Hypertension is a common medical condition that affects millions of people around the world. Therefore, it becomes one of the main causes of heart disease, stroke and other serious conditions.
Although several factors are responsible for this condition, a recent study suggests that the accumulation of sodium in the brain may be one of the causes of the condition. hypertension.
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Excess sodium in the brain is directly linked to hypertension
With the aim of studying the behavior of blood pressure through high sodium intake, researchers from the Institute of Biomedical Sciences (ICB) at USP produced a study.
According to the research, the accumulation of sodium in the brain can lead to an increase in the activity of the sympathetic nervous system (SNS), responsible for controlling blood pressure.
- Study process
The study carried out tests on animals in which there was excess salt consumption by them. In this context, it was possible to notice that there was a significant peak in blood pressure while sodium was present in its
brain.Furthermore, the researchers observed that removing excess sodium from the rats' brains reduced blood pressure.
- Why does it happen?
This is because sodium acts as an ion that carries an electrical charge, and when there is excess of this substance in the brain, the nerve cells present in the region become more active. With this, the agitation of these cells ends up increasing the activity of the SNS and, consequently, the level of blood pressure.
- More research still needs to be done
However, the researchers point out that more studies are still needed to better understand this relationship between sodium accumulation in the brain and high blood pressure in humans.
- Other factors that cause hypertension
As previously mentioned, hypertension can occur through several factors, making excess sodium in the brain one of many. Sedentary lifestyle, excessive consumption of alcohol and salt, family history, age, smoking and even stress are examples of what can cause hypertension.