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High blood pressure has stronger effect on mental function in blacks
September 23, 2005Not only does high blood pressure adversely affect mental functioning, but the correlation appears to be stronger among African-Americans than among whites, researchers report in the current issue of Psychosomatic Medicine.
Lead author Michael Robbins, Ph.D., of the University of Maine, said the findings suggest that aggressive public health efforts to prevent, detect and control hypertension may help preserve cognitive abilities as well as cardiovascular health. "Even small reductions in blood pressure resulting from detection and treatment may preserve cognitive function for many Americans," he said.
The investigators analyzed data from the Maine-Syracuse Longitudinal Study obtained from residents of upstate New York who participated between 1976 and 2002. They studied questionnaires, medical interviews and physical examinations for 1,563 subjects, including 147 African-Americans.
The researchers used standard analytical and statistical tools to investigate correlations between blood pressure and cognitive functioning for a group of African-Americans and to compare these with findings for a group of whites. They also looked for relationships among age, blood pressure and cognition within these groups.
The investigators consistently observed significant associations of blood pressure to cognitive performance in the areas of abstract reasoning, psychomotor skills and visual organization skills.
For every incremental increase of 10 mm/Hg in the bottom (or diastolic) blood pressure number, the corresponding decrease in total cognitive performance for African-Americans was twice the magnitude of the decrease seen in whites. For systolic blood pressure (the top number), the decrease in cognitive performance of African-Americans was one and one-half times the magnitude of the decrease seen in whites.
The researchers found no significant differences between older and younger subjects.
These findings held even after the researchers made statistical adjustments for demographic, psychosocial and cardiovascular risk factors.
"This work is important," says Sheri Waldstein, Ph.D., director of the behavioral medicine graduate program at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. "It demonstrates that the relation of higher blood pressure to lower levels of cognitive function is more pronounced among African-Americans than whites, even among non-demented persons, and that greater prevention and intervention efforts geared toward blood pressure reduction are needed.
"This may be particularly critical to the preservation of cognitive function among African-Americans,\\\
Center for the Advancement of Health
The researchers used standard analytical and statistical tools to investigate correlations between blood pressure and cognitive functioning for a group of African-Americans and to compare these with findings for a group of whites. They also looked for relationships among age, blood pressure and cognition within these groups.
The investigators consistently observed significant associations of blood pressure to cognitive performance in the areas of abstract reasoning, psychomotor skills and visual organization skills.
For every incremental increase of 10 mm/Hg in the bottom (or diastolic) blood pressure number, the corresponding decrease in total cognitive performance for African-Americans was twice the magnitude of the decrease seen in whites. For systolic blood pressure (the top number), the decrease in cognitive performance of African-Americans was one and one-half times the magnitude of the decrease seen in whites.
The researchers found no significant differences between older and younger subjects.
These findings held even after the researchers made statistical adjustments for demographic, psychosocial and cardiovascular risk factors.
"This work is important," says Sheri Waldstein, Ph.D., director of the behavioral medicine graduate program at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. "It demonstrates that the relation of higher blood pressure to lower levels of cognitive function is more pronounced among African-Americans than whites, even among non-demented persons, and that greater prevention and intervention efforts geared toward blood pressure reduction are needed.
"This may be particularly critical to the preservation of cognitive function among African-Americans,\\\
Center for the Advancement of Health
High Blood Pressure Current Events and High Blood Pressure News RSSHigh Blood Pressure Easy to Miss in Children with Kidney Disease
Spot blood pressure readings in children with chronic kidney disease often fail to detect hypertension - even during doctor's office visits - increasing a child's risk for serious heart problems, according to research from Johns Hopkins Children's Center and other institutions. A report of the findings appears online in the Journal of American Society of Nephrology.
Canadians finding it tough to shake the salt habit
Canadians know that too much salt isn't good for their diets, but half still continue to shake it on, according to a new study by University of Alberta researchers.
At-risk college students reduce HBP, anxiety, depression through Transcendental Meditation
The Transcendental Meditation technique may be an effective method to reduce blood pressure, anxiety, depression, and anger among at-risk college students, according to a new study to be published in the American Journal of Hypertension, December 2009.
Fat collections linked to decreased heart function
Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have shown that fat collection in different body locations, such as around the heart and the aorta and within the liver, are associated with certain decreased heart functions.
Young athletes need dual screening tests for heart defects, study suggests
To best detect early signs of life-threatening heart defects in young athletes, screening programs should include both popular diagnostic tests, not just one of them, according to new research from heart experts at Johns Hopkins.
Heart and bone damage from low vitamin D tied to declines in sex hormones
Researchers at Johns Hopkins are reporting what is believed to be the first conclusive evidence in men that the long-term ill effects of vitamin D deficiency are amplified by lower levels of the key sex hormone estrogen, but not testosterone.
Device enables world's first voluntary gorilla blood pressure reading
Zoo Atlanta recently became the first zoological institution in the world to obtain voluntary blood pressure readings from a gorilla.
Size matters: Obesity leading risk factor of left atrial enlargement during aging
Aside from aging itself, obesity appears to be the most powerful predictor of left atrial enlargement (LAE), upping one's risk of atrial fibrillation (the most common type of arrhythmia), stroke and death.
Exposure to several common infections over time may be associated with risk of stroke
Cumulative exposure to five common infection-causing pathogens may be associated with an increased risk of stroke, according to a report posted online today that will appear in the January 2010 print issue of Archives of Neurology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Key player identified in cascade that leads to hypertension-related kidney damage
A key player in a cascade that likely begins with stress and leads to high blood pressure and kidney damage has been identified by researchers who say the finding may lead to better ways to control both.
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