Scientists have found how hypertension results in vascular dementia, elevating hopes for the primary drug remedies.

Sufferers have narrower arteries, which cuts move to the mind and starves cells of vitamins in order that they turn into broken and die.

Experts have struggled to know how hypertension causes this. However, the newest examine, utilizing mice, reveals it disrupts ­messaging inside artery cells.

This happens when two cell ­buildings transfer additional aside, stopping alerts about artery widening reaching their goal.

Researchers hope this discovering will likely be confirmed in people.

Professor Adam Greenstein, at Manchester University, mentioned: “By uncovering how high blood pressure causes arteries in the brain to remain constricted, our research reveals a new avenue for drug discovery that may help to find the first treatment for vascular dementia.

“Allowing blood to return as ­normal to damaged areas of the brain will be crucial to stopping this devastating condition in its tracks.”

Vascular dementia is the second commonest sort of dementia and impacts round 150,000. The mind’s arteries usually reply to adjustments in blood stress but when constantly excessive, they keep slender.

It results in lack of power, lack of focus and poor reminiscence.

Prof Greenstein added that ­ medication found might additionally deal with Alzheimer’s, “which causes very similar damage to blood vessels”.

The examine was funded by the British Heart Foundation and revealed within the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Prof Sir Nilesh Samani, BHF medical director, mentioned the signs “are hugely distressing for patients”.

He referred to as it “exciting research” that raises “hope that there may soon be a way to prevent this illness from destroying more lives”.