Your Blood Pressure and Your Mind
Lyle Loughry
February 2009
Practically everyone, especially over the age of 50, will experience occasional memory lapses. At some point, we begin to refer to them as "Senior moments." We all forget things as we get older, and some folks are convinced that foggy thinking is a natural part of aging, and unavoidable. Many older people have a slight loss of memory that does not affect their daily lives, but memory loss that gets worse could mean that you have dementia. If you have high blood pressure—this condition may increase your chances of experiencing memory loss, foggy thinking, and perhaps even early dementia, especially if the condition continues to worsen.
While memory loss can be one symptom of dementia, (usually the earliest and most noticeable symptom), it is certainly not the only one, so don't jump too quickly to the assumption of dementia because of an occasional "Senior moment."
Symptoms of dementia include:
* difficulty in recalling recent events-
* Not recognizing familiar people and places-
* Having trouble finding the right words to express thoughts, or name objects-
* Having difficulty performing calculations-
* Having problems planning and carrying out tasks, such as balancing a checkbook, following a recipe, or writing a letter-
* Having trouble exercising judgment, such as knowing what to do in an emergency-
* Having difficulty controlling moods or behaviors-
* Depression and agitation or aggression-
* Not keeping up personal care, such as grooming or bathing-
* Occasional signs of depression.
More progressive forms of dementia can exhibit other key symptoms, such as:
* highly detailed visual hallucinations-
* Frequent falling-
* Personality changes or unusual behavior. People with this condition may not express any caring for others, or they may say rude things, expose themselves, or make sexually explicit comments.
Recent studies by Jason C. Allaire, Ph.D., and colleagues at the Department of Psychology at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, provided new information on the subject by exploring the effect of spikes in blood pressure levels on brain function. Simply put, they found that these "spikes" may cloud your thinking. It's true . . . if you have hypertension and experience spikes in your blood pressure—you might have an increased risk of experiencing "brain drain!"
According to results published in The Journals of Gerontology, the study involved 36 older people in the Detroit area, whose ages ranged from 60 to 87 years old. All participants were required to measure their blood pressure twice a day for 60 consecutive days. The results indicated that people with high blood pressure tended to perform poorly on cognitive tasks—especially when their blood pressure level was above their personal average. Participants with healthy blood pressure levels had different results. These participants in the study did not see their cognitive functioning drop, even when their blood pressure rose on occasion.
Because of SAD (Standard American Diet), lack of exercise and numereous stress factors, it's common to find people in their 20's and 30's experiencing high blood pressure. The odds are good that most people will have high blood pressure in their lifetime. In fact, 90% of people with normal blood pressure at age 55 will have high blood pressure as they get older. It’s important to understand that even though high blood pressure is quite common, its still quite dangerous, and should not be ignored.
Your chances of having dementia rise as you get older. But this does not mean that everyone will get it. Many older adults never get it. By age 85, about 35 out of 100 people have it, however that means that 65 out of 100 people this age do not have dementia.
"If you have blood pressure that wildly fluctuates, and you have high blood pressure, you might be in double trouble for poorer cognitive functioning," Allaire said in a Reuter's health report. The best way to preserve your thinking is to make serious efforts to get your blood pressure under control. Using a wrist blood pressure monitor can help you graph your readings regularly and possibly determine to what extent foods, moods and stress affect your blood pressure.
Conventional doctors will often urge their patients to change their diet, exercise regularly, quit smoking, and generally lead less stressful lives (change your lifestyle), and if that isn't effective the doctor may prescribe a medication like Diuretics, Calcium Channel Blockers, ACE Inhibitors, Angiotensin II Receptor Blockers, and/or Beta Blockers. While I would readily subscribe to the changes in lifestyle, personally, I wouldn't use any of the medications mentioned, because there are natural ways to address the situation without the side effects that always accompany drugs.
For example, we now have available an amazing blood pressure secret from the Japanese that has a tremendous track record. This landmark development for cardiovascular health is called Nattokinase. Nattokinase is a potent fibrinolytic enzyme extracted and highly purified from a traditional Japanese food called Natto, a fermented cheese-like food that has been used in Japan for over 1000 years for its popular taste, and as a folk remedy for heart and vascular diseases. Now, after many centuries in secrecy, nattokinase is finally available in America. Natto is produced by a fermentation process by adding Bacillus natto, a benefical bacteria, to boiled soybeans. The resulting nattokinase enzyme is produced when Bacillus natto acts on the soybeans. While other soy foods contain enzymes, it is only the natto preparation that contains the specific nattokinase enzyme.
By eating this powerful enzyme, the Japanese keep their blood vessels clear and free of dangerous blood clots. Plus, there's an amazing side effect; because blood flows more freely through your arteries, less blood pressure is required. In fact, a blue ribbon study in Japan showed a 10.9% drop in systolic blood pressure and a 9.7% drop in diastolic blood pressure with nattokinase supplementation.
Doctor Hiroyuki Sumi discovered nattokinase in 1980 while working as a researcher and majoring in physiological chemistry at Chicago University Medical School. After testing over 173 natural foods as potential thrombolytic agents, Sumi found what he was looking for when Natto was dropped onto artificial thrombus (fibrin) in a Petri dish and allowed it to stand at approximately body temperature. The thrombus around the natto dissolved gradually and had completely dissolved within 18 hours.
Blood clots (or thrombi) form when strands of protein called fibrin accumulate in a blood vessel. In the heart, blood clots cause blockage of blood flow to muscle tissue. If blood flow is blocked, the oxygen supply to that tissue is cut off and it eventually dies. This can result in angina and heart attacks. Clots in chambers of the heart can mobilize to the brain. In the brain, blood clots also block blood and oxygen from reaching necessary areas, which can result in senility and/or stroke.
Doctor Hiroyuki Sumi had long researched thrombolytic enzymes searching for a natural agent that could successfully dissolve thrombus (fibrin) associated with blood clots associated with heart attacks and stroke. Sumi named the newly discovered enzyme "nattokinase", which means "enzyme in natto". Sumi commented that nattokinase showed "a potency matched by no other enzyme." Since then, Nattokinase has been the subject of 17 studies.
It has recently been revealed that thrombotic clogging of the cerebral blood vessels may be a cause of dementia. It has been estimated that sixty percent of senile dementia patients in Japan is caused by thrombus. Thrombotic diseases typically include cerebral hemorrhage, cerebral infarction, cardiac infarction and angina pectoris, and also include diseases caused by blood vessels with lowered flexibility, including senile dementia and diabetes
Dr. Martin Milner of the Center for Natural Medicine in Portland, Oregon and Dr. Kouhei Makise of the Imadeqawa Makise Clinica in Kyoto, Japan were able to launch a joint research project on nattokinase and write an extensive paper on their findings. "In all my years of research as a professor of cardiovascular and pulmonary medicine, natto and nattokinase represents the most exciting new development in the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular related diseases," Dr. Milner said. "We have finally found a potent natural agent that can thin and dissolve clots effectively, with relative safety and without side effects."
Clearly, if you want to support healthy circulation; enjoy normal blood pressure; reduce inflammation and pain, and minimize the threat of dementia in the future, and best of all do it naturally, nattokinase is the nutrient for you, and Naticor
(TM) is the product that is superior to all others. Naticor may well be the most effective, targeted, fibrin fighter available anywhere. It contains only bioactive ingredients, captured in a vegetable capsule. It's exclusive formula consists of not one or two, but five extra-strength proteolytic enzymes--Nattokinase NSK-SD, Serrateopeptidase, G+, NPH(TM), G+ pro 4.0(TM), and G+ pro AP 3.0(TM)--combined with R(+) lipoic acid, rutoside and a unique mineral matrix to provide you a product you can trust.
To find out how to get this scientifically proven enzyme in an easy to take, daily supplement, contact me at ultrahealth@cs.com or 800-829-9913. To your excellent health. Lyle
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