Where You Live May Contribute to Elevated Blood Pressure and Poorer Cognition: Study Finds - Video

New research from Wake Forest University School of Medicine suggests that living in a disadvantaged neighborhood is associated with higher blood pressure and lower cognitive scores, even among people who do not have an existing diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment. The study appears online in Alzheimer’s & Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment & Disease Monitoring, a journal of the Alzheimer’s Association.

To assess neighborhood disadvantage, the research team used the highly recognized national Area Deprivation Index, which measures housing quality, education and income. For the study, researchers analyzed data from 537 adults over the age of 55 from the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center Healthy Brain Study at Wake Forest University School of Medicine from 2016 to 2021.

Individuals received clinical exams, neurocognitive testing and neuroimaging, in addition to cardiometabolic tests to screen for

diabetes, high cholesterol and high blood pressure. The neurocognitive testing included in the study evaluated constructs such as memory, executive function, language, visuospatial skills, concentration and attention.

“We found an association between neighborhood disadvantage and higher blood pressure and cardiometabolic index, as well as lower cognitive scores in individuals who did not have a diagnosed mild cognitive impairment,” said Sudarshan Krishnamurthy, a fifth-year M.D./Ph.D. student at Wake Forest University School of Medicine and first author of the paper.

Krishnamurthy said that neighborhood disadvantage was only associated with higher hemoglobin A1C, which measures blood sugar, in people with diagnosed mild cognitive impairment.

Reference: Krishnamurthy S, Lu L, Johnson CJ, et al. Impact of neighborhood disadvantage on cardiometabolic health and cognition in a community-dwelling cohort. Alzheimer's Dement. 2024; 16:e70021. https://doi.org/10.1002/dad2.70021