Blood Pressure, Cholesterol
Linked To Alzheimer's

It's common knowledge that high cholesterol can lead to heart disease, and uncontrolled high blood pressure can lead to stroke. But researchers are now linking these conditions to Alzheimer's disease as well.

A new study says cracking down on your cholesterol levels and high blood pressure could help reduce your risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.

Middle-aged people with elevated blood pressure and high cholesterol levels are at higher risk of developing Alzheimer's later in life, but treating those conditions early may help stave off the disease, according to a Finnish study, published in today's BMJ (formerly called British Medical Journal).

"As the proportion of elderly people in the population increases, Alzheimer's disease will become an enormous public health problem," the study says. "Interventions that could delay the onset of the disease, even modestly, would therefore have a major impact on public health."

The study, used data from 1,449 people living in Kuopio and Joensuu in eastern Finland whose cholesterol and blood pressure levels were charted between 1972 and 1987.

The study then looked at that same group of people in 1998 (an average of 21 years later), when they were between the ages of 65 and 79, and found that those with either high blood pressure or cholesterol were significantly more likely than the others to have developed Alzheimer's disease.

"We've suspected for a while that one of the contributing factors to Alzheimer's is a blood vessel in the brain, thereby affecting blood flow into the brain, and we know that both cholesterol and high blood pressure could affect blood flow," ABCNEWS' medical editor Dr. Tim Johnson tells Good Morning America. "But we never before had a well-done study and actual numbers like this to prove they could be contributing factors."

The study shows the following:

Those with a systolic blood pressure greater than 160 were 2.3 times as likely to develop Alzheimer's.

Those with cholesterol greater than 250 were 2.1 times more likely to develop Alzheimer's.

Those with both conditions — systolic blood pressure greater than 160 and cholesterol level over 250 — were 3.5 times more likely to develop Alzheimer's.

"It gives even more incentive to people to try and control these diseases while they can, but especially in their older years," Johnson says. "People who haven't taken blood pressure and cholesterol seriously before will now have good cause to take them seriously, and better do something about them if they can."

Lowering Cholesterol and Blood Pressure

Cholesterol levels can be reduced by a change in diet. The American Heart Association recommends limiting average daily cholesterol intake to less than 300 milligrams, and less than 200 milligrams for people with heart disease. High-fat foods generally contain substantial amounts of dietary cholesterol.

New federal guidelines recommend that the number of Americans who are prescribed statins, cholesterol-reducing drugs, should be increased from 13 million to 36 million.

To reduce high blood pressure, the National Institutes of Health recommends the following: maintain a healthy weight; be more physically active; choose foods lower in salt and sodium, and only drink alcohol in moderation.

Reference Source 89

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