The investigation showed that the high diastolic pressure leads to a weakening of the small arteries in the brain, which can lead to the development of small areas of brain damage
High blood pressure is linked to memory problems in people over age 45, according to an article published Tuesday, the journal Neurology, the American Academy of Neurology.
The study found that people with high diastolic pressure, which is low in a blood pressure reading are more likely to have cognitive problems, memory or related to thinking skills than people with normal diastolic reading.
For each point (10 points in reading U.S.) increase in reading, the chances that a person has cognitive problems increase by 7%.
The results remained valid even after being weighted with other factors that may affect cognitive abilities, such as age, smoking, exercise level, education, diabetes or high cholesterol.
The study involved nearly 20 thousand people over 45 years of age throughout the country who had participated in an investigation of geographic and racial differences in stroke, and never had suffered a heart attack or micro infarctions.
A total of 506 participants thousand, i.e. 7.6%, suffered from cognitive problems, and nine thousand 844, ie 49.6%, taking medication for high blood pressure.
High blood pressure is defined as a reading of 12 / 9 (140/90) or higher.
“It is possible that by preventing or treating high blood pressure can prevent cognitive impairment that may be precursors of dementia,” explained study author Georgios Tsivgoulis, University of Alabama at Birmingham, and member of the American Academy of Neurology.
The investigation showed that the high diastolic pressure leads to a weakening of the small arteries in the brain, which can lead to the development of small areas of brain damage.
Tsivgoulis added that more research is needed to confirm the relationship between high blood pressure