"Intensive Blood Pressure Control May Help Preserve Brain Health"
Strict blood pressure control not only benefits your heart, it might also help save your brain. Older adults whose systolic blood pressure (the top number in a reading) was kept at 120mm Hg or less saw a 19 percent decrease in their risk for mental difficulties known as mild cognitive impairment, according to recent trial results. But lower blood pressure isn't a one-size-fits-all remedy for brain ageing, cautioned Samuel Gandy, MD, PhD, professor of neurology, psychiatry, and associate director of the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Dr. Gandy said recent research has indicated that reducing blood pressure too fast might damage the brain and bring on cognitive impairment. "The timing and a patient's age and the rate of blood pressure lowering must be kept in mind so that one does not overdo the blood pressure lowering and do harm," Dr Gandy said.
- Samuel Gandy, MD, PhD, Professor, Neurology, Psychiatry, Associate Director, Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Director, The Mount Sinai Center for Cognitive Health and NFL Neurological Care