EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL 4 PM ET, June 10, 2026
High blood pressure associated with lower risk of dementia in frail people
Study did not find lower risk in people who were more robust
MINNEAPOLIS 鈥擣or people with physical frailty, having
high blood pressure may be associated with a lower risk of dementia, according
to a study published on June 10, 2026, in , the medical journal of the . The
study did not find a lower risk of dementia in people with high blood pressure
who were more robust. High blood pressure was associated with a higher risk of
dementia in people with no signs of frailty.
The study does not prove that having high blood pressure and
frailty causes a lower risk of dementia; it only shows an association.
Physical frailty is defined as having three or more of these
five symptoms: often feeling tired; little or no physical activity; slow
walking speed; low grip strength; and unintentional weight loss. Researchers
defined pre-frailty as having one or two of the symptoms. For the study, people
with pre-frailty and frailty were compared to people with none of the symptoms,
who were defined as robust.
鈥淏ecause low blood pressure has been associated with worse
outcomes in frail people, we want to see how blood pressure related to the risk
of dementia in people with frailty,鈥 said study author Jason R. Smith, PhD, of
the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. 鈥淲hile high blood pressure is
still a concern for the majority of people, we may need to look at people鈥檚
overall health and whether they are showing signs of frailty as we consider how
to manage their blood pressure.鈥
For the study, researchers looked at data from 6,135 people
with an average age of 75 who were followed for a median of nine years. At the
start of the study, 334 people met the criteria for frailty, 2,376 for
pre-frailty and 2,383 for being robust.
During the study, 30% of those with frailty or pre-frailty
developed dementia, compared to 16% of those who were robust. Among the participants
with pre-frailty or frailty, those with elevated blood pressure and those with
hypertension developed dementia at a rate of 29.5 and 41.2 cases, respectively,
per 1,000 person-years, compared to 42.3 cases per 1,000 person years for those
with normal blood pressure. Person-years represent both the number of people in
the study and the amount of time each person spent in the study. For the robust
participants, those with elevated blood pressure and hypertension developed
dementia at a rate of 13.3 and 20.2 cases, respectively, compared to 12.6 for
those with normal blood pressure.
When researchers adjusted for other factors that could
affect the risk of dementia, such as age, smoking status and diabetes, they
found that people with signs of frailty and elevated blood pressure were 32%
less likely to develop dementia than those with normal blood pressure. The
robust participants with high blood pressure were 39% more likely to develop
dementia than those with normal blood pressure.
鈥淚t鈥檚 exciting to think that even for people in their 80s, we
could help preserve people鈥檚 brain health by choosing their optimal blood
pressure target based on whether they have signs of frailty,鈥 Smith said. 鈥淢ore
research is needed to determine whether managing blood pressure in this way could
truly lower the risk of dementia.鈥
A limitation of the study is that researchers did not
account for the age when participants first had symptoms of vascular conditions
and how well those conditions were controlled with treatment.
The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health
and the Sense Network.
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