Lowering Your Blood Pressure Could Stave Off Dementia
A new study provides yet another reason to stay on top of heart health.
For the first time in history, researchers have found medicine that can reduce the risk of memory loss and dementia in your golden years. Even better, most forms of the treatment are available in safe, inexpensive generic formulations.
The twist? These drugs have been around for decades, since they’re widely used to lower blood pressure and ward off heart disease.
As the population ages, the incidence of cognitive impairment and dementia has surged. One in six women over the age of 55 and 10 percent of men are expected to develop dementia before they die. Alzheimer's disease, the most common type, affects more than 5 million Americans and is the sixth leading cause of death in the country. And while the drug industry has spent billions of dollars trying to slow down memory loss once it begins, the efforts have been largely unsuccessful. Until now.