Dizziness When Standing Up – A Dementia Warning Sign? – Naturopathy & naturopathic specialist portal

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Researchers at the American Academy of Neurology found a connection between constant dizziness when standing up and an increased risk of dementia. The research results were published in the journal “Neurology” presented.

Orthostatic hypotension

People who feel dizzy or light-headed when they stand up often have something called an orthostatic Hypotension. Of the dizziness is caused by a sudden drop in blood pressure when standing up.

Systolic and diastolic blood pressure

However, there seems to be a difference in whether systolic or diastolic blood pressure is falling. Systolic blood pressure is the first and higher number in blood pressure measurements. Diastolic blood pressure is indicated by the second and lower value.

The current study found the association with dementia only in people with a drop in systolic blood pressure, but not in people who only saw a drop in diastolic blood pressure or overall blood pressure. A critical drop was when the systolic blood pressure drops by at least 15 mmHg after getting up from a sitting position.

“The blood pressure of people who move from sitting to standing should be monitored,” suggests study author Laure Rouch. Controlling such drops in blood pressure could be a promising way to uncover impending limitations in thinking and memory skills

Course of the study

The study took part in 2,131 people with an average age of 73 years. At the time of enrollment, the participants were not suffering from dementia. Your blood pressures were taken at the start of the study and then one, three, and five years later. Overall, 15 percent had orthostatic hypotension – nine percent had systolic orthostatic hypotension and six percent had diastolic orthostatic hypotension.

During the twelve-year study period, 22 percent of the participants (462 people) developed dementia. People with systolic orthostatic hypotension were around 40 percent more likely to develop dementia than people who did not have the disease. Fifty of the 192 people with systolic orthostatic hypotension (26 percent) developed dementia, compared with 412 of the 1,939 people without it (21 percent).

Limitation of the study

Research director Rouch emphasizes that the investigation is an observational study that shows neither cause nor effect. It only reveals a connection between the blood pressure values ​​and the development of dementia. In addition, when diagnosing dementia, there was no distinction between Alzheimer-Disease and vascular dementia. (vb)

Also read: Alzheimer’s: These factors indicate dementia at a young age.