Dubai, United Arab Emirates – A new study conducted on rats revealed that eating large amounts of salt leads to brain infections that raise blood pressure.
This challenges the traditional view that links high blood pressure only to the kidneys. It highlights the brain as a new potential source of treatment.
The research was led by a team of scientists at McGill University in Canada, headed by Dr. Masha Prager-Khotorsky.
This was in collaboration with McGill University’s Health Center Research Institute.
The findings suggest that the brain may be the “missing link” in some forms of high blood pressure. This is especially true for cases that do not respond to conventional treatments.
“This is new evidence that high blood pressure can originate in the brain. It opens the way for the development of treatments that directly target the brain,” said Prager-Khotorsky, a professor of physiology at McGill University.
The rats were given water containing 2 percent salt.
This is equivalent to eating meals rich in processed foods such as fast food, bacon, instant noodles, and processed cheeses.
This experiment mimics the human diet.
This system has activated immune cells in a specific area of the brain.
This caused inflammation and an increase in the secretion of the hormone vasopressin, which raises blood pressure.
The researchers tracked these changes using modern brain imaging techniques that were not previously available.
“The role of the brain in high blood pressure has long been overlooked, in part because it is difficult to study,” Prager-Khotorsky said.
But thanks to these new technologies, we can see these changes clearly.”
