How does hypertension lead to thinking problems?
One obvious reason is that high blood pressure increases the risk of stroke by damaging blood vessels that carry blood to the brain. This damage leads to the buildup of plaques, and when one of these plaques ruptures, a blood clot forms. If this blood clot cuts off blood supply to brain cells responsible for memory or other cognitive functions, the death of these cells can lead to impairments in thinking ability. But researchers are starting to find that hypertension has a more insidious effect on the brain — that is, you don’t need to have a full-blown stroke for hypertension to do its damage. Brain scans show that individuals with hypertension are more likely to have brain lesions, called white matter hyperintensities (WMHs), than people with normal blood pressure. And the greater the number of these WMHs, the higher the risk of cognitive problems like dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. So what are WMHs, and how do they affect your thinking? Your brain has two layers: an outer layer
