A new study suggests that reducing systolic blood pressure below the clinically safe threshold of 120 mmHg over time may produce slight health-protective benefits against late-life dementia and help reduce racial and ethnic disparities in both hypertension and hypertension control. Hypertension is one of the most modifiable risk factors for dementia, but most research on dementia risk reduction through blood pressure control is limited to White participants, even though Black and Latino populations disproportionately experience both conditions. A new study led by Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) and UCLA Fielding School of Public Health fills in this knowledge gap with findings that suggest lowering systolic blood pressure (SBP) in midlife may slightly reduce a person's chances of developing dementia, particularly among Black and Latino individuals.

Published in the journal Alzheimer's & Dementia: A Journal of the Alzheimer's Association , the study found that middle-aged adults who lower their systolic blood pressure by medication or any other intervention may gain modest health protection against dementia in older age. Black and Latino individuals had the greatest reduction in risk. Among nearly half of Americans who have high blood pressure, only 1 in 4 adults have their hypertension under control, and these rates are even lower among Black and Hispanic people, who face multiple barriers to diagnosis and treatment.

SBP (the top number in a blood pressure r.