A new study by Australian researchers has shown that fluctuating blood pressure can increase the risk of dementia and vascular problems in older people.
Short blood pressure (BP) fluctuations within 24 hours as well as over several days or weeks are linked with impaired cognition, say University of South Australia (UniSA) researchers who led the study.
Higher systolic BP variations (the top number that measures the pressure in arteries when a heart beats) are also linked with stiffening of the arteries, associated with heart disease.
The findings have been published in the journal Cerebral Circulation – Cognition and Behaviour.
Lead author Daria Gutteridge, a PhD candidate based in UniSA’s Cognitive Ageing and Impairment Neuroscience Laboratory (CAIN), says it’s well known that high blood pressure is a risk factor for dementia, but little attention is paid to fluctuating blood pressure.
