Optimal blood pressure helps our brains age slower

Credit: Anya Wotton/ANU - People with elevated blood pressure that falls within the normal recommended range are at risk of accelerated brain ageing, according to new research from The Australian National University (ANU). The research also found optimal blood pressure helps our brains stay at least six months younger than our actual age. The researchers are now calling for national health guidelines to be updated to reflect their important findings. The ANU study, published in  Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience , found participants with high blood pressure had older and therefore less healthy brains, increasing their risk of heart disease, stroke and dementia. Participants with an elevated blood pressure, but within the normal range, also had older looking brains and were at risk of health problems.   "This thinking that one's brain becomes unhealthy because of high blood pressure later in life is not completely true," Professor Nicolas Cherbuin, Head of the ANU Centre for Research on Ageing, Health and Wellbeing, said.  "It starts earlier and it starts in people who have normal blood pressure."   Normal blood pressure is defined by pressure below 120/80, whereas an optimal and healthier blood pressure is closer to 110/70. The new research comes after a  large international study  found the number of people over 30 with high blood pressure has doubled globally.