Here’s some more good news. A recent scientific study suggests that “more time spent in a healthy blood pressure range or more stable blood pressure are associated with lower dementia risk.” The “cumulative effect of elevated blood pressure over time has a big role to play” in causing the cellular changes that eventually result in reduced blood flow within the brain. Reduced cerebral blood flow contributes to “amyloid deposits” that are the significant change in the brains of dementia patients.
Treating and controlling hypertension helps lower dementia risk by preserving normal blood flow in the brain, keeping blood vessels healthy, and reducing the development of amyloid deposits in the brain. Early and aggressive treatment is the key to dementia prevention. Treating to a BP of 120/80 or less, if tolerated, early in life and in “mid-life” is “more important than controlling BP late in life.” Researchers think “focus should be on starting treatment as early as possible to prevent hypertension leading to dementia.”
Scientific trials using brain MRI and other tests to evaluate brain metabolism have shown those patients with high cardiovascular risk factors have signs of brain metabolic decline earlier than suspected. So, “maintenance of cardiovascular health during midlife could contribute to reductions in neurodegenerative disease burden later in life….Treating high blood pressure in older adults could affect the course of further progressive cognitive decline by improving vascular health and preventing strokes which likely….affect non-vascular dementia….the best strategy is to identify and treat blood pressure in midlife, before damage to the brain has advanced….Hypertension treatment is one of the best ways to prevent any category of dementia….added to prevent heart attacks, strokes, a kidney disease.”
“Healthy Heart, Healthy Brain!”
Dr. G’s Opinion: This article essentially says HBP causes vascular disease and vascular disease leads to vascular dementia. Keeping a person’s BP at 120/80 or less, regardless of age, will prevent vascular disease in the blood vessels of the brain and thus will prevent vascular dementia. Time will eventually determine if this is true, I’m sure. Controlling HBP is a good idea for everybody because of the numerous harms caused by elevated blood pressure. So, early and aggressive treatment is very important for preventing dementia, among many other problems.
Reference: https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/will-treating-high-blood-pressure-prevent-dementia/
