30 Jul BLOOD PRESSURE MEDICATION MAY REDUCE RISK OF ALZHEIMER’S
While researchers have known for years that there is a link between high blood pressure and Alzheimer’s, this new study shows that medication not only mediates blood pressure but can reduce risk for Alzheimer’s. In a recent Johns Hopkins Medical School study, researchers have found that commonly used blood pressure medications when used later in life can reduce the chance of developing Alzheimer’s disease. People who are prescribed common blood pressure medications, such as potassium-sparing diuretics also known as water pills, are half as likely to get Alzheimer’s later on in life. When a person has high blood pressure, this can damage some of the blood vessels in the brain. This has an effect on the areas of the brain that control functions such as memory and thinking. Potassium-sparing diuretics are not only used to treat high blood pressure, but these medications are also used in treating glaucoma and edema. They have shown that they can reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer’s up to seventy-five (75) percent. While the reason behind why blood pressure medication reduces risk of Alzehimer’s isn’t exactly known, it is believed that it either interferes with the process of developing Alzheimer’s or that managing blood pressure itself has an effect.
If you would like to join Michael’s Marchers, our Alzheimer’s Association walk team, you can sign up here. The 2018 Walk to End Alzheimer’s which is being held on September 29 at Grandscape (Nebraska Furniture Mart) in The Colony, Texas and on October 13 at Dallas City Hall.