According To A Study, Taking Care Of Our Blood Pressure Would Reduce The Development Of Dementia

When was the last time you had a medical checkup? Knowing your blood pressure on a regular basis is an essential factor. This can help you prevent multiple problems that can affect your quality of life.

However, and this is something that happens to many of us, it seems that for these things we never had time. Until, suddenly, the first warning appears: the first serious problem .

A curious aspect about blood pressure is that it is common to see it as an indicator of our cardiovascular health. However, it is something that goes much further.

Hypertension is directly linked to our kidneys, brain and, of course, the heart.

Furthermore, according to a study published by the American journal Hypertension, having high blood pressure throughout middle age is related to suffering from greater cognitive decline in old age.

Diseases such as Alzheimer’s or other types of dementias are directly linked to this health indicator. Therefore, we should monitor it periodically.

We offer you all the data below.

Blood pressure and our brain health

For starters: untreated hypertension can cause serious problems in our brain. One of them, for example, is that we can suffer a stroke.

• People who have maintained normal blood pressure throughout their lives have a lower risk of developing neurovascular diseases.
• 80% of strokes are due to a vascular occlusion (a blood clot) and 20% to a cerebral hemorrhage. Hypertension is one of the factors that can cause it.
• Likewise, a factor that we must take into account is that the arteries that reach our brain, like those of the heart, also develop atherosclerosis.
• High blood pressure gradually deteriorates the blood vessels and causes the bloodstream to alter. Thus, at any given time, we may not receive an adequate supply of oxygen and nutrients.

Let’s see it in detail.

Vascular dementia

High blood pressure is a fierce workhorse for our overall health. The biggest problem is that we don’t always give it importance.

That headache may be due to stress, tachycardia or, of course, that anxiety that life brings us .

• We must not fall into these types of thoughts. Self-diagnosis is the greatest enemy we can live with. This can take us away from doctors and adequate treatment, sometimes vital.
• Vascular dementia is one of its most striking effects.

It develops because of that prolonged hypertension and other associated factors. These, little by little, are gestating small cerebrovascular accidents that will gradually turn off our cognitive processes.

• According to Costantino Iadecola, a neurologist at Cornell University (New York), there are currently 40 million people suffering from dementia worldwide.

However, this figure may increase significantly in the following decades due to the greater life expectancy of the population.

Living longer should go hand in hand with good health. Therefore, it is essential to be aware that our blood pressure is key to achieving this.

A study that will give us more specific information

In January 2015 an interesting project was started that will last 5 years.

This is the “Sprint-Mind” study. In this  , the mechanisms by which hypertension favors cognitive deterioration and those dementias that prevent us from reaching more advanced ages with an adequate quality of life will be analyzed in detail.

2 800 people will be monitored and in 2021 we will know the results of the same.

How to take care of your blood pressure on a daily basis

Good blood circulation and a heart that pumps at the proper rate and strength are synonymous with health and well-being.

We know, however, that as we get older there are things that change. The heart muscle is no longer as strong, the metabolism changes, and our arteries lose some elasticity.

One aspect that we must remember is that good aging is a reflection of proper lifestyle habits during our youth and maturity.

We should not, therefore, wait to turn 65 to change routines and diet. The best time is always now.

Keys to reducing your hypertension

• Establish regular reviews with your doctor.
• Eat foods rich in potassium. In this way, we eliminate sodium through the urine and promote the elasticity of the arteries.
• Increase your intake of foods rich in calcium and magnesium.
• Drink plenty of fluids.
• Take a half hour walk a day or do other aerobic exercises.
• Reduce the consumption of fats in your diet, as well as those rich in salt.
• Take care of your emotional health and manage everyday stress.
• Avoid being overweight.

To conclude, we know that neurodegenerative diseases depend on many factors.

Some of them we do not know yet. However, aspects such as reducing hypertension could significantly reduce these types of risks.

It is worth remembering.