Key result
Late-life high systolic BP is linked to reduced grey matter cerebral blood flow.
Why the study?
While associations of mid-life cardiovascular risk factors with late-life white matter lesions and cognitive decline are established, the role of cerebral haemodynamics remains unclear.
Do life-course cardiovascular risk factors reduce cerebral blood flow or efficiency in late-life cognitively healthy adults?
Cohort (n=282)
Do life-course cardiovascular risk factors reduce cerebral blood flow or efficiency in late-life cognitively healthy adults?
Late-life elevated blood pressure, but not earlier life blood pressure, is associated with reduced global cerebral perfusion, suggesting cerebral autoregulation maintains healthy blood flow until later in life.
Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
Late-life hypertension may reduce GM perfusion in healthy aging; hypothesis-generating for life-course BP timing on cerebral hemodynamics.
While the associations of mid-life cardiovascular risk factors with late-life white matter lesions (WMH) and cognitive decline have been established, the role of cerebral haemodynamics is unclear. We investigated the relation of late-life (69-71 years) arterial spin labelling (ASL) MRI-derived cerebral blood flow (CBF) with life-course cardiovascular risk factors (36-71 years) and late-life white matter hyperintensity (WMH) load in 282 cognitively healthy participants (52.8% female). Late-life (69-71 years) high systolic (B = -0.15) and diastolic (B = -0.25) blood pressure, and mean arterial pressure (B = -0.25) were associated with low grey matter (GM) CBF (p < 0.03), and white matter CBF (B = -0.25; B = -0.15; B = -0.13, p < 0.03, respectively). The association between systolic blood pressure and GM CBF differed between sexes (male/female B = -0.15/0.02, p = 0.04). No associations were found with early- or mid-life cardiovascular risk factors. Furthermore, WMHs were associated with cerebral haemodynamics but not cardiovascular risk factors. These findings suggest that cerebral blood flow autoregulation is able to maintain stable global cerebral haemodynamics until later in life. Future studies are encouraged to investigate why cardiovascular risk factors have differential effects on haemodynamics and WMH, and their implications for cognitive decline.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Dijsselhof et al. (2024) conducted a cohort in Cognitively healthy (n=282). Elevated blood pressure (systolic, diastolic, and mean arterial pressure) was evaluated on Grey matter cerebral blood flow (GM CBF) (B = -0.15, p=0.029). Late-life high systolic blood pressure was associated with reduced grey matter cerebral blood flow (B = -0.15, p = 0.029) in cognitively healthy older adults.
Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: