Stroke rates aroung the young are on the rise. The culprit: hypertension. Here are some ways high BP harms your brain.

THE PRESSURE RISES
Like a torrents of water rushes through a skinny hose, high blood pressure (140/90 mmHg or higher) forces your arteries to strech more than they should.

TINY RIPS OCCUR
Under the stress, microscopic tears form in the innermost layer of your arteries. Your body tries to repair the damage by churning out clot-forming platelets. Other molecules, including LDL (bad) cholesteral, cellular debris, and calcium, become trapped inside the artery wall, forming plaque.

ARTERIAL WALLS STIFFEN
Your immune system deploys specialized white blood cells to break down the plaque, but those cells cant break it down. Instead, they combine into “foam cells”, which spur inflammation Your arteries smooth muscle cells form a hard cover over the mixture, stiffening your arterial walls. This pushes your blood pressure even higher.

A CLOG FORMS
As blood flows past the buildup, pieces of plaque breka loose and float through your bloodstream and towards your brain, where a clot can become stuck in a tony cerebral artery. Blood and its precious cargo, oxygen, cannot reach the brain cells fed by that artery, causing an ischemic stroke.

BRAIN CELLS SUCCUMB
Without oxygen, your brain cells start to die off within minutes. Depending on the brain region and number of cells affected, symptoms and complications can range from dizziness and hellacious headaches to paralyze, coma, and even death.