14 DAY TRIAL // A new scientific study has recently uncovered a worrying correlation between high blood pressure and the risk of developing memory problems in adults beyond the age of 45. Experts determined that people with high diastolic blood pressure were more likely to experience forms of cognitive impairment and memory loss in middle age than those who had normal readings until that age. The paper appears in the August 25th issue of the American Academy of Neurology's (AAN) journal Neurology, e! Science News reports.
“It's possible that, by preventing or treating high blood pressure, we could potentially prevent cognitive impairment, which can be a precursor to dementia,” University of Alabama in Birmingham expert Georgios Tsivgoulis, MD, who has also been the author of the new paper, explains. The expert is an AAN member as well. According to him, for each ten-point increase on the study scale, people became seven percent more likely to suffer from mental impairments, which is a very sharp rise.
The new research analyzed more than 20,000 people aged 45 or beyond, and also took into account other factors that might trigger poor mental health, such as alcohol and tobacco consumption, age, education, other diseases, high cholesterol and the amount of exercises each of the participants engaged in. The data was collected from the Reasons for Geographic And Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) Study. None of the participants suffered from strokes before entering the investigation.
“The REGARDS study is one of the largest population-based studies of risk factors for stroke. These latest data suggest that higher blood pressure may be a risk factor for cognitive decline, but further studies will be necessary to understand the cause-effect relationship. The National Institutes of Health is now organizing a large clinical trial to evaluate whether aggressive blood pressure lowering can decrease a number of important health outcomes including cognitive decline,” National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) Deputy Director Walter J. Koroshetz, MD, who is also an AAN fellow, concludes.