2023-09-13 14:39:38
at Silvia Turin
Individuals with high blood pressure have a 42% increased risk of dementia compared to “healthy” people. Those who treat themselves by restoring optimal blood pressure values can avoid the onset of cognitive disorders
Treating hypertension (also) prevents the onset of dementia. A study finds it just published on Jama.
I study
It is known that arterial hypertension represents one of the main and most widespread risk factors for cardiovascular disease, with a prevalence of 30-45% in the adult population and up to 60% in subjects over 60 years of age. Precisely the population of this age was the subject of the study carried out by the Australian University of New South Wales. 17 studies were selected for a population of a total of 34,519 people with an average age of 72.5 years and a follow-up of 4.3 years. None had a diagnosis of dementia at the start of the study. Three analysis groups were created: one with people without a diagnosis of hypertension (therefore healthy, as a “control” group), one with hypertensive people under therapy and one with hypertensive people without therapy. The results did not take into account differences between different high blood pressure control therapies, and the dementia diagnosed was “all-cause dementia.”
Onset of dementia
The results showed that individuals with untreated hypertension had a 42% increased risk of dementia compared to “healthy” people, and 26% compared to people being treated for hypertension. Compared to healthy people, the latter did not have an increased risk of developing any type of dementia. The limitations of the study were the definitions of hypertension which change over time and vary from place to place, the types of therapies administered, the criteria used for dementia which in turn may be different.
Optimal values
The importance of this study is that it adds an additional reason, that is, to counteract the onset of dementia, to control high blood pressure, first by monitoring it, then by treating it with specific drugs. A therapeutic intervention, even pharmacological, is justified when the blood pressure values measured by the doctor are equal to or greater than 140 mm Hg for the “maximum” (the systolic pressure) and/or equal to or greater than 90 mm Hg as regards the “minimum” » (diastolic blood pressure).
US researchers from the National Institute of Aging in Baltimore have already demonstrated that the brain can suffer the consequences of decades of moderate or high blood pressure (especially if the trend is upwards over the years). With the blood vessels under pressure, the white matter, i.e. the part that contains the nerve fibers of the brain, caused an abnormal volume to be measured with reduced blood flow within it and a greater risk of experiencing cognitive disorders.
September 13, 2023 (changed September 13, 2023 | 2.39pm)
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