Sacramento, California — Your future self will thank you if you start taking steps to lower your blood pressure today. A new study shows that having high blood pressure in your 30s increases your chances of worsening brain health in your 70s. Simply put, keeping blood pressure in the normal range may help prevent brain conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of dementia.
The findings were obtained by looking at brain scans of older people who had a history of hypertension between the ages of 30 and 40 and those who had normal blood pressure at that age. The hypertensive group showed decreased brain volume and white matter defects. Both of these brain changes are associated with the development of dementia.
Men were also more likely than women to experience adverse brain changes.Hypertensive men in their 30s had even more decreased gray matter and frontal cortex mass. The authors explain that the high levels of estrogen women have before menopause may protect the brain from the effects of high blood pressure.
“Dementia treatment is so limited that identifying lifelong modifiable risk and protective factors is key to reducing the disease burden.”a university liberation“High blood pressure is an incredibly common and treatable risk factor associated with dementia. This study shows that high blood pressure in early adulthood is important for brain health decades later.” I have.”
Researchers examined data from 427 people participating in two other studies of healthy aging. The health information of these patients was reviewed for the period from 1964 to 1985. These patients had their blood pressure measured between the ages of 30 and 40 to determine whether they had hypertension, were at risk for hypertension, or had normal blood pressure. pressure. The same group also had her MRI scans between 2017 and 2022, looking for signs of neurodegeneration and other brain abnormalities.
Both men and women with hypertension showed a significant reduction in gray matter, although changes were more common in men. Sexuality (a measure of brain connectivity) was also low.
“This study really shows the importance of risk factors early in life. It also shows that to age healthily, we need to take care of ourselves throughout our lives. It’s brain health,” said Rachel Whitmer, senior author of the study and professor at UC. Davis.
The study has some limitations. Due to the small sample size, the author was unable to explore racial or ethnic differences when looking at the results.An MRI scan was also performed by him once, but it was not possible to determine when neurodegeneration began to occur. No evidence to show.
About 47% of American adults have high blood pressure, which is above 130/80 mmHg. There are several factors that affect the likelihood of developing high blood pressure. About half of men have high blood pressure, compared to 44% of women. By ethnicity, hypertension is most common among black adults and lowest among Hispanic adults. Additionally, an African-American between the ages of 35 and 64 is 50% more likely to have high blood pressure than a Caucasian in the same age group.
of study is published in JAMA network open.
