Hypertension and Brain Damage

Book excerpt: This book focuses on diverse aspects of the relationship between hypertension and brain damage, providing up-to-date information that will be of interest to both clinicians and researchers. After an introductory chapter on epidemiology, the significance of various comorbidities that represent risk factors for brain damage in the context of hypertension is discussed. Detailed consideration is then given to the effects of hypertension on small and large cerebral arteries and the consequences for brain damage. Similarly, the association between hypertension and ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke is fully explored, and the evidence and guidelines regarding reduction of high blood pressure during the acute phase of each form of stroke are summarized. Both the primary and the secondary prevention of stroke are addressed, with presentation of the results of key trials. Readers will also find interesting new perspectives on the roles of different imaging techniques, including CT and functional MRI, in detecting and diagnosing brain damage in patients with hypertension. The closing chapters review the relation of hypertension to subjective and objective cognitive failures and to cognitive decline and dementia.