Drinking coffee and tea like this can help people with high blood pressure minimize dementia risk

Compiled by: Gong Zixin

Hypertension and related complications affect one-third of adults worldwide. It is reported that in 2019, 1.3 billion people worldwide suffered from hypertension, of which the prevalence rate among people aged 30-79 was as high as 33%. In addition, hypertension accelerates cognitive aging, and approximately 11% to 20% of dementia cases are related to abnormal blood pressure. Therefore, preventing hypertension can not only reduce the burden of hypertension, but also has the potential to significantly reduce the occurrence of dementia in the medium and long term.

Recently, a group of public health researchers from Ningxia Medical University found that people with high blood pressure who regularly drink coffee and tea may have a lower risk of dementia than those who do not drink coffee or tea. The study was published in Scientific Reports.

Previous research has shown that drinking moderate amounts of coffee or tea on a regular basis can reduce inflammation, and other studies have shown that it can promote a healthier blood-brain barrier. Both factors have been linked to a lower risk of dementia.

In this new study, researchers wanted to know if there was a direct link between drinking caffeinated beverages and dementia. To find such a link, they analyzed risk modeling data from 453,913 participants from the UK Biobank to determine the association between coffee and tea intake and the risk of developing dementia in people with hypertension.

The researchers found that people with high blood pressure were more likely to develop dementia than those without it. In addition, people with high blood pressure who regularly drank coffee or tea had a lower risk of dementia than those who didn't drink either beverage.

After adjusting for all covariates, there was a J-shaped relationship between coffee consumption and the risk of all-cause dementia in people with hypertension. Hypertensive individuals who consumed 0.5-1 cup per day had the lowest risk of all-cause dementia compared with those who drank 6 or more cups per day. The study also found that the type of coffee consumed had an effect - for example, people who ground their own beans experienced a greater reward. In addition, there was no association between coffee drinking and the risk of all-cause dementia, Alzheimer's disease, and vascular dementia in people without hypertension.

After adjusting for all covariates, the U-shaped association between tea intake and the risk of all-cause dementia in people with hypertension is shown in the figure above. Compared with non-tea drinkers, tea drinkers had a lower risk of all-cause dementia, and hypertensive people who drank 4 to 5 cups of tea per day had the lowest risk. In contrast, among people without hypertension, there was no association between tea drinking and the risk of all-cause dementia, Alzheimer's disease, and vascular dementia.

The research team believes that the consumption of caffeinated beverages by people with high blood pressure and the resulting reduction in inflammation may explain the reduced risk of dementia.

They also note that because the study was based on correlations, more research is needed to better understand the link between caffeine consumption and dementia risk in people with hypertension.