High blood pressure, out of control cholesterol, obesity threaten not only the cardiovascular system but also cognitive abilities. And you have to think about it already at the age of 50
That cardiovascular problems, perhaps causing many micro-strokes, may end up causing dementia known, but a study published in the Journal of the
American College of Cardiology, conducted on over 500 subjects around the age of 50, showed how even atherosclerosis in the pre-clinical phase (when it has not yet given a sign of s, n with Tia – transient ischemic attacks -, n with actual strokes) can have a connection with cognitive difficulties later in life.
Niccol Marchionni, professor of Geriatrics at the University of Florence and director of the Cardiothoracovascular Department at the Florentine Careggi hospital explains: This research is interesting precisely because it involved relatively young and asymptomatic people, without problems of dementia, n full-blown atherosclerotic diseases. The study showed that it is enough to have risk factors for cardiovascular diseases, such as hypertension, to have a reduced cerebral metabolism (analyzed with PET, Positron Emission Tomography), a marker of future dementigenic forms.
Did the research reveal any other interesting elements? Another strength of the study lies in the fact that, while the expected and obvious link between vascular dementia and heart disease is confirmed, here we look at dementia in general, including degenerative dementia, to say Alzheimer’s disease. Controlling cardiovascular health, and reducing hypertension to age 50-60, makes a difference in terms of future mental health for both vascular and degenerative forms of dementia.
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toare you checking your blood pressure? The study focused mainly on this, but there are other factors to take into consideration: they are certainly not good for the health of our heart – and even our brain – even overweight, high cholesterol, diabetes, unbalanced diet, smoking habits. They are all part of an overall “package” that makes us risk not only heart attack, angina and stroke but also puts our brain in danger.
How to protect yourself? The pillars of cardiovascular prevention, and more, remain the true Mediterranean diet and physical activity, remembering that one strengthens the other. But it is necessary to think about it in time. It is also necessary to keep in mind that reducing blood pressure levels when you are already very advanced in years and a cognitive disorder that has already started can even have a counterproductive effect.
Does this mean that after the age of 75 it is better to have high blood pressure? No, but in the elderly or very old, especially if frail, we can speak of optimal control even when the maximum values are around 140-150, against the 130 referred to in younger ages. This is because, with age, the receptors, located in the carotids and in the aorta, work less well, which allow, when passing from lying down to erect, to maintain stable blood pressure values. In particular, in those suffering from Alzheimer’s, but also Parkinson’s, the compromised autonomic component and the transition from lying to orthostatic position can cause a sudden drop in blood pressure, the so-called orthostatic hypotension. A problem also favored by alpha-blocking drugs, used for prostatic hypertrophy, and by benzodiazepines used, erroneously, and perhaps for years, to induce sleep. This is why it would be useful in the elderly to control blood pressure even when they are standing: if it is too low – even for an overtreatment of hypertension – cerebral circulation is reduced and, as you can imagine, this is certainly not good for you.
October 7, 2021 (change October 7, 2021 | 19:31)
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