For adults, high blood pressure and memory loss are big health concerns with far-reaching consequences. There is some evidence that maintaining good memory may be yet one more incentive for controlling high blood pressure.
Many people believe memory loss is just a normal sign of aging.
According to Comfort Keepers, this belief may not necessarily be the case. There is research indicating that hypertension, or high blood pressure, may be one of the risk factors for short-term memory loss.
Alert: Blood Pressure Information Your Doctor Hasn't Told You
A large study carried out by the long-term Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Neurocognitive Study followed both the mental function and health of more than 13,000 subjects over a period of two decades.
Beverly Merz, executive editor of Harvard Women's Health Watch, summarized that overall, high blood pressure during middle age was linked to a decline in memory and cognitive function.
The subjects in the ARIC study who took medications to control their high blood pressure lost less ground with memory skills than their counterparts who did not take medication.
According to WebMD, University of Pittsburgh researcher Dr. J. Richard Jennings said people with high blood pressure do not suddenly lose their memory.
He says, “…they are slightly inferior in doing tasks that require them to pay attention and remember things for brief periods compared to those with normal blood pressure readings.”
Dr. Crandall: Normal Blood Pressure Linked to Key Discovery
Jennings asserts that while these changes may seem subtle, they are equivalent to as many as 10 years of normal aging.
Merz explains that the ARIC study is an observational one, meaning that while it can confirm a link between high blood pressure and memory loss, it cannot confirm that hypertension is a cause of memory loss.
However, shes says preventing high blood pressure in the first place is better for minimizing the risk of memory loss than treating high blood pressure once it has been diagnosed.
Healthy lifestyle habits such as keeping body weight within a normal range, watching sodium intake, getting exercise at least five days each week, and quitting smoking all help keep high blood pressure at bay. Doing so is one way to make sure your memory stays sharp well into your later years.
Special: Blood Pressure Breakthrough From Nobel-Winning Scientist
Related Stories:
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.