About one million Finns use blood pressure-lowering drugs. Recent research confirms the benefits of medication.
Blood pressure medication also reduces the risk of memory disorders in the elderly, according to a recent study.
Blood pressure medication has been linked to a lower risk of dementia in the past, but it has not been certain whether the benefits also apply to elderly and physically frail patients.
The results of the Italian study have been published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. The Uitispalvelu Duodecim tells about them.
215,000 Italians over the age of 65 participated in the study. They were started on blood pressure medication in 2009–2012. By 2019, 14,000 of the participants had developed Alzheimer’s disease or another form of dementia.
The risk of illness was found to be lower the longer the participant had used blood pressure medication. Those who had used the medication for most of the follow-up period had a risk of dementia about a quarter lower than those who had used the medication for a short time at most.
The connection also concerned patients over 85 years of age and very frail patients.
Even among those taking antihypertensive drugs, only about 40 percent have their blood pressure at the treatment goal, it is reported in the Duodecim magazine. Adobe stock/AOP
Clear screen
High blood pressure is so harmful because, if left untreated, it puts a strain not only on the heart but also on the brain. If it continues for a long time, hypertension damages the blood vessels in the brain and damages the nerve cells. The result is cerebrovascular accident. High blood pressure causes about half of all cerebrovascular disorders.
Cerebrovascular disorders and damage to brain blood vessels can cause vascular dementia.
Vascular dementia increases the risk of developing Alzheimer’s, and previous studies have also found that high blood pressure has caused damage to the white matter of the brain. White matter is important for brain function, as it carries messages from the hippocampus of the brain to other parts of the brain.
High blood pressure increases the risk of other types of dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease.
Alzheimer’s disease is only partly caused by genes that predispose to the disease and cause the amyloid protein, which damages brain cells, to accumulate in the brain. Instead, many lifestyle factors increase the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. The clearest evidence for the prevention of Alzheimer’s disease is the treatment of hypertension.
In addition to high blood pressure, the risk of illness is increased by diabetes, high cholesterol, overweight and lack of exercise.
About 100,000 Finns suffer from mild dementia and almost as many have more advanced dementia. About two million Finns have high blood pressure.
THE FACTS
Get your blood pressure in order like this:
Adverse vascular changes are thought to increase the accumulation of amyloid in the brain. It has also been shown that the amyloid accumulated in hypertension does not leave the brain as it normally does.
Blood pressure is normal when it is less than 130/85 mmHg, and high when it is 140/90 or more. Elevated blood pressure should be treated with lifestyle modification and/or medication to the recommended level.
In terms of lifestyle, it is important to reduce the amount of salt to less than 5 grams per day. At the moment, we get even twice as much salt as recommended.
You should stop smoking and reduce alcohol consumption.
Instead, you should increase exercise: for example, take a brisk walk for half an hour five days a week.
An overweight person benefits from weight loss: even a 5-10 percent weight loss has an effect.
Increasing dietary fiber and adequate intake of potassium and magnesium also lowers blood pressure. If the pressure is high, reduce the consumption of licorice and salmia.
If medication is needed, ACE inhibitors or ATR blockers, diuretics and calcium channel blockers are primarily used as blood pressure medicines. All of them lower blood pressure by roughly the same amount and are well tolerated in small doses. Medicines are used regularly.
The blood pressure-lowering effect of the drugs is clearly improved if at the same time you change your lifestyle to a healthier one.
Memory disorders and cardiovascular diseases are national diseases in Finland. They are affected by the same risk factors. Adobe Stock / AOP
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