Pressure Point

Previously, a number of published studies demonstrate that high cardiovascular risk at midlife, particularly high blood pressure (hypertension), is linked to subsequent increased risk of dementia. Rhoda Au, from Boston University Medical Center (Massachusetts, USA), and colleagues analyzed data collected on 378 men and women, enrolled  in the Framingham Heart Study.  Researchers measured blood pressure when subjects were between 50-60 years old, and then tested their cognitive performance approximately 30 years later when they were 80 years or older. The team found that the participants with high blood pressure at midlife scored more poorly on tests of attention and executive function later in life. The study authors warn that: “While midlife [hypertension] is not associated with late life cognitive impairment, midlife [systolic blood pressure] is related to late life attention and verbal fluency impairments.”