The research as reported by Medical News Today indicated that having hypertension since young adulthood results in changes to the brain by the age of 55, noting that this may lead to cognitive problems.
The lead author of the study is Dr. Christina Lineback from the Department of Neurology at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago.
The study analysed the medical records of 142 adults, which the team accessed from the National Institutes of Health’s Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study.
Overall, the study tracked more than 5,000 Black and white adults who were aged 18–30 years at the start of the project in 1985–1986.
“Our study included participants starting in their 20s and followed over 30 years into their 50s (average age at follow-up being 53); teenagers were not included,” Dr. Lineback told Medical News Today,
Dr. Lineback says, “We were surprised that we could see brain changes in even this small sample of participants from the CARDIA study.”
The researchers said they found equal changes in the brain across all racial and ethnic groups.
“Our observations should encourage clinicians to be more aggressive in addressing blood pressure control — a modifiable risk factor — in young minority populations as a potential target to narrow disparities in brain health outcomes,” Lineback told Medical News Today
“The changes in the brain structure that we noted on MRI were related to changes in the size of specific areas of the brain,” Lineback said.
“These areas,” said Lineback, “are important for many functions, including thinking, emotions, and moving.”
Lineback noted, “that vascular disease may begin to affect the brain in young adulthood and be exacerbated by social, economic, and racial inequalities.”
She explains, “Given the greater likelihood of high blood pressure in some racial and ethnic groups, this study’s finding should encourage healthcare professionals to aggressively address high blood pressure in young adults, as a potential target to narrow disparities in brain health.”
Dr. Larry B. Goldstein from the University of Kentucky in Lexington, who was not involved in the research, while speaking with Medical News Today said, “The study reported lower brain volumes in older adulthood in those with higher blood pressures as young adults.
“Other studies find that high blood pressure is associated with injury to the brain’s white matter and deeper structures, generally related to blood vessel changes. Although not reported in this study, such changes can affect cognition (memory, processing, etc.).”
Source: HealthWise
