Greensboro's African American Community Newspaper since 1967
One of the most feared illnesses for anyone is the loss of their cognitive function/skills or dementia. Seeing someone slowly dissolve in front of your eyes is emotionally devastating. Seeing that person realize they are losing the ability to care for themselves and others is catastrophic. Seeing that person not even realize they can no longer care for themselves is even more cataclysmic. It can shake a family to its core.
The financial burden to individual families and nations is enormous and it is growing. The emotional burden that loss of cognitive function or dementia brings is staggering.
A recent study conducted in China asked whether the control of blood pressure would decrease the loss of cognitive skills or dementia.
When most people think of hypertension or blood pressure and the medical conditions it brings about, their thoughts go to heart attacks first and strokes next. It is a well-known fact that control of blood pressure or hypertension will reduce heart disease.
What some people do not realize is that control of blood pressure or hypertension will also prevent strokes and the accumulation of many little strokes that may result in a loss of cognitive function or dementia.
The study in China divided two large groups of people into: 1. those that received routine care that consisted of some medication, education and diet information and 2. a group that received the same education but also received medication to decrease their blood pressure to an average of their systolic or top number being below 130 and their diastolic being below 80. The first group had an average of 1.5 medications. The more aggressively treated group had an average of three medications.
The results from the study were monumental. The group of patients that received routine care and were not as aggressively treated exhibited a greater loss of cognitive skills or developed dementia at a greater clip.
So, aggressive treatment of high blood pressure was found to save not only the heart but also the brain.
This information was impressive, and this difference was noted in a study with four years of data.
Extrapolating that information and instituting aggressive treatment of high blood pressure starting at a younger age and continuing throughout life could be a game changer in decreasing the number of individuals suffering from cognitive decline or dementia associated with elevated blood pressure or hypertension.
I recommend keeping the systolic below 130 and the diastolic below 80 for most people. Save your brain and your heart by controlling your blood pressure.
Dr. Veita Bland is a board-certified Greensboro physician and hypertension specialist. Dr. Bland’s radio show, “It’s a Matter of Your Health,” can be heard live on Wednesdays, 5:30 p.m. on N.C. A&T State University’s WNAA, 90.1 FM. Listeners may call in and ask questions. The show is replayed on Sirius 142 at 5 p.m. on Wed. Email Dr. Bland at ideas@blandclinicpa.com.
