Even levels that do not usually require medication can
increase the risk.
June
12, 2018
Elevated blood pressure at age 50 is linked to an increased
risk for dementia in later years, a new study reports.
The research,
published in the European Heart Journal, found that systolic
blood pressure (the top number) as low as 130 increased the risk, even though
140 is the usual level at which treatment with blood pressure medication is
recommended.
The scientists measured blood pressure in 8,639 men and women in
1985, when they were age 35 to 55, and then again in 1991, 1997 and 2003 over
the course of a long-term health study.
Through March, 2017, there were 385 cases of dementia. After
controlling for many risk factors, including stroke, heart failure and other
cardiovascular diseases, they found that a systolic blood pressure at age 50 of
130 or greater was independently associated with a 38 percent increased risk of
dementia.
“The 140 threshold has been considered beneficial for the heart
for a long time, but it might not work for the brain,” said the senior author,
Archana Singh-Manoux, a research professor at Inserm, the French health
research institute. “The problem with hypertension is that people don’t take
their meds because they have no symptoms. I would encourage people to use their
hypertensive medications.”
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