It’s easy to think of your heart and cardiovascular system as totally separate from your brain and neurological system. But the truth is that they’re intimately linked, and what affects one often affects the other.
Monitoring heart health matters not just for preventing heart attacks and strokes, but also for supporting memory, mood, motor function, and overall neurological wellness throughout your lifetime.
At Integrated Neurology Services, we understand how cardiovascular health plays a crucial role in brain function, and we treat a wide range of neurological conditions. Let’s explore the key connections between heart health and neurological wellness, and why holistic care matters.
Your brain is one of the most active organs in your body. It uses about 20% of your oxygen, even though it only accounts for about 2% of your body weight, and that oxygen comes from your blood.
To function properly, your brain cells require a constant, uninterrupted supply of oxygen-rich blood delivered by your cardiovascular system. When blood flow is compromised — due to issues like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, arrhythmias, or other heart issues — your brain can feel the impact in a few big ways.
Reduced blood flow and oxygen delivery to your brain may impair cognitive function and memory. Small artery damage can contribute to microvascular injury in your brain over time, while clots or plaques can break off and travel to your brain and increase your risk of stroke or “silent” infarcts, or tissue damage, that affect neurology over time.
This is why many neurologic conditions are either caused by or exacerbated by underlying cardiovascular issues.
When it comes to heart and neurological health, what’s good for one is often good for the other — and vice versa. Here are a few common health issues that highlight the ways these body systems are connected.
This is one of the clearest examples of the links between your heart and brain. When a blood vessel supplying your brain is blocked (ischemic stroke) or bursts (hemorrhagic stroke), brain cells begin to die within minutes due to lack of oxygen.
This damage can affect your nervous system in a number of ways. Stroke can impair movement, speech, memory, sensation, or emotional regulation, depending on which areas of your brain are involved.
Heart conditions like atrial fibrillation, atherosclerosis, and high blood pressure are major risk factors for stroke.
At Integrated Neurology Services, we diagnose and manage neurological consequences of stroke, help assess your risk for future events, and coordinate care with your cardiovascular specialists to support your vascular health.
Chronic cardiovascular risk factors like high blood pressure and high cholesterol can slowly damage small blood vessels in your brain, even if you never experience a major stroke. Over time, this can cause white matter changes, reduced processing speed, memory challenges, and executive function difficulties.
Microvascular changes like these can increase your risk of dementia, especially when combined with other neurologic or metabolic factors. By identifying and treating vascular risk factors early, our neurologists can help you maintain better cognitive function and quality of life.
There’s a connection between vascular health and certain headache disorders. Migraines have been linked to increased risk of cardiovascular events, particularly migraine with aura. Blood vessel changes, endothelial dysfunction, and neurotransmitter imbalance play roles in both migraine pathophysiology and vascular disease.
Our neurologic assessments take into account cardiovascular history and risk when diagnosing and treating complex headache syndromes, to make sure we have the whole picture when we develop your treatment plan.
Vascular health can influence symptoms of peripheral neuropathy — nerve damage that can cause numbness, tingling, or burning in your hands and feet. For example, poor circulation and diabetes are common contributors to neuropathy.
At Integrated Neurology Services, our team specializes in evaluating neuropathy and other neurologic symptoms in the context of systemic health. We partner with you to understand how vascular risk affects your neurological wellness, and our goal is to provide personalized care that addresses root causes rather than just surface symptoms.
If you’re experiencing neurological symptoms or you’re concerned about your heart health’s role, a comprehensive neurologic evaluation can provide clarity and guide next steps. Contact us online or call 703-313-9111 to book an appointment at one of our clinics in Alexandria, Falls Church, or Lorton, Virginia.
