From rxpgnews.com
Signs of aging may be linked to undetected blocked brain blood vessels
By Rush University Medical Center,
Sep 1, 2011 - 4:00:00 AM
Many common signs of aging, such as shaking hands, stooped posture and walking slower, may be due to tiny blocked vessels in the brain that can't be detected by current technology.
"This is very surprising," said Aron S. Buchman, M.D., lead author of the study and associate professor of neurological sciences at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. "There is a very big public health consequence because we're not capturing this 30 percent who have undiagnosed small vessel disease that is not picked up by current technology. How would you even get them on your radar? We need additional tools in our toolkit."
In 1994, the researchers began conducting annual exams of 1,100 older nuns and priests for signs of aging. The participants also donated their brains for examination after death. This study provides results on the first 418 brain autopsies (61 percent women, average 88 years old at death).
Although Parkinson's disease occurs in only 5 percent of older people, at least half of people 85 and older have mild symptoms associated with the disease.
Before the study, researchers believed that something more common, such as microscopic blocked vessels, might be causing the physical decline. The study's autopsies found the small lesions could only be seen under a microscope after participants died.
The lesions couldn't be detected by current scans.
During the annual exams of the nuns and priests, researchers used the motor skills portion of a Parkinson's disease survey to assess their physical abilities.
"Often the mild motor symptoms are considered an expected part of aging," said Buchman, who is also a member of the Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center. "We shouldn't accept this as normal aging. We should try to fix it and understand it.
If there is an underlying cause, we can intervene and perhaps lessen the impact."
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