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SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (ABC4 News) – Doctors and researchers are finding more and more that what is good for the heart is good for the brain.
A new study suggests that reducing the target number of blood pressure helps your heart and brain.
Phyllis Leppert, 80, of Salt Lake City, needed to control her blood pressure.
"When I arrived here, my blood pressure was a little out of control," said Leppert.
She came to see Dr. Mark Supiano, a geriatrician at the University of Utah Health and at the Salt Lake City Hospital in Virginia.
Dr. Supiano has just been involved in a five-year study of 8,500 patients aged 50 years and older at high risk for cardiovascular disease.
"This suggests that less is better, and it's the first strong evidence that what has been shown to be beneficial for the heart is now also for the brain," Dr. Supiano said.
The randomized clinical trial funded by the NIH compared the standard number of 140 systolic rates to the lower target of 120 or less. Systolic blood pressure is the highest number that indicates the pressure your blood exerts when your heart beats.
More intensive treatment aimed at reducing their blood pressure to less than 120 gave patients 19% less risk of developing memory loss.
"Preventing dementia and mild cognitive impairment is a big problem," said Dr. Supiano.
It's something that Phyllis takes personally.
"My grandfather was suffering from Alzheimer's disease and I was always concerned about this kind of thinking," said Phyllis.
"We have been fighting for decades trying to find a cure for Alzheimer's disease and we have not been successful. This is the first good news that we really hope to prevent the development of a mild cognitive impairment that is the doorway to dementia. If we can delay the onset of dementia by 2 years by 2040, 20% fewer people, or 2.2 million less, will have dementia compared to current expectations, "said Dr. Supiano.
The results of the study were so promising that the test was stopped. But because of the growing number of questions about the link with dementia, the Alzheimer's Association has been funding research for two years.
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