The overlooked link between blood pressure and brain health
High blood pressure in midlife can impact thinking skills later in life
It’s well known that high blood pressure is linked to an increased risk of heart attack and stroke, but its effects on the brain may be even more significant.
“High blood pressure can damage the tiny arteries that support the brain’s white matter, which is the area of the brain responsible for communicating information. Studies have suggested that the chronic strain from blood pressure elevation can cause irreversible brain changes that affect cognition,” says Dr. Sharon Cohen, Director of the Toronto Memory Center.
Mid-life hypertension linked to Alzheimer’s disease
Recent estimates suggest that 8% of cases of Alzheimer’s disease may be attributable to mid-life hypertension. A 2014 Johns Hopkins study found that people with high blood pressure at midlife had greater decline in key thinking skills later in life than those with normal blood pressure readings. It was the equivalent of 2.7 extra years of brain aging in their 70s, 80s or 90s, enough time to push someone from mild cognitive aging to a diagnosis of dementia.
Don’t wait for symptoms – start monitoring by age 40
Since high blood pressure has no (or very subtle) symptoms, people can go for years without addressing the condition, which hardens arteries and vessels that transport blood to key areas of the brain. Dr. Beth Abramson, Director of Cardiology at Medcan, says over the years the areas getting inadequate blood supply to the brain may lead to a gradual change in thinking or even stroke.
Dr. Abramson recommends that by age 40, it’s important to know your family history of hypertension (parents or siblings) and share this with your physician. It may be necessary to periodically keep track of blood pressure and take hypertension medication.
Adopting lifestyle changes in diet and exercise could also reduce dementia risk in later life. Exercise triggers release of nourishing chemicals to the brain and helps with the creation of new brain cells and brain cell repair.
Healthy heart, healthy brain
Achieving other markers of a healthy heart – such as not smoking, maintaining a healthy body weight and keeping cholesterol in check— also have a positive impact on your cognitive abilities.
Dr. Cohen conducts memory checks with patients to determine a healthy baseline to use as a reference should memory concerns arise in the future. At present, however, you can offset cognitive decline in later life by addressing high blood pressure. You’ll be doing your brain and heart a favor.
