--- title: High Blood Pressure May Raise the Risk of Alzheimer’s description: It’s well known that high blood pressure can be bad for the heart, but growing evidence suggests it can be harmful for the brain, too. canonical: https://time.com/5334859/high-blood-pressure-alzheimers-disease/ author: Alice Park article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-07-11T20:00:53.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-12T09:33:59.446Z article:section: Health og:title: This Surprising Factor May Raise Your Risk of Alzheimer’s og:description: High blood pressure isn't just bad for the heart og:url: https://time.com/5334859/high-blood-pressure-alzheimers-disease/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt25b0227745743e0f/69893507656a3f2b03bd4e97/gettyimages-148817014.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4890 og:image:height: 2751 og:image:alt: Sphygmomanometer, blood pressure gauge og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: This Surprising Factor May Raise Your Risk of Alzheimer’s twitter:description: High blood pressure isn't just bad for the heart twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt25b0227745743e0f/69893507656a3f2b03bd4e97/gettyimages-148817014.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # This Surprising Factor May Raise Your Risk of Alzheimer’s > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=9955c73c-aac3-420f-a8fb-6ff4c1b4827c&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Alzheimer's New Hope [Watch (HLS stream): Alzheimer's New Hope](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Dz6EZRwJ.m3u8) (6:48)  _Published 2018-02-14. TIME follows a patient as he begins a drug trial that could offer groundbreaking treatment of Alzheimer's_  by [Alice Park](https://time.com/author/alice-park/)  ## Alice Park Senior Correspondent Jul 11, 2018 8:00 PM UTC  by [Alice Park](https://time.com/author/alice-park/)  ## Alice Park Senior Correspondent Jul 11, 2018 8:00 PM UTC Outside of your [genetic makeup](http://content.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1920745,00.html), few things are definitively linked to [Alzheimer’s disease](http://time.com/5159880/please-be-the-drug/) and other degenerative brain conditions. Unlike heart disease, which is affected by behaviors like [diet](http://time.com/4919448/low-fat-v-low-carb-diets/), [exercise](http://time.com/5230831/exercise-heart-disease-genetics/) and smoking, science hasn’t documented many risk factors that make the brain more vulnerable to dementia—although there are hints that things like [physical activity](http://time.com/3968683/exercise-treatment-for-alzheimers/) and [brain games](http://time.com/4218125/brain-games-neurofeedback-aging/) might help to protect against cognitive decline. But in a [study published in the journal _Neurology_](http://n.neurology.org/lookup/doi/10.1212/WNL.0000000000005951), researchers led by Dr. Zoe Arvanitakis, medical director of the Rush Memory Clinic at Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center, find more evidence that [blood pressure](http://time.com/5022440/high-blood-pressure-guidelines/) may be one of those risk factors. Previous studies have implicated high [blood pressure as a possible risk factor for dementia](http://time.com/4217067/alzheimers-from-a-new-angle/), including Alzheimer’s dementia, but there are few studies exploring how blood pressure, particularly among older people, affects tissues in the brain. In the study, Arvanitakis and her colleagues measured the blood pressure of nearly 1,300 elderly people, aged 59 to 102 years, and followed them until they died, on average eight years after enrolling in the study. The scientists performed autopsies on the brains to document the presence of brain lesions, including signs of Alzheimer’s disease, which is characterized by the presence of protein plaques known as [amyloid](http://time.com/5117042/solanezumab-alzheimers-drug/), and tangles of dying and dead nerve fibrils known as tau. The American Heart Association says that blood pressure should ideally be 120/80 mmHg or below. During the study, the average blood pressure was about 134/71 mmHg, which is considered pre-hypertensive. People with higher blood pressure across the study period tended to have more brain lesions, known as infarcts, which are areas of dead brain tissue that have lost their blood supply. Infarcts can lead to strokes, but many go undetected. People with higher blood pressure also showed more tau tangles, although they did not show significant differences in the other Alzheimer’s feature, amyloid plaques. In fact, an increase in systolic pressure (the top blood pressure number) from 134 mmHg to 147 mmHg was linked to a 46% higher chance of having one or more brain infarcts. “We think that it’s potentially biologically plausible that altered blood pressure later in life can cause infarcts \[in the brain\], given the body of literature in which we know that blood pressure is associated with stroke,” says Arvanitakis. She says the study does not show that high blood pressure actually causes brain lesions, and further research is needed to explore that connection. **MORE:** [Young People’s Blood Could Help Treat Alzheimer’s](http://time.com/5010030/young-blood-treating-alzheimers/) The study provides more evidence that blood pressure may be one of the many factors that can contribute to aging brain processes, including the formation of lesions and hallmark features of diseases like Alzheimer’s. Arvanitakis says she and her team plan to continue analyzing data from the participants to better understand how blood pressure affects the brain—including, for example, whether those who lowered their blood pressure during the study were able to reduce the formation of infarcts. (Interestingly, people with extreme drops in blood pressure during the study also had a higher risk of more infarcts, likely because the decline represented other serious health issues.) Most of the people in the study were taking medications to keep their blood pressure under control, but she notes that higher readings, even if they weren’t excessively high, were associated with more brain lesions. “We are not talking here about people with very high blood pressure,” she says. “We’re talking about pretty average blood pressure and what blood pressure across the whole range of readings can do to the brain.” Until more research is done, Arvanitakis says the results should encourage people to focus on maintaining healthy blood pressure not just for their heart, but for brain health, as well. “Many, many issues are important for brain health and for avoiding brain diseases,” she says, “so we should consider them all in order to be as healthy as possible as we grow into the later stage of life.” ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] Joanne and I both went to the University of Michigan. I did not know here there. She was already hooked up with another guy. [ LAUGH ] But as soon as I saw her, I wanted to know that woman. And so, Peter came and started talking to me, and he said would you like to come to a party with me. And I said no, I am sorry, I can't. And I said no, I am sorry, I can't all the way the party. Most probably the closest thing to loving at first sight. When we got closer, and closer together, and decided to marry. And then have a child, and- That was 57 years ago, so it's beginning to look like it might work out. [ LAUGH ] [ MUSIC ] [ BLANK_AUDIO ] You are more worried about me than I am. Well I find that, Peter, it gets frustrated Easily. More so? Yes, and you know his frustration comes out in anger if something doesn't work out really well. That's been happening. And a little more memory trouble you think? Yes, I do. When I found out that I had Alzheimer's it was definitely a big shock. Yeah, it's nothing you can fool around with. Knowing more about it, there isn't any solution at this point in time. It was a hard day, but then we decided, okay, now we know. What can we do about it? This medicine with a funny name called Aducanumab was developed with a really interesting aproach where they looked at older people who had lived a long life And either didn't develop Alzheimer's or had a very slow form of Alzheimer's, something that's retarding Alzheimer's or protecting against Alzheimer's. And they identified a number of antibodies that might fight the Alzheimer process. What's been so exciting about it is that this medicine seem to slow down memory loss hospital. Do you like to color at all? Yeah. We've got some coloring books. This study, we've been doing this for probably two and a half year and people there randomized. They receive the medicine or they're receiving placebo and they won't know and the nurse and the investigators here won't know either. [ BLANK_AUDIO ] Do you guys know what infusion number this is? 30. I started in November, so one infusion a month would be ten. Is that right? Yeah, November, December, January, Feburary, March, April, May, June, July, August That's how I do it. [ LAUGH ] It's unchartered teritory for me so you don't really know where this is gonn lead you or you'll end up and surely there has to be a cure, that's my attitude and if I can help to Natures the discovery so much the better. We designed this- So awesome. This we did for dance platterware. Actually this are- It's got a natural band in the back for your hand this way when you cut with the knife. Peter has never had a great memory but obviously things were getting worse and in terms of work, you could see the difference in this trying to remember where job was left off and what needed to be done. And the interesting part about it is it never diminish Computers design sense and his ability to be creative. Now he may not be able to tell you when the next meeting was or what was to be discussed in the meeting. But as far as design was concerned, he never lost that. [ UNKNOWN ] left here? Yes, yes, sweetie The way we [ INAUDIBLE ]. I can't specifically remember a point in time. It seems like a slow evolution. I was excellent with the sense of direction when driving. That's just gone away now. I don't wanna lose my driving skills. I mean I wanna have that independence. The study lasts for four years. And, so it's now been what, 15 months. Peter is still driving but only with me in the car. So that has changed in that we're together 24 / 7. If I go to have my hair cut, Peter comes with me. If he goes to have his hair cut, I go with him. And it does, really, I have to say, it does increase the bond. The adversity can really, sometimes, make you closer. Hi, Dr. [ UNKNOWN ], how are you? Hello, hi, how are you doing? Good to see you. Thanks for doing all these wonderful things. We're happy to participate. That's great. Happy to further the cause. Yeah, I feel this actually As just participating is a breakthrough . >> Yeah. Yeah . >> Because people thought Alzheimers forget about it, can't do anything about it, not even worth trying . >> Right . >> And so what we are doing is changing the narrative . >> Now, I understsood from whern we first talked to you , >> Yes . >> That after 18 months of Peter having started the program , >> Right . >> That we then find out whether or not Peter has been getting a placebo or [ CROSSTALK ] I'm glad you brought that up, so I can clarify that. [ LAUGH ] Well, what is true, after 18 months, you can continue receiving the medicine every month as you are now, but you're guaranteed to get the medicine. You won't find out your original assignment until the data's reported for the whole trial. I see. Okay. Then you'll know. That's when the results become available. We won't know until then, that's how it works. Yeah, okay. Peter says that he's always the glass is half full kind of guy. And I'm always the glass is half empty kind of woman. So, I worry a lot that he's getting a placebo, but we really don't know. Well, I feel like I have a responsibility to be in the trial, and yeah, I would love to be the beneficiary. But that wasn't the Main reason. Well I certainly have area expectation that there will be some happy ending to it. It may not be a cure, but that at the end of the four years, Peter is still Peter. 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