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Systolic blood pressure below 120mmHG reduces hemorrhage stroke risk by 25%
According to a recently published review of 1800 cases of spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) which were followed over approximately four years, the risk of a ICH recurrence fell by about 25% when systolic blood pressure was maintained below 120mmHG (.75 hazard ration), as compared with blood pressure maintenance in the slightly higher 120-130mmHG range. Our…
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Depression may interfere with blood pressure management after intracerebral hemorrhage
Blood pressure management (which typically means keeping average systolic pressure below 130Hg) is one of the few means of reducing the risk of intracerebral hemorrhage for patients with cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA). Yet, less than one-half of patients are able to achieve their necessary blood pressure targets. According to one study at Mass General Hospital,…
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Australian actor tests positive for two copies of the APOE4 gene.
Australian actor, Chris Hemsworth, tests positive for two copies of the APOE4 gene that increases risk of CAA or Alzheimers. Will this call attention to CAA, AD, and the need for life style changes in the broader public?https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/nov/21/chris-hemsworth-to-take-time-off-from-acting-after-discovering-alzheimers-risk
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Unraveling microinfarts and microbleeds in cerebral amyloid angiopathy
At Mass General Hospital, Susanne Janneke van Veluw, gives an impressive explanation of the pathophysiology of microinfarts and microbleeds due to CAA. Microinfarts seem to come from blood vessels that retain amyloid-beta, lose smooth muscle cells, and therefore become stiff–possibly leading to an infart. Microbleeds seem to occur when cells lose both amyloid-beta and smooth…
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Low levels of BACE1 Inhibition might be a promising treatment for AD
The production of amyloid-β can be reduced by “…inhibitors of β-site amyloid precursor protein (APP)-cleaving enzyme 1 (BACE1.” Therefore, BACE1 inhibitors would seem to offer promising drug therapies for AZ (and perhaps for CAA?). Although nearly all trials have been unsuccessful and discontinued, any harmful effects are reversible. It therefore seems that treatments with lower…
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Taxifolin may be a Potential Treatment for Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy
“Taxifolin is a plant flavonoid, widely available as a health supplement…[with] anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory effects..[It can protect] against advanced glycation end products and mitochondrial damage…prevent oligomer formation and increase clearance of Aβ in a mouse model of CAA. Disturbed cerebrovascular reactivity and spatial reference memory impairment in CAA are completely prevented by Taxifolin treatment.” Clinical…
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Apolipoprotein D may be a potential biomarker for CAA
Apolipoprotein D (apoD) is a potential cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarker for cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) since it appears to be associated with CAA in human brain tissue. According to research in the Netherlands, “ApoD was strongly associated with amyloid deposits in vessels, but not with parenchymal plaques [as would be the case for Alzheimers (AD)]….…
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PSMD may be a promising new test for CAA
A rather technical-sounding measure called “Peak Width of Skeletonized Mean Diffusivity” (PSMD) has been proposed as a measure of brain injury. According to an article in published in “Frontiers in Neuroscience,” this measure – a variant on conventional MRI – may be able to distinguish between injury caused by cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) or arteriosclerosis.…
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Important News: The Flu Vaccine May Protect Against Cognitive Impairment!
An annual flu shot seems to be protective not only against the flu but against Alzheimer’s disease–and possibly against the cognitive effects of CAA (Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy). Here is a link to this research:https://www.webmd.com/vaccines/news/20220630/flu-vaccine-older-minds-sharp-study According to WebMD, “In a large study of vaccinated and unvaccinated adults ages 65 and older, those who received at least…