Asymptomatic Brain Abnormalities Common - Study

Healthy adults showing no symptoms of brain problems may still have abnormalities in their brains, a new Dutch study highlights. Benign brain tumors, "silent" strokes and hidden brain aneurysms are all more common than we think, the new research suggests.

The findings of the research feature in the current edition of New England Journal of Medicine.

The team of Dutch researchers led by Meike Vernooij of the Erasmus MC University Medical Center in Rotterdam, using Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) peeked into brains of 2000 volunteers over the age of 45, showing no signs of brain problems.

On examination, 145 subjects (little over 7 percent) showed evidence of a brain clot, but the clots were too small to produce symptoms.

Just about 2 percent of the volunteers had a brain aneurysm - a bulge in a blood vessel that can burst if it becomes too big, and nearly another 2 percent had a benign brain tumor.

Also, older subjects seemed to be more likely to show the signs of hidden strokes and benign brain tumors, researchers noted. Conversely, brain aneurysms showed no age-related increase in prevalence.

Summing up the stats, researchers concluded that nearly thirteen percent of healthy adults had abnormalities in their brains without even knowing it.

However, researchers warned that as brain scans are becoming more common, and are capable of delivering detailed and more precise results, neurologists need to know whether to be concerned if they stumble onto something unexpected.

The study holds great importance as researchers believe that early detection of tumors and other abnormalities is always beneficial because less risk is involved when small tumors are managed before they create symptoms.

A non-invasive method using nuclear magnetic resonance to render images inside the brain, MRI scans give a detailed picture of physical brain structures. This method of mapping the brain is increasingly used both in research and in clinical medicine.