Blood pressure is one of the basic measurements doctors use to check health. It measures the force of blood pushing against artery walls as the heart pumps blood around the body.
Blood pressure that stays too high can damage blood vessels and increase the risk of heart attack, stroke and other serious problems.
Blood pressure usually changes as people age. It often rises from childhood into adulthood and can remain high during middle age, but researchers have been less certain about what happens during the final years of life.
A study led by researchers at the University of Exeter found an interesting pattern in older adults. Blood pressure often began falling many years before death, with the decline sometimes starting as early as 14 years beforehand.
The research was published in JAMA Internal Medicine, a medical journal from the JAMA Network. The findings offer researchers another way to understand how the body changes during later life.
Doctors have previously observed falling blood pressure in some older patients. One possible explanation was treatment, because many older adults take medicines designed to lower high blood pressure.
But the researchers wanted to know whether medication could explain the whole pattern. They therefore examined years of medical information from a large group of older people rather than looking at blood pressure at only one point in time.
The study included health records from more than 46,000 people in the United Kingdom who died at age 60 or older. The researchers examined blood pressure readings collected during the years before death to see whether a common pattern appeared.
They found that blood pressure tended to decline during the later years of life. Importantly, the pattern was not limited to people taking blood pressure medicines or those with major illnesses.
The largest declines were seen among people with conditions such as dementia and heart failure, as well as those who experienced substantial weight loss late in life. These health problems can affect many parts of the body and may contribute to changes in blood pressure.
However, blood pressure also fell among some people who did not have these conditions. This suggests that illness and medication alone may not fully explain why blood pressure often declines late in life.
The finding does not mean that falling blood pressure is a countdown to death. A person’s blood pressure can change for many reasons, and the study identified a pattern across a large population rather than a tool that can predict when an individual will die.
It also does not mean that older people should stop taking medicines for high blood pressure. High blood pressure remains an important cause of heart disease and stroke, and stopping treatment without medical advice can be dangerous.
Instead, the research highlights the value of looking at how an older person’s blood pressure changes over time. A reading that was appropriate years earlier may need to be considered alongside changes in weight, illness, frailty, medications and overall health.
Very low blood pressure can sometimes cause problems such as dizziness, weakness or falls, particularly in older adults. Regular monitoring can help doctors decide whether treatment remains suitable as a patient’s health and physical condition change.
Scientists still do not fully understand why blood pressure tends to fall during the final years of life. Changes in the heart, blood vessels, body weight and other systems involved in aging could all play a role.
More research is needed to understand these biological changes and what they mean for medical care. For now, the study shows that blood pressure in later life may follow a more complicated path than simply rising with age, and long-term changes can provide useful information about an older person’s health.
If you care about high blood pressure, please read studies about breakfast for better blood pressure management, and the gut feeling that lowers blood pressure.
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