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- Researchers say high blood pressure in your 30s and 40s can increase your risk for dementia.
- One of the reasons is that high blood pressure can damage heart valves and create a situation where less oxygen is flowing to the brain.
- Experts say the research once again underscores the importance for people of maintaining healthy blood pressure at a younger age.
People with high blood pressure (hypertension) in their 30s and 40s may have a higher risk of dementia later in life.
It is according to a to study published today in the journal Hypertension.
Research also suggests that people aged 35 to 44 with high blood pressure have smaller brains.
The results indicate that taking steps in adulthood to combat high blood pressure may reduce the risk of dementia.
Dr Mingguang He, the study’s lead author and professor of ophthalmic epidemiology at the University of Melbourne in Australia, said in a declaration that early-onset high blood pressure is increasingly common.
He added that although the connect Between hypertension, brain health and dementia later in life is already well established, it was not clear how these conditions occurring at a younger age can affect the association.
The researchers analyzed data from participants at UK Biobank, a large database with anonymous and detailed information on the health of about half a million volunteers in the UK.
After comparing MRI scans of thousands of people with and without high blood pressure at different ages, the researchers reported that the total brain volume was smaller in people with high blood pressure.
Hypertension diagnosed before the age of 35 was associated with the greatest reductions in brain volume.
The researchers also found that the risk of dementia was significantly higher (61%) in people diagnosed with high blood pressure between the ages of 35 and 44.
“This study sounds yet another alarm, drawing attention to a fact we should all be aware of: it’s time to start thinking about preventing dementia throughout the life cycle,” said Dr Scott Kaiser, director of geriatric cognitive health at the Pacific Brain Health Center at the Pacific Neuroscience Institute at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, California.
“To increase our chances – especially in light of our aging population – of stemming the rising tide of dementia, we need to identify and target modifiable risk factors,” Kaiser told Healthline.
“In fact, experts suggest that if we were to broadly address a range of well-established risk factors through individual care and public health measures, we could avoid something in the order of a third of cases of dementia expected in the decades to come. ” he said.
Dr Sandra Petersen, who runs health services for the nationwide Pegasus Senior Living chain and created the company’s Connections memory care program, told Healthline that high blood pressure at a younger age harms heart valves by causing them. scaring away as we get older.
Unmanaged high blood pressure makes the situation even worse.
“This causes compression in the heart to drop – due to the leakage values - and makes it harder for the heart to pump blood to the brain,” Petersen said.
“This lack of perfusion over time causes a lack of oxygen and nutrients in the brain, leading to brain cell death and poor perfusion,” she said. “As key parts of the brain are affected by the disappearance of cells, memory loss follows. “
Dr. Mahmoud Kara, formerly of the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio and creator of heart health supplements on Karamd.com, said the study had “important implications beyond simply linking dementia and hypertension, as previous research has shown “.
“One of the most important benefits of defining an age range between 30 and 40 is education,” Kara told Healthline. “With this new information, clinical providers who assess and diagnose high blood pressure can focus on educating patients about the long-term risks, as well as the short-term risks to their health.”
He said the study should also encourage medical professionals to recommend preventative measures earlier.
“Instead of ‘staying consistent with your blood pressure medications’ it would be like eating a healthy diet in your twenties, avoiding developing a smoking habit, limiting binge drinking during your college years, and stay physically active from late teens to late 20s, in order to reduce the risk of developing high blood pressure in the first place, ”Kara said.
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