blood pressure issues during pregnancy should pay extra attention, Nesbitt notes.
The good news, Townsend says, is if you spot high blood pressure before it does damage, “you’re in the primary prevention game. And that’s where you want to be. Because we have great evidence to show that managing your blood pressure will keep your heart, brain and kidneys working a whole lot longer.”
Managing it protects your brain.
If high blood pressure damages your brain’s blood vessels, bad things can happen. A stroke is one. But the risk goes beyond strokes.
Neurologists are finding that dementia is a vascular disease, which means high blood pressure can cause a little damage in lots of small areas of the brain, Nesbitt shares. “And because you’ve got a little damage in a lot of places, then you have the sum total of all of those areas that just don’t function so well anymore.”
Townsend says studies suggest people whose blood pressure is better controlled tend to score better on tests of cognitive function.
Lowering blood pressure isn’t a cure-all for brain health, he notes, but prevention is key. “The goal is to preserve it at its high level when you’re 30 or 40 years of age.”
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Black Americans need to pay special attention.
Hypertension is far more common in Black adults in the U.S. than in adults of other races and ethnicities. Yet it’s less of a problem for people of African heritage living in other countries. “Which makes you question why it is so much more prevalent in America than in other places,” Nesbitt says.
Systemic problems, such as the fact that Black Americans are more likely to lack access to healthy food or safe places to exercise, are significant factors. So is the stress of dealing with racism.
“What we are looking at is a manifestation of the living conditions of Black Americans,” she adds. “And because we have rampant examples of differences in how we live, and how we experience the world every day, those things have a toll on our physical health. And blood pressure’s one of the first things that we see that makes that difference very evident.”
Watching sodium? Remember potassium, too.
Sodium has long been singled out for its relationship to high blood pressure. But many experts these days emphasize the importance of the sodium-potassium balance, Townsend shares.
Potassium helps regulate blood flow. And if you’re eating a lot of processed foods, you’re probably getting too much