies of said bacterium are simply indicative of an extreme pH imbalance. The body generates acids as a normal part of the metabolic processes. Modern diets are deficient in the alkaline minerals necessary to neutralize these acids, and most don't get the exercise necessary to 'burn off' the acids either, hence the explosion of chronic disease of all sorts.
There was also a page on heart disease [archive.org]. Too bad you can't bottle this information up & sell it to people for $100/month... I have family members on high blood pressure medication, and they don't work very well. Their treatments would be so much more effective if they addressed the causes (chronic stress is the other big one), rather than just a symptom.
Re:Heliobacter P. was controversial... (Score:5, Informative)
Fortunately (for me) I was referring to the part where the discovery of a bacterium as a cause, was a radical new insight that met loads of scepticism in the scientific an medical community. As it turns out, it did change a lot in the treatment of ulcers. The fact that treatment now is becoming more and more ineffective does nothing to diminish the discovery that a whole new mechanism is the main cause for Gastric Ulcers!
The rest of your rant may or may not be accurate but nothing you say takes away from the fact that this research might mean a lot to the field. I want to see this new research carried forward until it is either proven or disproven and consequences are taken.
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From the fine article: The alarming statistic that nearly 60 per cent of patients remain hypertensive, even though they are taking drugs to alleviate the condition, emphasises the urgency of looking for new mechanisms by which the body co
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Others have already responded to the wholly unscientific nature of the literature you reference so I'll stick to the facts and logic here: the fact that a therapy used to work and is becoming less effective do not mean the underlying mechanism is not at work. The underlying mechanism has, in my opinion, been proven through scientific means and methods. The fact that perhaps agravating factors are at play does not matter in this respect. Point in case: the fact that bacteria become resistant to anti-biotics
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Yes, because clearly your time is so valuable that you do not have time to create an account or log in. You certainly showed him.
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"You've got a chart filling a whole wall with interlocking pathways
and reactions to shock and the researcher says "If I can just control
this one molecule/enzyme/compound I'll
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"You've got a chart filling a whole wall with interlocking pathways
and reactions to shock and the researcher says "If I can just control
this one molecule/enzyme/compound I'll stop the whole
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Best medical site ever!
I wonder why they went under?
Smells like Bulls *clap* hi
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I'm a GP and an ER physician and went to school in the 90s (after the era of moder
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I have good cause to distrust pharmaceutical medicine - it's done nothing for me but cover up the health problems I had. The turning point for me wa
Edgar Cayce???? You ARE kidding..... (Score:1)
Thanks, but I'll take a
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I've read good things about the brandy keg thing; not familiar with the "bedbug juice" or rabbit skin suggestions. I recently got the cd w/ the readings on it, so I will look sometime and see if there is any truth to this, and if so, the context provided (I'm currently away f
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I've read about Cayce before. I actually remembered the Atlantis comment and certainly remembered that he'd come up with some total whackjob treatments. Though the remainder of the specifics was from:
http://skepdic.com/cayce.html [skepdic.com] http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mcayce.html [straightdope.com] http://psychicinvestigator.com/demo/ReinSkp4.htm [psychicinvestigator.com] (James Randi) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Cayce [wikipedia.org] (mostly the links)
And I'm sooooooo truly disappointed that you aren't impressed. However, when deciding who is tru
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YHBT, you just haven't realized it yet. Hope the awa
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1. YHBT, not by myself, but by the Establishment. Military-Industrial, Medical-Industrial, etc. The goal of these establishments is to concentrate power (economic and otherwise) for themselves, and depower 'teh masses'.
2. I have one account on Slashdot. I'm not a big fan of the nick I chose, all those years ago, but I do like my UID. I don't need to mod up my own posts - sometimes moderators find value in what I've said, and sometimes t
You're kidding yourself. (Score:2)
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Following are possible migraine causes I found interesting:
1) caffeine withdrawal
2) "hole in the heart" aka Patent Foramen Ovale.
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It is very well known that there isn't a single 'cause' for migraines. What remains uncertain is what mechanism is causing the migraines. We already know that there are a multitude of triggers for migraine. What isn't understood is the how these triggers then all cause the arteries in the head to do something very painful, as well as cause neurological and systemic effects.
For your information, caffeïne withdrawal isn't considered migraine, as isn't a hangover. All three are considered 'vascular type h
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Several years I also was on bloodpressure medication that seemed to lessen the frequency of my migraine attacks. However the side effect was that I seemed to be very tired and I started to put on weight. I quit taking the stuff but I've found the better sha
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First of all, let me express my sympathy. I too have suffered from migraines and occaisionally still do. I also used preventatitive medication and had all sorts of nasty side-effects. When I used propanolol, an old-school blood-pressure medication from the 'beta-blocker' category, I had the same side-effects as you did, and then some.
The blood-pressure medication I'm currently on, micardis (telmisartan), is of a completely different class: the angiotensine2-antagonists. Yes there are side-effects but I find
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I'm sorry I'm so late in replying. I completely agree with your idea that migraine has to do with a disturbed equilibrium in the brain, perhaps in the neurotransmitter levels. That's part of the 'unknown mechanisms' I was talking about. You're also right about the uncertainty of the blood vessels being cause or effect, that's the 'poorly understood mechanisms' that I spoke of.
I wish I had a deeper understanding of the bio-chemistry involved, like you seem to have. It's a very interesting field of science a
makes sense (Score:2, Interesting)
aspirin is an anti-inflamatory...
aspirin also stop platelets (Score:2)
And even more evidence (Score:5, Funny)
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Answer this: (Score:1)
(Rhetorical question, FYI)
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Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by University of Bristol. i.e. Dumbed down for normal people.
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No, although there is a resemblance. The one you're thinking of has curly hair and was a bit darker.
About the egg thing, BTW - I would just lay off dairy for a while and give your digestive system time to settle down. I have the same problem with spicy food.
Duh (Score:2)
tfa says one cause (Score:1)
Consider this, my brother-in-law was a mellow dude who did scientific work outdoors in beautiful national parks. He ate healthily and got regular excercise as part of his workday. He had bad hypertension.
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Even with my pills I barely (most of the time I dont) get below 140/90. There are so many reasons why someone has high blood pressure but stressful living isnt a sure way to get it nor is a relaxed living a sure way not to have it.
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AAAAAAAAGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH FUC.......
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i can see the stressors now:
OMG BEAR! RUN!
OMG BEES!
*wakes up* SCORPION ON MY FACE!
who knows.. maybe even DB cooper fell on his head.
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My impression is that adding cigarettes and an extra 50 pounds to that stressed-out type is the kicker.
Then it doesn't even matter if he is stressed out, his blood pressure is still through the roof.
Seriously, hypertension and obesity, and hypertension and smoking, good strong links.
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"You've got a chart filling a whole wall with interlocking pathways
and reactions to shock and the researcher says "If I can just control
this one molecule/enzyme/compound I'll stop the whole negative
physiologic cascade of post haemorrhagic shock." Yeah, right."
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Bad genetics. Or type 1 diabetes (which is also bad genetics). Stress as a contributing factor to steady hypertension (as opposed to spikes in blood pressure) is over-rated.
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The one thing I will say is that hippies with hypertension are much less likely to have well controlled hypertension. They are much more likely to insist that if they do X more y
If 600 Million people are hypertensive, then (Score:1)
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"mcdonalds wont make me STOP EATING"
or
"omg im too fat for teh airplane seat!, its the airlines' fault!"
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Yeah, the article says there are 600 million hypertensives and we all know (or think we know) that there are 6,000,000,000 people on the planet. But that six billion is rather strongly biased toward children, teenagers, and young adults who rarely have hypertension even if they will develop it later in life. So nature is out to get more than one in ten. Maybe more like one in six -- one in four among
Jam-1 (Score:1)
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No surprise to me (Score:2)
In her early 60s, she tripped, hit her head on a brick, and got a concussion. Immediately, her BP shot up to, say, 200 over 150. It stayed there for years. Now that she's in her 70s, it's finally gotten down to a "slightly high of normal" range.
T
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The new thing in the current news is that it is not the brain, but immune system that causes problems with blood flow in the brain which causes the brain to increase pressure to fix the flow.
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With all due respect (Score:2)
This explains alot (Score:1)
This article suggests that the underlying principle underlying both, is the same (clogging of arteries). Which for me as a med-student is pretty damn cool to read, since the hypertension-CVA connection is pretty poorly understood.
P.S. Artherosclerosis is caused by white bloodcells being absorbed into the blood wall and co
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So, the article makes perfect sense to me.
Thanks,
Mike
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(as the heart has its own neuron muscle trigger path.)But basicly it has to keep up the oxygen flow. The most demanding organ in this is the brain itself.
The brain controls even a neuron path in the neck to keep the blood presure always constant (when you go from standing to sitting it is used)
Humans have even a diving reflex that keeps the blood in most importend parts under a constant pressure (de
increase blood flow (Score:2)
So would gingko biloba [howtodothings.com] lower blood pressure? It's well-known to increase blood flow to the brain. There's doubt that this does anything, as has been claimed, to improve memory. But due to the extensive marketing based on that claim it's widely available, cheap, comes in standardized doses.... Since blood-pressure gauges are also wide
brain connection to hyperspace (Score:1)