A NEW study found that high blood pressure in early adulthood is associated with worse brain health in late life.

Researchers said men may be more vulnerable to the detrimental effects of high blood pressure on the brain than women.

The new study compared magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) brain scans of older adults who had high blood pressure between the ages of 30 to 40 with older adults who had normal blood pressure.

The researchers found that the high blood pressure group had significantly lower regional brain volumes and worse white matter integrity. Both factors are associated with dementia.

The research also showed that the negative brain changes in some regions — such as decreased grey matter volume and frontal cortex volume — were stronger in men. They note the differences may be related to the protective benefits of estrogen before menopause.

“Treatment for dementia is extremely limited, so identifying modifiable risk and protective factors over the life course is key to reducing disease burden,” said study first author Kristen M. George, an assistant professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences.

“High blood pressure is an incredibly common and treatable risk factor associated with dementia. This study indicates hypertension status in early adulthood is important for brain health decades later,” George said.

High blood pressure, also known as hypertension, is blood pressure that is higher than normal. A normal blood pressure level is less than 130/80 mmHg.

The rate of high blood pressure varies by sex and race. About 50 percent of men have high blood pressure compared to 44 percent of women.

The rate of hypertension is about 56 percent in Black adults, 48 percent in white adults, 46 percent in Asian adults and 39 percent in Hispanic adults. African Americans ages 35 to 64 years are 50 percent more likely to have high blood pressure than whites.

MRI scans of the participants conducted between 2017 and 2022 allowed them to look for late-life neuroimaging biomarkers of neurodegeneration and white matter integrity.

A significant reduction in cerebral gray matter volume is seen in both men and women with hypertension but is stronger in men.

Compared to participants with normal blood pressure, the brain scans of those transitioning to high blood pressure or with high blood pressure showed lower cerebral gray matter volume, frontal cortex volume and fractional anisotropy (a measure of brain connectivity). The scores for men with high blood pressure were lower than those for women.

The study joins a growing body of evidence that cardiovascular risk factors in young adulthood are detrimental to late-life brain health. (University of California – Davis Health)