As we grow older, many people know that blood pressure tends to go up from childhood through middle age. But what happens to our blood pressure when we get older—especially in our final years—has not been fully clear.
Now, researchers from the University of Exeter have found something very interesting. They discovered that in older adults, blood pressure begins to slowly drop about 14 years before a person dies. This finding helps us better understand what happens in the body as we age.
For a long time, doctors and scientists noticed that older people sometimes had lower blood pressure. Many believed this drop was caused by taking medicine to treat high blood pressure. But the new study shows there may be more to the story.
The researchers looked at health records from over 46,000 people in the UK who had died at age 60 or older. These people included both healthy individuals and those who had illnesses such as heart disease or dementia.
They found that people with certain health problems—like dementia, heart failure, or serious weight loss—tended to have the biggest drops in blood pressure. This wasn’t surprising. But what did surprise them was that healthy older adults also experienced a steady drop in blood pressure as they got closer to the end of life.
Even people who had high blood pressure earlier in life showed this drop in later years. That means the decrease isn’t just because someone was sick or because they took medicine. It seems to be something that happens to many people as they age, no matter how healthy they were before.
This discovery matters because it helps doctors better understand how aging affects the body. It can guide how they care for older patients. But it’s important to know that this does not mean older people should stop treating high blood pressure or stop taking their medications. Managing blood pressure is still very important for overall health.
The researchers say we still need more studies to learn why blood pressure drops with age and what this means for long-term health. But for now, doctors and patients should pay attention to blood pressure changes in older adults and think about the person’s overall health, not just the numbers.
A drop in blood pressure might not always mean something bad, but it should still be looked at carefully. Everyone is different, and blood pressure treatment should be tailored to the person.
There is also other research looking at how we measure blood pressure and what might help lower it. For example, some studies suggest black tea could help reduce blood pressure. On the other hand, some common medicines for high blood pressure may increase the risk of heart failure in some people.
All of this shows how complex blood pressure can be, especially in older age. This study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association Internal Medicine and led by Professor George Kuchel, helps us take a new step in understanding the aging body and how to care for it better.
If you care about high blood pressure, please read studies about vitamins impacts on high blood pressure people need to know, and how to manage high blood pressure and diabetes with healthy foods.
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