Link between hypertension and Alzheimer’s disease
Better management of high blood pressure could lead to a significant decline in the incidence of Alzheimer’s disease, according to a national expert on dementia and brain ageing.
Dr Michael Valenzuela from the University of New South Wales’s School of Psychiatry, argues in a new book -It’s Never too late to change your mind: The latest medical thinking on what you can do to avoid dementia – that there is a growing body of research which suggests a link between hypertension and all forms of dementia.
Dr Valenzuela points to at least six randomised controlled trials which have suggested a link between blood pressure treatment and a slowed rate of cognitive decline.
He recommends that everybody have their blood pressure monitored regularly, for the sake of their heart as well as their brain.
