Many people inherit weak blood vessels in the brain. This is an especially dangerous brain condition because an increase in blood pressure or arteriosclerosis can lead to an aneurysm or stroke. Here is how your condition is treated by a neurologist.

Keep Your Blood Pressure Low

The most important step in this brain condition treatment is to keep your blood pressure low. If it is not high right now or only jumps when you exercise, then you only have to be careful about the type of exercise you do. Do not avoid exercise entirely because that can lead to other contributing factors that would burst the weak vessels in your brain! Ask your neurologist which low-impact exercises would be good for you in your particular situation.

If your blood pressure is borderline high or high, you will absolutely need to bring that down. Medication is an option, as are changes to your diet and consumption of sodium and salt. Exercise is still necessary, but will have to be modified to decrease the blood flow through the weak vessels in your brain.

Keep Your Cholesterol Low

As you age, you will need to keep your cholesterol low too. Diet is very important with regards to your brain condition, and you will have to avoid excess cholesterol in the foods you eat. You will also have to take medications that will reduce your cholesterol without thinning your blood. Blood thinners are very dangerous for anyone with weak blood vessels in the brain.

Avoid Blood Thinners

Blood thinners are often prescribed to address issues with cholesterol and arterial plaque build-up. However, a blood thinner (such as aspirin) is a potentially lethal medication for someone with your brain condition. In the event that you have an aneurysm (or a blood vessel bursts), the blood thinner will cause your brain to bleed out internally and cause extreme brain damage. If your doctor wants to put you on a blood thinner, make sure you know exactly how the blood thinning medication works and how it will affect your condition.

Surgery for VERY Serious Situations

If you have a weak blood vessel that looks like it is going to collapse or explode at any given time, your neurologist may urge you to get brain surgery. This involves opening your skull and carefully removing the weakest part of the vessel and/or grafting a thicker vessel around the weakened area. The graft is taken from a thigh vessel or other large blood vessel in the body and it reinforces the weakened vessel so that there is less of a chance of an emergency situation in your future. However, this is only done in the most serious of cases.

When you need any kind of brain condition treatment, it's important that you take a proactive role in your care with these tips.

Share