Connecting Dots Between Higher Blood Pressure Early in Life and Dementia

A study at Augusta University's Medical College of Georgia (MCG) is investigating a possible connection between higher or more rapidly increasing blood pressure in childhood and later vascular damage that could lead to dementia, reports EurekAlert . The researchers are examining 600 people — about equally divided between blacks and whites and male and female — currently 40 years old, on average. The researchers are analyzing data collected over 23 years, including ambulatory blood pressure, arterial stiffness, and other measures of chronic stress and lifestyle. About 33 percent of the study group has hypertension, and the investigators are applying brain imaging to study factors like cerebral blood flow as well as cognitive testing to assess brain health. "We will be able to look at associations between their cardiovascular measures over time and the current status of their cognitive ability, their cerebral blood flow, and brain structure," says MCG's Catherine Davis. MCG's Nathan Yanasak adds that decreased blood flow elevates the likelihood of a negative impact later on.