美发现心衰患者大脑损伤与抑郁密切相关

 
 
一项使用功能性核磁共振(fMRI)的研究证实，心衰患者大脑有相当多的组织损失，这些组织控制着自主神经系统，干预心血管系统的快速适应血压和心率的功能。

fMRI扫描先世，这种损伤位于患严重抑郁患者位置相同的大脑区域，这能够解释为什么心衰患者经常出现抑郁。大脑损伤能够显著影像心衰患者的运动能力，降低患者的整体生存质量。

来自洛山矶加利福尼亚大学的研究人员报道说，该研究的结果强调了如下需要，1、心血管医生必须认识到心衰患者出现的脑损伤以及心脏损伤，2、必须研制开发能够穿过血脑屏障的药物或者治疗治疗措施，增加脑功能，防止脑损伤。这项研究结果发表在2005年8月期的《心脏功能衰竭》期刊之上。

Brain Damage in Heart Patients Tied to Depression
 
A study using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) demonstrated considerable tissue loss in the areas of heart-failure patients’ brains that control the autonomic nervous system, interfering with the cardiovascular system’s ability to quickly adapt to alterations in blood pressure and heart rate.

The damage, as shown on fMRI scans, lies in the same brain regions showing changes in people suffering major depression, which may explain why many heart-failure patients are frequently depressed. The brain damage could significantly affect heart-failure patients’ ability to exercise and lower their overall quality of life.

Clinically, the researchers, from the University of California, Los Angeles (USA), reported that the study’s findings stress the need for (1) cardiologists to recognize that heart-failure patients suffer from a brain injury, as well as a heart injury, and (2) that medications or other treatments must be developed to cross the blood-brain barrier, enhance brain function, and prevent brain injury. The study was published in the August 2005 issue of the Journal of Cardiac Failure.