High blood pressure can accelerate cognitive decline

High blood pressure can accelerate cognitive decline


Middle-aged and older adults with high blood pressure are at higher risk of cognitive decline — even if the hypertension diagnosis is relatively recent.

The association between cognitive performance and high blood pressure was detailed by Brazilian researchers and published in an American Heart Association journal.

The findings stem from a study that included blood pressure and cognitive health information from more than 7,000 people. The participants, whose average age was 59, were tracked for more than four years. The research included mental tasks involving memory, concentration and other factors involved with reasoning and thinking.

The researchers found that blood pressure even just slightly above the normal threshold for hypertension and not treated with medication was associated with cognitive decline in middle and older age. This was found to be true even among people whose systolic and diastolic blood pressure figures were just a point or two above normal.

It also doesn’t matter if the high blood pressure was recently diagnosed. The pace of cognitive decline happened even among short-term high blood pressure patients.

Uncontrolled high blood pressure was particularly hazardous: Unmedicated study participants had notably faster declines in memory and cognition than those with controlled hypertension.

The findings underscore the need to diagnose and promptly control high blood pressure — even at relatively younger ages — to protect brain function.

There are plenty of good reasons to maintain a healthy blood pressure, including avoiding heart failure, stroke and kidney disease. Protecting the brain is yet another one of them.

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