Treating high blood pressure in your 30s may help prevent dementia
Dr Julia Jones discusses lifestyle changes to help prevent dementia
High blood pressure has previously been linked to increased risk of dementia in later life. But a UC Davis study compared magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) brain scans of older adults who had high blood pressure between the ages of 30 to 40 with older adults who had normal blood pressure.
The researchers found the high blood pressure group had significantly lower regional brain volumes and worse white matter integrity. Both these factors are associated with dementia.
The research also showed the negative brain changes in some regions, such as decreased grey matter volume and frontal cortex volume, were stronger in men.
It was also noted the differences may be related to the protective benefits of oestrogen before menopause.
“Treatment for dementia is extremely limited, so identifying modifiable risk and protective factors over the life course is key to reducing disease burden,” said first author Kristen M. George, an assistant professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences.
“High blood pressure is an incredibly common and treatable risk factor associated with dementia. This study indicates hypertension status in early adulthood is important for brain health decades later.”
The researchers looked at data from 427 participants from the Kaiser Healthy Aging and Diverse Life Experiences (KHANDLE) study and the Study of Healthy Aging in African Americans (STAR).
This gave them health data from 1964 to 1985 for a diverse cohort of older Asian, Black, Latino and white adults.
Two blood pressure readings were obtained from when the participants were between the ages of 30 to 40.
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This allowed them to determine if they had been hypertensive, transitioning to hypertensive or had normal blood pressure in young adulthood.
MRI scans were conducted between 2017 and 2022 allowing them to look for late-life neuroimaging biomarkers of neurodegeneration and white matter integrity.
The researchers did note due to the sample size they could not examine racial and ethnic differences and recommend interpreting results regarding sex differences with caution.
They also said the MRI data was only available from one time-point late in life.
This can only determine physical properties like volumetric differences, not specific evidence of neurodegeneration over time.
“This study truly demonstrates the importance of early life risk factors, and that to age well, you need to take care of yourself throughout life — heart health is brain health,” said Rachel Whitmer, senior author of the study.
Whitmer is a professor in the departments of Public Health Sciences and Neurology and chief of the Division of Epidemiology and also the associate director of the UC Davis Alzheimer’s Disease Center.
“We are excited to be able to continue following these participants and to uncover more about what one can do in early life to set yourself up for healthy brain aging in late life.”
The research was published in JAMA Network Open.
Simple lifestyle changes such as cutting your salt intake, being active and cutting down on alcohol can help reduce high blood pressure.
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