Do an MRI show anxiety, stress, and hypertension?

A Glimpse of: Do an MRI show anxiety, stress, and hypertension? 

MRI scan, or Magnetic Resonance Imaging Scan, is meant to see the internal structures of your brain, we all know!

In that case, MRI certainly holds the capability & efficiency to decipher structural abnormalities in your brain caused by acute anxiety, stress, & hypertension! Research conducted by RSNA in 2017 affirms the fact that MRI scans can show the common patterns of structural abnormalities in patients having major depressive disorder or social anxiety disorders.

Perhaps,

Studies say that extreme psychological stress, like early life trauma, is related to cerebral changes. But medical science is yet to discover the effects of everyday stress & anxiety on your brain!

So,

How can we expect a fairly new medical technology like MRI to provide an in-depth view of something that yet lay undeciphered?

Now,

The answer to your question would be an MRI can efficiently show hypertension or high blood pressure being a well-established tool to assess blow flow! However, it cannot show anxiety & stress as separate conditions themselves & can only trace the effects they leave upon your internal body structures & functions! 

Are you wondering why so?

Well,

You have to read the entire blog to understand why & how an MRI can show hypertension but not anxiety, or stress, as separate health issues but can significantly show the setbacks they have caused!

MRI is meant for studying anatomical structures & functions, not emotion!

Neuroradiologist William  B. Zucconi from Yale Medicine states, “ There are space & time components to the imaging that help us find the parts of the brain that control motor functions or language. It is almost like acquiring a little movie of the brain thinking.”

And,

Medical experts frequently use MRI images to determine which area of your brain to operate on and which to avoid in surgery so that an optimal outcome lay ensured. MRI lay used to assess the level of brain damage someone experiences when having a condition like Alzheimer’s disease or after an injury.

Although MRI scans can detect emotions, practices in this regard are yet to take the stage. Moreover, the signs of emotion barely last during the MRI scan, precisely up to 30 seconds. They somewhat appear as flickers in different areas of the brain & depicts an increased blow flow.

Hence, everyday stress & anxiety cannot be accurately seen in MRI findings!

MRI scan can cause small episodes of Stress & Anxiety when you lay inside the semi-enclosed machine!

Yes. Anyone who has already undergone an MRI scan would know how anxious & anticipating it is when you are inside the scanner. The space is too less and can make you feel suffocated!

At that time, a brief spike of stress is certain unless you close your eyes, use earplugs, and take deep breaths to calm yourself down! Henceforth, the scan shall show that you are thinking or experiencing an emotion, but this emotion cannot be confused with the anxiety and stress you have in your daily life.

Such a misinterpretation is likely to tamper with the decision of treatment regimen, and your doctors shall not entertain it! They want to identify the key structural & functional areas of your brain, not your mind.

Anxiety & Stress are Mental Issues, not of your Brain in particular!

Remember, your mind & brain are not the same!

While your brain is an organ that controls & regulates the functions of your internal body organs as well as your reflexes & movements, your mind is an intellectual & psychological phenomenon that encompasses your cognitive, behavioral, and motivational systems!

Your brain is visible, not mind!

Your brain does not bear issues of Anxiety or Stress unless that affects any structure or function. But your mind is the one to bear these problems and requires psychological analysis & testing, not physical!

MRI: A popular diagnostic approach to assess the blood vessels & the bloodstream!

Now,

Coming to hypertension,

An MRI scan can serve in showing thee! It is because your blood vessels and bloodstream stand significantly visible in an MRI scanner. So, if you have high blood pressure, the amount of blood flow is likely to indicate it!

In fact, an MRI scan is considered the gold standard modality to screen the secondary causes of hypertension. In this regard, it rules out the combination of echocardiography, renal ultrasound, and CT scan.

Your pulse wave velocity & cerebral blow flow is likely to pop up in the MRI imaging, thereby helping your doctor determine whether you have an acute hypertension problem or not!

Besides,

If an MRI findings show white spots on your brain, it indicates a white matter lesion caused by hypertension, particularly those occurring in aged people. MRI can also detect brain damage or disorders like dementia caused by hypertension!

Do an MRI show anxiety, stress, and hypertension?

MRI can show the type of hypertension you have!

That’s right!

While an MRI offers a detailed layout of your blood flow & supply to the organs, it holds the credit for helping determine what type of high blood pressure you have.

By this, I mean the MRI findings shall vividly show whether you have – High Diastolic Blood Pressure, High Systolic blood pressure, or both simultaneously! This is what aids your doctor plan the right treatment and curbing the complications that can arise from either of them!

The cross-section images called the axial plane that MRI scan offers alongside the sagittal and coronal plane, i.e., the image from one side, sliced from top to bottom and an image from the front to back, respectively – Reveal the precise blood pressure level you have!

However,

As an MRI scan is quite an expensive process & its availability is limited, doctors rarely suggest it detects hypertension. On the other side, blood tests, lipid profiles, and sphygmomanometers are efficient enough to assess hypertension!

Ending Remark:

Now that you got the answers to your question. I hope you shall take up your course of action accordingly. Consult a doctor for your stress, anxiety, and hypertension instead of finding diagnosis solutions on your own!

I hope the blog served its purpose! You can comment below if you have the latest information about an MRI on stress, anxiety, and hypertension, and help us, each one, fill our knowledge gaps further!

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