High Blood Pressure and Dementia Risk

Heart health and brain health are deeply connected.

Blood pressure that damages arteries in the heart also damages the small blood vessels that supply the brain.

Small Vessel Disease in the Brain

Chronic hypertension injures delicate cerebral blood vessels.

This damage can lead to:

• reduced brain perfusion
• microvascular injury
• white matter changes

Over time these changes impair memory, reasoning, and cognitive processing.

Hypertension and Dementia

Research consistently shows that hypertension is strongly associated with vascular cognitive impairment and dementia. :contentReference[oaicite:3]{index=3}

Studies also show that controlling blood pressure can reduce dementia risk by roughly 15%. :contentReference[oaicite:4]{index=4}

Why Midlife Blood Pressure Matters

Damage to the brain often begins decades before symptoms appear.

Hypertension during midlife is particularly important because it may influence dementia risk later in life.

Protecting vascular health early may help preserve cognitive function for decades.