A massive review uncovers what truly works to calm your blood pressure.
The condition typically has no symptoms so it is vital to get checked out.
The condition typically has no symptoms so it is vital to get checked out.
Higher blood pressure in mid-life is linked to brain damage in later life.
High diastolic blood pressure — the pressure between heart beats — before age 50 is particularly strongly linked to brain damage in later life.
Diastolic blood pressure is the second or bottom number — and is usually considered high if it is over 90.
High blood pressure typically has no symptoms so it is vital to get checked out.
The condition is usually treated with a healthy diet, exercise and medication.
Dr Karolina Wartolowska, the study’s first author, explained the results:
“We made two important findings.
Firstly, the study showed that diastolic blood pressure in people in their 40s and 50s is associated with more extensive brain damage years later.
This means that it is not just the systolic blood pressure, the first, higher number, but the diastolic blood pressure, the second, lower number, that is important to prevent brain tissue damage.
Many people may think of hypertension and stroke as diseases of older people, but our results suggest that if we would like to keep a healthy brain well into our 60s and 70s, we may have to make sure our blood pressure, including the diastolic blood pressure, stays within a healthy range when we are in our 40s and 50s.
The second important finding is that any increase in blood pressure beyond the normal range is associated with a higher amount of white matter hyperintensities.
This suggests that even slightly elevated blood pressure before it meets the criteria for treating hypertension has a damaging effect on brain tissue.”
The study included 37,041 people who were tracked over about ten years.
The results showed that people with high blood pressure are more likely to have damage to the small blood vessels in the brain.
These types of changes to blood vessels are linked to dementia, stroke, depression and problems with thinking.
Dr Wartolowska said:
“Not all people develop these changes as they age, but they are present in more than 50 per cent of patients over the age of 65 and most people over the age of 80 even without high blood pressure, but it is more likely to develop with higher blood pressure and more likely to become severe.”
High blood pressure may cause smaller blood vessels in the brain to become leaky and/or larger blood vessels to become stiffer.
Both can cause brain damage.
Dr Wartolowska said:
“The long time interval between the effects of blood pressure in midlife and the harms in late life emphasises how important it is to control blood pressure long-term, and that research has to adapt to consider the very long-term effects of often asymptomatic problems in midlife.”
The study was published in the European Heart Journal (Wartolowska et al., 2020).
The findings are alarming, especially for younger adults, because it takes time to see the negative health impact to the brain caused by elevated blood pressure.
The approach that helps people eat heart-healthy foods.
A stroke occurs when blood flow to the brain is disrupted, which can damage or kill brain cells.
Taking blood pressure pills at the right time halves the risk of heart failure, heart attack and stroke.
Taking blood pressure pills at the right time halves the risk of heart failure, heart attack and stroke.
Blood pressure pills are much more effective if taken at bedtime, an easy behaviour that could greatly reduce the risk of heart disease.
A study has found that, unlike patients who take their medications for high blood pressure in the morning, those who routinely take their pills before going to bed respond better to the treatment.
The researchers followed 9,000 patients for 6 years to see if taking anti-hypertensive medication at night or in the morning has a better effect on cardiovascular disease.
The risk of dying from or having a heart attack, stroke, and heart failure reduced by nearly half in patients who took their medications at bedtime.
These patients had a 66 percent lower risk of death from heart or blood vessel problems as opposed to those who took their medication in the morning.
Taking medications at bedtime also lowered the risk of:
Professor Ramón C. Hermida, the study’s first author, said:
“Current guidelines on the treatment of hypertension do not mention or recommend any preferred treatment time.
Morning ingestion has been the most common recommendation by physicians based on the misleading goal of reducing morning blood pressure levels.
The results of this study show that patients who routinely take their anti-hypertensive medication at bedtime, as opposed to when they wake up, have better-controlled blood pressure and, most importantly, a significantly decreased risk of death or illness from heart and blood vessel problems.”
The human body’s circadian rhythms or biological clock might have an impact on the absorption of anti-hypertensive drugs since they influence hormone production and digestion.
In this study, those who took their medicine at bedtime had considerably lower blood pressure during the day.
The bedtime treatment lowered their blood pressure even more at night in comparison to patients who were taking their drugs each morning.
Professor Hermida said:
“The findings — indicate that average blood pressure levels while asleep and night-time blood pressure dipping, but not day-time blood pressure or blood pressure measured in the clinic, are jointly the most significant blood pressure-derived markers of cardiovascular risk.”
The study was published in European Heart Journal (Hermida et al., 2019).
The fruit is as effective as taking medication to lower blood pressure.
The fruit is as effective as taking medication to lower blood pressure.
Eating one cup of blueberries per day lowers systolic blood pressure, research finds.
It could decrease the risk of heart disease by 20 percent.
The fruit is as effective as taking medication to lower blood pressure.
For the study, 40 healthy people were randomised to one of two groups.
One group was given a drink containing 200 grams (7 oz) of blueberries, the other had a control drink without blueberries.
Within two hours of consuming the blueberries, their blood pressure was reduced by 5 mmHg in the group who had been eating blueberries.
The effect was sustained for the whole 40 days of the study.
The researchers found that the beneficial effect is down to anthocyanins, which are antioxidants.
Anthocyanins improve the function of the endothelial cells, which act as a barrier between the blood and the body’s tissue.
The antioxidant is responsible for the pink, red, purple and blue colours of some fruits and vegetables.
Dr Ana Rodriguez-Mateos, the study’s first author, said:
“Although it is best to eat the whole blueberry to get the full benefit, our study finds that the majority of the effects can be explained by anthocyanins.
If the changes we saw in blood vessel function after eating blueberries every day could be sustained for a person’s whole life, it could reduce their risk of developing cardiovascular disease by up to 20%.”
The study was published in The Journals of Gerontology: Series A (Rodriguez-Mateo et al., 2019).
Could your spiritual side hold the key to a healthier heart?
Lower blood pressure linked to one of the most popular drinks in the world.
Lower blood pressure linked to one of the most popular drinks in the world.
Coffee is one of the most common drinks around the world yet due to its natural stimulant effect, caffeine has been controversial.
Caffeine can cause a short spike in blood pressure by affecting adenosine production, a compound that relaxes blood vessels.
However, antioxidants in coffee reduce this effect, helping the blood vessels to widen and improve blood flow.
Phenolic compounds in coffee have antioxidant activity that can provide anti-inflammatory benefits and improve insulin sensitivity.
Contrary to what many believe, a study has found that drinking coffee helps maintain low blood pressure.
Participants who consumed two or three cups of coffee every day had notably lower blood pressure than those who did not drink coffee.
The research team observed that moderate coffee consumption was associated with lower peripheral and central (aortic) systolic blood pressure (SBP).
Elevated central aortic pressure is a strong indicator of cardiovascular disease.
Professor Arrigo Cicero, the study’s first author, said:
“The results obtained show that those who regularly drink coffee have significantly lower blood pressure, both on peripheral and central levels, than those who do not drink it.
This is the first study to observe this association in the Italian population, and the data confirm the positive effect of coffee consumption on cardiovascular risk.”
Despite the side effects linked to its powerful stimulant effect, several studies show that people who drink coffee regularly, but in moderation, are less likely to develop diabetes, cardiovascular disease, liver disease, and certain neurodegenerative conditions.
Professor Cicero said:
“Caffeine is only one of the several coffee components and certainly not the only one with an active role.
Positive effects on human health have indeed been recorded even among those who consume decaffeinated coffee.
We know that caffeine can increase blood pressure, but other bioactive components in coffee seem to counterbalance this effect with a positive end result on blood pressure levels.”
To find out the impact of coffee on blood pressure, the study compared central and peripheral BP values in 1,503 Italian adults.
Participants’ coffee drinking habits (the amount and how often) and blood pressure levels were recorded.
Professor Cicero said:
“The results are very clear: peripheral blood pressure was significantly lower in individuals consuming one to three cups of coffee a day than in non-coffee drinkers.
And for the first time, we were also able to confirm these effects with regard to the central aortic pressure, the one close to the heart, where we observe an almost identical phenomenon with entirely similar values for habitual coffee drinkers compared to non-coffee drinkers.”
Their data shows that coffee drinkers had lower values in central aortic pressure, peripheral circulation, SBP, and pulse pressure suggesting the beneficial health effects in lowering cardiovascular disease risk.
The study was published in the journal Nutrients (Cicero et al., 2023).
People do not get enough of this in their diet.
People do not get enough of this in their diet.
A glass of orange juice a day can help to lower blood pressure, studies find.
Orange juice is rich in potassium, which has a powerful effect in lowering blood pressure.
Bananas, green leafy vegetables, avocados and beans are also high in potassium.
A typical Western diet is low in potassium and high in salt, which is bad for blood pressure.
Salt tastes particularly good to us because our ancestors got little in their diet.
The study involved 300 nurses who were split into five groups and given different combinations of supplements to test their effects.
Along with potassium, the researchers also tested the effect of magnesium and calcium, with blood pressure readings taken over a 24-hour period.
The results showed that potassium had the greatest effect on lowering blood pressure.
Professor Frank M. Sacks, the study’s first author, said:
“Surprisingly, when we put the three together, the effect was no greater than potassium alone.
In fact, it was a little lower.”
The results showed that 1,600 milligrams of potassium was enough to lower blood pressure by a modest amount.
However, people in the study did not have high blood pressure.
For people with high blood pressure, the gains would be more significant, said Professor Sacks:
“Previous studies have shown that potassium in people with high blood pressure has a greater effect of lowering blood pressure 4 to 5 mm Hg.
If he or she already has high blood pressure, then they should eat a diet high in potassium or take supplements.”
The study was published in the journal Hypertension (Sacks al., 1998).
Join the free PsyBlog mailing list. No spam, ever.
