Middle-aged high blood pressure can hurt your brain

Alan Moses
Health Day Reporter

Tuesday, December 15, 2020 (HealthDay News)- High blood pressure A new Brazilian study warns that the Middle Ages can begin to adversely affect memory and thinking as early as possible.

And you will not escape simply by keeping High blood pressure Studies have shown that people who did not develop high blood pressure until old age also declined their thinking skills faster than those who continued to maintain heart health during the golden age.

“As a practical matter, this suggests that hypertension must be prevented at all ages to avoid adverse cognitive effects. [thinking] Decline. ” “Research author Dr. Sandy Barrett, a professor of medicine at the Federal University of Minas Gerais in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, said.

However, given that “causality is very difficult to prove,” it remains an open question whether hypertension directly causes mental decline.

But even so, that’s not all bad news, she added. Because the results also show that higher can maintain thinking skills, or at least delay disability. blood pressure It is under control through medication and lifestyle changes.

In this survey, about 7,000 participants were selected from six cities in Brazil, with an average of about 59 when they first enrolled in the survey.

Blood pressure history was recorded at the beginning of the study. And during the two test periods of 2008/2010 and 2012/2014, participants were asked to track changes in memory, language skills, concentration, attention, exercise speed, and mental “flexibility”. Received repeated evaluations designed for (4 years on average). .. “

The team ultimately thought that middle-aged and older participants who were considered “high” in upper (systolic) and lower (diastolic) blood pressures compared to those who maintained normal blood pressure measurements. I have discovered that I have experienced some form of accelerated decline in skill.

Memories were clearly hit among all people with high blood pressure, before or after the age of 55. These people are because the scores on all tests of their thinking skills have begun to decline collectively.

The rate at which thinking began to decline did not appear to be related to how long the patient lived with high blood pressure.

However, there were exceptions to the rules. People who lowered their blood pressure by taking medications or adopting useful lifestyle options had significantly slower declines in thinking skills than those who did not.

“Prevention of high blood pressure is always preferable,” Barrett emphasized, but after the problem has settled, taking steps to address the problem “avoids further impairment of cognitive function.”

However, there may be limits to how lowering blood pressure can help maintain brain health, warned Dr. Greg Fonarrow, interim director of the Department of Cardiology at the University of California, Los Angeles. ..

“Randomized clinical trials of systolic hypotension have led to various findings as to whether hypotension can reduce the risk of mild cognitive impairment,” he said.

For example, another recent study found that adults who returned systolic hypertension to the normal range Absent See them dementia The risk is lower than in people with high blood pressure of 139. However, while the risk of mild cognitive impairment has decreased, “more research is needed on brain health and blood pressure,” said Fonarrow.

On the other hand, keeping high blood pressure under control is always a wise move, he said. heart attack, Heart failure, stroke, premature death of the cardiovascular system. “

The findings were published in the journal on December 14th. High blood pressure..