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Blood exerts a powerful influence on the brain
I’ve long held the theory that the more consistently I excercise (60-90 minutes per day), the better I feel and the better everything works. I based this idea on a simple theory: increased blood flow to the body helps all sorts of systems flush toxins, repair and oxygenate tissues, deliver nutrients, etc. Along with the benefits of excercise in general.
Might my theory have a solid basis in scientific fact? If blood flow exerts the powerful effects now being discussed, then the hugely increased blood flow while vigorously excercising surely exerts side affects from pumping large amounds of blood over thousands of hours over the course of a year.
Blood exerts a powerful influence on the brain
The brain's nerve cells have a call-and-response relationship with the blood that sustains them
Blood tells a story about the body it inhabits. As it pumps through vessels, delivering nutrients and oxygen, the ruby red liquid picks up information. Hormones carried by blood can hint at how hungry a person is, or how scared, or how sleepy. Other messages in the blood can warn of heart disease or announce a pregnancy. Immune molecules can reveal an infection. When it comes to the brain, blood also seems to be more than a traveling storyteller. In some cases, the blood may be writing the script.
This line of research is expanding scientists’ view of what makes the brain tick, and the implications for human health are enormous. Diabetes, multiple sclerosis and hypertension— diseases that harm blood vessels elsewhere in the body — may afflict the brain too. What’s more, common drugs that tinker with blood flow, including statins, anti-inflammatories and even Viagra, may affect how the brain operates.
... Vast networks of endothelial cells may carry messages lightning-quick from neurons that need fuel to distant large arteries that can supply it
.. Beyond keeping neurons well fed, blood may actually tell neurons when to fire. Kind of like gasoline oozing out of a car’s gas tank and taking the wheel.
... A slight dilation or constriction of vessels reliably changes the behavior of nearby neurons.
... Abnormal blood flow in the brain is present in the five major forms of dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease and dementia with Lewy bodies
... Other disorders, such as diabetes, might harm the brain by damaging blood vessels. Many scientists attribute the mental fuzziness that can accompany diabetes to neuron damage from excess glucose. But maybe faulty lines between unresponsive blood vessels and neurons are to blame...
... Common drugs that influence blood flow may also have unanticipated effects on the brain. In addition to statins, drugs such as Viagra, blood pressure drugs and even anti-inflammatories may unintentionally change how the brain operates. These drugs may be dampening the brain’s ability to call for blood when it needs it...
