Why the study?
The authors hypothesized that lower untreated systolic blood pressure would be associated with a lower risk of dementia and death up to age 95.
Is lower untreated systolic blood pressure associated with a lower risk of dementia and death up to age 95?
Is lower untreated systolic blood pressure associated with a lower risk of dementia and death up to age 95?
Low untreated systolic blood pressure over 18 years is associated with a significantly decreased risk of dementia and lower brain amyloid beta accumulation in individuals surviving to age 90+.
INTRODUCTION: We hypothesized that lower untreated systolic blood pressure (SBP) would be associated with a lower risk of dementia and death up to age 95. METHODS: SBP measured between 2000 and 2006 was evaluated in relationship to dementia risk and brain biomarkers from 2009-2020 (n = 177) in the Gingko Evaluation of Memory Study (GEMS), mean age 95 in 2020. Participants had measurements of brain amyloid beta (Aβ) and repeat clinical-cognitive evaluations every 6 months. RESULTS: By 2020, only 9 of 177 patients (5%) were alive and cognitively unimpaired (CU). Mean SBP from 2000 to 2006 was 120 mm Hg for nine alive/CU, 125 mm Hg for alive/mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and 130 mm Hg for alive/dementia (P = .03). The amount of Aβ was directly related to SBP levels. In multivariate analysis, Aβ+ in 2009 and thinner cortex were significant predictors of dementia. Excluding Aβ, SBP became a significant predictor of dementia. DISCUSSION: Low SBP untreated by antihypertensive medications was associated with significant decreased risk of dementia and less Aβ.
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Kuller et al. (2022) studied this question.
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