Dementia risk to 50-year-olds with raised blood pressure – study

[Northerner]

Fifty-year-olds with slightly raised blood pressure are at an increased risk of getting dementia in later life, a new study has suggested.

Study participants had a greater risk even if they did not have other heart-related problems, the research published in the European Heart Journal said.

The association between blood pressure and dementia risk was seen at aged 50, but not 60 or 70, the study found.

People aged 50 with a systolic blood pressure of 130 mmHg, which is between the ideal blood pressure range (90/60mmHg and 120/80mmHg) and that considered to be high (140/90mmHg), or above had a 45% greater risk of developing dementia, scientists said.

Those taking part in the study developed dementia at an average age of 75.

https://www.theguardian.com/science...50-year-olds-with-raised-blood-pressure-study

 

[mikeyB]

That’s not surprising - we’re talking vascular dementia here, not Alzheimer’s. You need a higher systolic as you get older to pump blood round your stiffening arteries, and so you don’t fall over when you stand up.