Having an elevated blood pressure within the normal range can put you at risk of accelerated brain ageing, according to lead author ANU Professor Nicolas Cherbuin.
Normal blood pressure is defined by pressure below 120/80, whereas an optimal and healthier blood pressure is closer to 110/70, the new research suggests.
Researchers are calling for the normal national recommended blood pressure range to be updated.
The study, which was published in Frontiers in Ageing Neuroscience, found because participants with higher blood pressure had an older brain, they were at increased risk of heart disease, stroke and dementia.
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Optimal blood pressure helps our brains stay at least six months younger than our actual age, researchers said.
"Compared to a person with a high blood pressure of 135/85, someone with an optimal reading of 110/70 was found to have a brain age that appears more than six months younger by the time they reach middle age," Professor Cherbuin said.
"This thinking that one's brain becomes unhealthy because of high blood pressure later in life is not completely true.
"It starts earlier and it starts in people who have normal blood pressure."
Researchers at ANU worked with academics in Australia, New Zealand and Germany to examine over 2000 brain scans of 686 healthy individuals aged 44 to 76.
The blood pressure of the participants was measured up to four times over 12 years.
Professor Cherbuin said the findings are particularly important for people in their 20s and 30s.
"By detecting the impact of increased blood pressure on the brain health of people in their 40s and older, we have to assume the effects of elevated blood pressure must build up over many years and could start in their 20s," he said.
"This means that a young person's brain is already vulnerable."
Researchers advise people to check their blood pressure, and make changes to their lifestyle if it isn't close to the optimal measure of 110/70.
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How to lower your blood pressure
- Exercise
- Lose weight
- Eat healthy
- Cut your salt intake
- Limit alcohol
- Quit smoking
- Ask your GP about medications that lower blood pressure
Source: Australian government
