How lowering blood pressure could prevent dementia, and why you shouldn’t wait until midlife to adopt a control regime
In new research revealed last week, people whose blood pressure was strictly controlled over several years were 15 per cent less likely to be diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment and subsequent dementia
For those with high blood pressure who hope to ward off dementia, doctors have the same advice for those looking to protect their hearts and kidneys: go lower.
In a comprehensive new study, researchers found that driving down systolic blood pressure to a new lower target level reduced their risk of developing mild cognitive impairment, or MCI, by close to 20 per cent.
MCI is a decline in memory and thinking skills that is slight, but noticeable, and it affects between 15 and 20 per cent of people over 65. For as many as half of those diagnosed with MCI, a diagnosis of dementia will come later.
The new research found that subjects whose blood pressure was more strictly controlled were 15 per cent less likely to be diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment and subsequent dementia.
The new findings, presented last week at the Alzheimer’s Association’s International Conference in Chicago, come a year after the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology adopted a new target for those with hypertension. Physicians groups had long considered blood pressure readings of 140/90 mmHG to be an acceptable target for those with hypertension, but in 2017, they urged physicians to get their patients with high blood pressure to 130/80 mmHG.
The new research suggests that there are powerful benefits to getting the first number in that reading – systolic blood pressure – to an even lower target: 120 mmHG.