As we age, it’s well known that blood pressure tends to rise from childhood through middle age.
But what happens to blood pressure in our final years has been less clear—until now.
A new study from the University of Exeter has revealed an important pattern: in older adults, blood pressure begins to slowly decline about 14 years before death. This finding could help doctors better understand aging and make more informed decisions about caring for older patients.
For a long time, doctors noticed that blood pressure sometimes drops in older adults. Many believed this was because of medications used to treat high blood pressure. But researchers wanted to know if something else might be going on.
To investigate, the team studied medical records from 46,634 people in the UK who died at age 60 or older. The group included both healthy individuals and those with chronic illnesses like heart disease or dementia.
What they found was striking. The steepest drops in blood pressure occurred in people who had conditions such as dementia, heart failure, or severe weight loss late in life. These changes weren’t too surprising.
But here’s what caught researchers off guard: even healthy individuals—those without serious illnesses—showed a steady decline in blood pressure during their final years. That means the drop in blood pressure isn’t just linked to disease or medications. It appears to be a natural part of aging that affects most people, regardless of their health status.
These results are important for doctors treating older adults. They suggest that a falling blood pressure in late life may not always signal a problem. Instead, it could be part of the body’s natural aging process.
Still, this doesn’t mean that older adults should ignore high blood pressure or stop taking their medications. High blood pressure remains a major health risk, especially in midlife and early old age. The researchers emphasized that more studies are needed to fully understand why blood pressure drops before death and what this means for a person’s overall health.
The key message for now is that doctors should take a personalized approach when treating older patients. Blood pressure should be monitored carefully, and changes should be considered in the context of a person’s complete health picture.
In some cases, a lower blood pressure might not require immediate action—but in others, it could signal a more serious issue.
This research also raises new questions about how we measure and treat blood pressure. For example, other studies suggest that drinking black tea may help lower blood pressure, while some medications for hypertension could increase the risk of heart failure. It’s clear that managing blood pressure is not one-size-fits-all.
The study, led by Professor George Kuchel, was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association Internal Medicine. It offers fresh insight into the final stage of life and how blood pressure changes along the way. Understanding this pattern may help healthcare providers give older adults better, more personalized care in their later years.
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