Lower the pressure

Intensive treatment to lower systolic blood pressure below 120 may help delay the onset of Alzheimer’s disease, according to the National Institutes of Health. Systolic pressure is the top number and diastolic pressure is the bottom number in a blood-pressure reading.

Before 2017, a systolic blood pressure level of 140 was considered normal, and now the 120 mark is the new normal. Scientists using medication to keep systolic blood pressure below that level report that the treatment was more effective at slowing the accumulation of white matter lesions that have been linked to cognitive disorders and Alzheimer’s. The NIH reported the findings of the study in a recent news release.