You are seeing this message because your Web browser does not support basic Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing and what you can do to make your experience on this site better.


ABOUT ARCHIVES
Advanced Search

Welcome   | My Account | E-mail Alerts | Access Rights | Sign In


  Vol. 60 No. 2, February 2003 TABLE OF CONTENTS
  Archives
  •  Online Features
  Original Contribution
 This Article
 •Full text
 •PDF
 • Reply to article
 •Send to a friend
 • Save in My Folder
 •Save to citation manager
 •Permissions
 Citing Articles
 •Citation map
 •Citing articles on HighWire
 •Citing articles on ISI (46)
 •Contact me when this article is cited
 Related Content
 •Similar articles in this journal
 Topic Collections
 •Alzheimer Disease
 •Dementias
 •Alert me on articles by topic

Low Blood Pressure and Risk of Dementia in the Kungsholmen Project

A 6-Year Follow-up Study

Chengxuan Qiu, MD, MPH; Eva von Strauss, MSc, PhD; Johan Fastbom, MD, PhD; Bengt Winblad, MD, PhD; Laura Fratiglioni, MD, PhD

Arch Neurol. 2003;60:223-228.

Background  Previous studies have reported a higher prevalence of dementia in persons with low blood pressure.

Objective  To examine whether low blood pressure is prospectively associated with the occurrence of Alzheimer disease and dementia in elderly people.

Subjects and Methods  A community-based, dementia-free cohort (n = 1270) aged 75 to 101 years was longitudinally examined twice within 6 years to detect incident dementia using the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Revised Third Edition criteria. Cox proportional hazards models were used to analyze blood pressure in association with dementia after adjustment for several potential confounders.

Results  During the 6-year period, 339 subjects were diagnosed with dementia, including 256 persons with Alzheimer disease. Subjects with very high systolic pressure (>180 vs 141-180 mm Hg) had an adjusted relative risk of 1.5 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.0-2.3; P = .07) for Alzheimer disease, and 1.6 (95% CI, 1.1-2.2) for dementia. Low systolic pressure (<=140 mm Hg) was not related to incident dementia. In contrast, high diastolic pressure (>90 mm Hg) was not associated with dementia incidence, whereas extremely low diastolic pressure (<=65 vs 66-90 mm Hg) produced an adjusted relative risk of 1.7 (95% CI, 1.1-2.4) for Alzheimer disease and 1.5 (95% CI, 1.0-2.1; P = .03) for dementia. The latter association was pronounced particularly in persons who used antihypertensive drugs.

Conclusions  Both low diastolic and high systolic pressure are associated with an increased risk of Alzheimer disease and dementia in this elderly population. The atherosclerotic process may explain the observed associations. In addition, low diastolic pressure may increase dementia risk by affecting cerebral perfusion.


From the Aging Research Center, Division of Geriatric Epidemiology and Medicine, Department of NEUROTEC, Karolinska Institutet and Stockholm Gerontology Research Center, Stockholm, Sweden.



THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

High-Normal Blood Pressure Is Associated With Poor Cognitive Performance
Knecht et al.
Hypertension 2008;51:663-668.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Diagnosis and treatment of dementia: 1. Risk assessment and primary prevention of Alzheimer disease
Patterson et al.
CMAJ 2008;178:548-556.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Hypertension and the Risk of Mild Cognitive Impairment
Reitz et al.
Arch Neurol 2007;64:1734-1740.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Disease-modifying therapies for Alzheimer disease: Challenges to early intervention
Cummings et al.
Neurology 2007;69:1622-1634.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Increased visceral adipose tissue rather than BMI as a risk factor for dementia
Cereda et al.
Age Ageing 2007;36:488-491.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Maladie d'Alzheimer
Massoud
cfp 2007;53:50-54.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

The Effect of Borderline Diabetes on the Risk of Dementia and Alzheimer's Disease
Xu et al.
Diabetes 2007;56:211-216.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Heart Failure and Risk of Dementia and Alzheimer Disease: A Population-Based Cohort Study.
Qiu et al.
Arch Intern Med 2006;166:1003-1008.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Chapter 8: Old people's health
Larsson and Thorslund
Scand J Public Health 2006;34:185-198.
 

Antihypertensive Medication Use and Incident Alzheimer Disease: The Cache County Study
Khachaturian et al.
Arch Neurol 2006;63:686-692.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Association between blood pressure, white matter lesions, and atrophy of the medial temporal lobe
den Heijer et al.
Neurology 2005;64:263-267.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Blood Pressure Levels Before Dementia
Petitti et al.
Arch Neurol 2005;62:112-116.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Decline in Blood Pressure Over Time and Risk of Dementia: A Longitudinal Study From the Kungsholmen Project
Qiu et al.
Stroke 2004;35:1810-1815.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Blood pressure and late-life cognitive function change: A biracial longitudinal population study
Hebert et al.
Neurology 2004;62:2021-2024.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Low blood pressure and the risk of dementia in very old individuals
Verghese et al.
Neurology 2003;61:1667-1672.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Circle of Willis Atherosclerosis Is a Risk Factor for Sporadic Alzheimer's Disease
Roher et al.
Arterioscler. Thromb. Vasc. Bio. 2003;23:2055-2062.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Combined effects of APOE genotype, blood pressure, and antihypertensive drug use on incident AD
Qiu et al.
Neurology 2003;61:655-660.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  





HOME | CURRENT ISSUE | PAST ISSUES | TOPIC COLLECTIONS | CME | SUBMIT | SUBSCRIBE | HELP
CONDITIONS OF USE | PRIVACY POLICY | CONTACT US | SITE MAP
 
© 2003 American Medical Association. All Rights Reserved.