Too much salt can lead to vasodilation in the brain… A phenomenon that increases the risk of suffering from high blood pressure.
- High blood pressure is a silent disease because an individual can have it and not experience any direct symptoms.
- If it is not detected, this pathology can affect other organs and have very serious consequences such as a stroke.
Do not eat too salty … Nutritionists and doctors hammer this message to their patients. And yet, the majority of people consume too much salt per day, between 9 and 12 grams instead of the less than 5 grams recommended by the World Health Organization. In the short term, we do not observe the consequences of this small gesture on our health. But, in the long run, such abuse threatens our body: increased risk of high blood pressure, cardiovascular diseases, such as stroke or myocardial infarction, etc. Researchers have just added another element to this list: the vasodilation of the blood vessels of the brain which precisely promotes arterial hypertension. Their study has just been published in the journal Cell Reports.
Vasodilation reduces blood flow and deprives cells of oxygen
The hypothalamus is a region of the brain that controls the secretion of hormones and regulates hunger, stress or sleep. When an individual eats too much salt, the researchers discovered that some of his neurons – present in the nucleus of the hypothalamus – secrete a hormone responsible for regulating the concentration of salt in the blood. It’s vasopressin. The more they produce, the greater the person’s blood flow, which leads to vasodilation in their brain. It is an increase in the size of blood vessels that leads to a decrease in blood flow to the brain and oxygen starvation in some of its cells. Thus the scientists believe that their work is an additional argument to affirm that a diet too rich in salt could increase the risk of being hypertensive.
High blood pressure, the most common chronic disease
Arterial hypertension is the most frequent chronic pathology in France according to National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm). It can be defined as abnormally high blood pressure in the blood vessels of the body, including those of the brain. Most of the time, it is measured during consultations with his general practitioner using a tensiometer. Normal blood pressure is 120/80. The first number is the systolic pressure, it is equivalent to the maximum pressure, when the heart contracts to empty itself of blood. 80 is the diastolic pressure, which is the minimum when the heart relaxes to fill. We speak of high blood pressure when these figures exceed 149/90 at the doctor’s office and 135/85 at home. Indeed, in case of suspicion of arterial hypertension, the doctor generally asks the patient to take self-readings of his blood pressure at home several times a day for three days for a more accurate assessment.
Medicines and a healthy lifestyle to control high blood pressure
“In France, it is estimated that there are between 11 to 14 million hypertensivesensures the Pr Atul Pathak, cardiologist and president of the French Society of Hypertension (SFHTA). But only one hypertensive out of two knows that he suffers from this disease.”. However, high blood pressure is easy to detect and control. Its management is mainly based on the follow-up of an appropriate drug treatment. and compliance with lifestyle rules such as regular physical activity, weight loss, a balanced diet and, of course, not too salty!
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