The term dementia indicates a set of pathologies that generally occur after the age of 65. They are characterized by short- and long-term memory loss and involution of deductive and inductive thinking. Although it is a multifactorial degeneration, adopting certain behaviors or taking certain nutrients allows you to slow down or accelerate the progress of dementia. For example, quercetin, a molecule found in apples, or coffee have opposite effects on the onset of the disease. It is important to know the most common symptoms already evident between the ages of 35 and 44, which could have repercussions after the age of 65 with the full-blown disease. For example, you need to be careful, because this very common symptom in your 40s could increase your risk of dementia.
Systolic and diastolic
When we talk about blood pressure we refer to the measure of the pressure that the blood exerts on the walls of the arteries, when it is pushed by the heart. When the heart contracts and pushes the blood into the rest of the body we speak of diastolic pressure (what we call “the maximum”); when the heart relaxes it is called systolic pressure (the “minimum”). It has long been debated about which of the two pressures should be kept under control or whether it is better to consider a relationship between the two. According to a 2019 study (Flint AC et al, 2019), both diastolic and systolic (≥140 / 90 mm Hg) independently influence the risk of adverse cardiovascular events.
Be careful because this very common symptom around the age of 40 could increase the risk of dementia
Numerous studies have linked high blood pressure to dementia. What was not known is whether the age of onset of hypertension could influence this association.
In a recently published study (Shang X et al, 2021), the possible correlation between early high blood pressure (whose onset occurs in the age group between 35 and 44 years) and dementia was therefore assessed.
To do this, the researchers used the UK Biobank, a database containing anonymous health information provided on a voluntary basis. The data obtained from 11,399 subjects without hypertension were compared with 11,399 subjects with hypertension (of different ages). All of these subjects had MRI magnetic resonances present. To evaluate dementia, about 124,000 subjects who had a diagnosis of dementia and with high blood pressure were included in the study. To these were added another 124 thousand control subjects.
It was found that subjects in the study who were diagnosed with high blood pressure before age 44 had smaller brain sizes and were more likely to develop dementia than people who had normal blood pressure.
The results, if confirmed, could help control or delay high blood pressure to reduce the risk of dementia.