high blood pressure: The research, published in JAMA Network Open, compared magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) brain scans of older adults with high blood pressure aged 30 to 40 to those of older adults with normal blood pressure.
The researchers found that the high blood pressure group had significantly lower regional brain volume and poorer white matter integrity. Both factors are associated with dementia. The research also showed that negative brain changes in certain areas such as reductions in gray matter volume and frontal cortex volume were stronger in men. They note that the differences may be related to the protective benefits of estrogen before menopause.
First author Kristen M. George, an assistant professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences, said, “Treatments for dementia are extremely limited, so identifying modifiable risk and protective factors across the lifespan is critical to reducing the burden of the disease. ” “High blood pressure is an incredibly common and treatable risk factor associated with dementia. This study indicates high blood pressure status in early adulthood is important for brain health decades later,” said George.
High blood pressure is prevalent in the US High blood pressure, also known as hypertension, is blood pressure that is higher than normal. A normal blood pressure level is less than 130/80 mmHg. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 47% of adults in the United States have high blood pressure.
Rates of high blood pressure vary by gender and race. About 50% of men have high blood pressure, compared to 44% of women. The rate of high blood pressure is approximately 56% among black adults, 48% among white adults, 46% among Asian adults, and 39% among Hispanic adults. African Americans ages 35 to 64 are 50% more likely to have high blood pressure than whites.
The researchers looked at data from 427 participants in the Kaiser Healthy Aging and Diverse Life Experiences (KHANDLE) study and the Study of Healthy Aging in African Americans (STAR). This provided them with health data from 1964 to 1985 for a diverse group of older Asian, black, Latino and white adults. They took two blood pressure readings when the participants were between 30 and 40 years old.
This allowed them to determine whether they were hypertensive, in the transition to high blood pressure or had normal blood pressure in young adulthood. MRI scans of the participants conducted between 2017 and 2022 allowed them to look for late-life neuroimaging biomarkers of neurodegeneration and white matter integrity.
Significant reductions in cerebral gray matter volume are seen in both men and women with hypertension but are stronger in men. Brain scans reveal differences Compared to participants with normal blood pressure, brain scans of people with hypertension or high blood pressure showed reduced cerebral gray matter volume, frontal cortex volume, and fractional anisotropy (a measure of brain connectivity).
Men with high blood pressure had lower scores than women. The study adds to a growing body of evidence that cardiovascular risk factors in young adulthood are detrimental to brain health later in life. The researchers note that due to the sample size, they could not examine racial and ethnic differences and recommend interpreting the results regarding sex differences with caution.
They also note that the MRI data was available only once late in life. It can only quantify physical properties such as volumetric differences, not specific evidence of neurodegeneration over time. “This study really demonstrates the importance of early life risk factors, and to age well, you need to take care of yourself throughout life, heart health is brain health,” said Rachel Whitmer, senior author of the study.
Whitmer is a professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences and Neurology and heads the Department of Epidemiology. She is also the associate director of the UC Davis Alzheimer’s Disease Center. “We’re excited to be able to continue to follow these participants and learn more about what they can do early in life to set themselves up for healthy brain aging,” Whitmer said.