High blood pressure can lead to dementia in later life

How to avoid both, at the same time

High blood pressure is a serious risk factor for various life-threatening conditions, including stroke and heart attack. Less well known is its connection with dementia.

The link with dementia can be forged in mid-life, a time when high blood pressure - hypertension – can serve as a predictor of reduced cognitive function years later.

‘It is well established in research that mid-life hypertension from 45 to 64 years is consistently linked to later-life major neurocognitive disorder risk, including Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia’

Long-term research has demonstrated that hypertension is a risk factor for the second most common form of dementia, vascular dementia, but also for Alzheimer’s and other, less common forms.

One of the characteristics of vascular dementia is reduced blood flow to neurons. Hypertension damages blood vessels, reducing blood flow to the brain and creating blockages in areas of the brain responsible for cognition and memory.

‘Beyond its well-established cardiovascular implications such as stroke, myocardial infarction, and premature death, hypertension has been identified as a potentially modifiable risk factor for neurocognitive disorders in emerging studies’

There is a well-established link between stroke and dementia, and hypertension appears to be that link. Dementia is more common in patients who have experienced a stroke than in those who have not. However, the association between blood pressure and cognitive function is apparent even without the occurrence of stroke.

The basics of blood pressure

Blood pressure is the force of blood in the arteries as it is pumped around the body by the heart. When measured, two figures are given: systolic and diastolic. Systolic represents the pressure in the arteries when the heart beats. Diastolic represents the pressure between beats.

A normal blood pressure reading is around 120/80 mmHg. If your reading is consistently above 140/90 you may be diagnosed with hypertension.

There are usually no symptoms of hypertension, but if blood pressure is very high - 180/120 mmHg or above - there may be headache, nausea, dizziness, nosebleed, buzzing in the ears and blurred vision. There may also be chest pain. These are all red flags that require immediate medical attention.

It is estimated that across the globe an estimated 30% of people have hypertension. That figure rises with age: the condition affects more than 75% of people over the age of 65.

The drugs work

Hypertension is not an inevitable consequence of being human. It is a highly likely, but largely avoidable, outcome of a perfect storm of lifestyle factors: obesity, stress, smoking, eating badly, drinking too much alcohol and doing too little exercise. That’s most of the global population covered.

The drugs work, and so do lifestyle changes. To speed matters up, there are also particular nutrients that work therapeutically to create a two-fold effect: lower blood pressure, and simultaneously lower risk of developing dementia.