High blood pressure and other risk factors accounted for about 15 percent of the abnormal tissue in brain structure. They were examined on four occasions spanning between 1969, when the study was initiated, and 1997. In the last examination in 1997, the men, whose ages then averaged 72 years, were scanned with MRI to determine brain volume or size, changes in white matter, and evidence of vascular disease such as stroke. Comparing those pictures with information about individual s risk factors present at mid-life portrayed how behaviors like smoking and alcohol consumption and conditions such as high blood pressure and diabetes influenced the brain over time, according to DeCarli. We can get a picture of the brain that shows problems that may not yet have visible symptoms.
Silent strokes occur in the small blood vessels in the brain.
They are called silent strokes because there are no visible manifestations nor do they cause the classic signs of stroke, says DeCarli. But signs of such disease are evident from MRI scans, says DeCarli. And our findings show that people at risk for these problems have many mid-life risk factors. Inc. All rights reserved. Unauthorized use prohibited.