Two new studies point to a link between high blood pressure and increased risk of dementia. In one eight-year study of 1,403 women ages 65 and older, MRI scans revealed that those with hypertension had significantly more white matter lesions- indicating weakening of the insulation around nerve cells in the brain necessary for communication. The higher the blood pressure, the more serious the damage.This is a silent disease in the brain, commented lead researcher Lewis Kuller, MD, DrPH, of the University of Pittsburgh. Its evolving over time and it leads to very bad outcomes.
| To prevent high blood pressure, the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute recommends: Healthy eating, following a diet such as the DASH plan. See Reduce sodium to less than 2,400 milligrams daily. Maintain a healthy weight. Losing even 10 pounds can lower blood pressure. Get 30 minutes of moderate-level physical activity on most days of the week. Limit alcohol to one drink a day for women, two for men. Quit smoking. |
In the second study, which tracked 983 men and women for more than 15 years, beginning in middle age, uncontrolled high blood pressure was similarly linked to white-matter damage. Higher systolic blood pressure (the top number) was associated with more progressive damage, according to the study led by Rebecca F. Gottesman, MD, PhD, of Johns Hopkins University. The higher participants cumulative blood pressure over time, the greater the damage.The National Institutes of Health (NIH) will further explore these connections as part of its SPRINT study, now enrolling 7,500 participants nationwide.TO LEARN MORE: Journal of Clinical Hypertension, March 2010; abstract at www3.interscience.wiley. com/journal/123215608/abstract. Stroke, January 2010; abstract at stroke.ahajournals.org/cgi/ content/abstract/41/1/3