Small Damage in the Brain Adds Up
Via UCSD News, a look at the way minor age-related damage to blood vessels in the brain adds up over time: "researchers used a laser technique they developed to precisely monitor changes in blood flow resulting from an induced blockage in a tiny artery, or arteriole, in the brains of anesthetized rats. They found that the penetrating arterioles, which connect the blood vessels on the brain's surface with deeper blood vessels, are a vulnerable link in the network. ... This damage is an enormous problem. We think it is part of the dementia picture in Alzheimer's and non-Alzheimer's patients. But until now, we had no insight into the mechanism of the damage, and understanding the mechanism is the first step toward understanding how to prevent it." So the effects of AGE buildup, free radical damage to cholesterol, and other types of age-related molecular damage on blood vessels are more significant in an ongoing fashion than we'd like to think. I hope that as more people learn about the unpleasant facts of aging, more will be motivated to help do something about it.
Link: http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/newsrel/science/bottleneck07.asp