Having high blood pressure variability — defined as going months to years between regularly measuring blood pressure — later in life could better show if a person has a higher dementia risk. The study was published Monday in JAMA Neurology.
Researchers wanted to know if visit-to-visit blood pressure variability at different ages was differentially linked with dementia risk in community-dwelling individuals. Previous studies examining blood pressure variability and dementia risk largely looked at blood pressure variability late in life, the authors noted.
The team studied a group of 829 people who were 65 and over, living in a community and without dementia. Data was collected from 1994 to 2019. The researchers assessed blood pressure variability at ages 60, 70, 80, and 90. Of the participants, 58% were female, and the mean age was 77.
In total, 45.4% developed dementia. Higher blood pressure variability wasn’t linked to having a higher dementia risk over the course of a person’s lifetime at ages 60, 70 or 80. But at age 90, blood pressure variability was linked with a 35% higher dementia risk.
“Findings of this study suggest that high blood pressure variability can indicate increased incident dementia risk in older age but is less viable as a potential midlife dementia prevention target,” the authors wrote.
Researchers still don’t know the biological mechanism that’s behind the link between blood pressure variability and dementia, according to the authors. They know that hypertension in midlife is linked to an increased risk for developing dementia. Lowering blood pressure may be able to lower a person’s risk for dementia, the authors wrote.
High blood pressure variability comes with some other risks as well, as it’s been linked to having a higher risk for death and cardiovascular disease.
