Although high blood pressure is common in older adults aged 60 and above, recent studies show an increased hypertension rate among young adults (age 20-44) as well. According to a new study published in the journal Hypertension Research, high blood pressure can also increase dementia risk within the middle-aged population.
Researchers analyzed data of 1279 people from Argentina with high blood pressure between ages of 21 and 95. Scientists then determined the CAIDE (Cardiovascular Risk Factors, Aging, and Incidence of Dementia) dementia risk score for each study participant. The CAIDE score factors in information on blood pressure, cholesterol levels, obesity, physical activity, age, and educational level. The analysis shows that 28% of those in the mid-life age group (47–53 years) had a heightened risk of dementia.
Even though hypertension is a known risk factor for dementia, this requires further study. The brain is one of the three target organs of hypertension (others are kidney and heart) and its evaluation in the routine clinical practice is often overlooked. Since dementia is an incurable but preventable disease, vascular disease is the main precipitant of more than 90% of cases of dementia including Alzheimer’s disease.
Numerous patients express concerns about medication side effects and optimizing their blood pressure control is sometimes difficult to negotiate. For some, highlighting the risk of dementia to patients with uncontrolled hypertension can motivate them and primary care physicians to be more proactive in mitigating the effect of this risk factor on brain health.
Hypertension has previously been shown to be a risk factor for dementia and the study nicely shows that with more risk factors, which they calculated with the CAIDE score, there was a higher risk of dementia, even in middle-aged people. It’s useful to have studies that show patients the serious consequences of hypertension which is also known as a silent disease. Many people have no symptoms when their blood pressures are elevated at younger ages and it’s hard for people to understand the gravity of these risk factors with that lack of symptoms. It helps to show them that there can be consequences earlier than some people expect.
Journal Reference- Cerezo, G. H., Fernández, R. A., Enders, J. E., & Vicario, A. (2024). Predicting cognitive function and dementia risk in patients with hypertension.
