Half of Americans suffer from a disorder with a 'direct connection' to dementia, an expert has revealed.
Dr Oscar Lopez, director of the University of Pittsburgh Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, also described dementia in the population as a "time bomb".
He told the Mirror that hypertension, which is high blood pressure, is one of the key factors in dementia cases.
Dr Lopez said: "The most important factor is the presence of hypertension. And that can be treated. So keeping an eye on blood pressure is critical."
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly half of adults in the United States (47 per cent or 116 million) have hypertension.
Dementia research is a relatively new field and many things are still not fully understood, including the connection between blood pressure and dementia.
Dr Lopez said: "We don’t know the connection exactly. When you talk dementia you're mainly talking about Alzheimer's disease but hypertension is also linked to vascular dementia. To people having multiple strokes.
"So then in that case there is a direct connection. Hypertension to stroke to conotive problems, the connection is very clear."
Vascular dementia is the second most common type of dementia after Alzheimer's and often goes undiagnosed.
He said: "One thing you need to emphasise is that the prevalence of dementia in general in the population is huge. It’s a time bomb.
"Because people are living longer. From the neck down we’re in really good shape. Because we can deal with heart problems very easily but the brain is still at risk of dementia. Especially Alzheimer’s."
Dr Lopez also had advice for anyone concerned about hypertension and dementia. He said: "The most important thing is that if you have hypertension, diabetes or heart disease then they are under control. I’d say that is the basic thing."
Spotting dementia can be tricky as well.
Highlighting the key symptom, Dr Lopez said: "Mainly forgetfulness. Or finding difficulties finding the right word. Normally people remember the word five to ten minutes after they forgot it but people with dementia most likely won’t remember the word.
"Also people said I’m not the same, but I can not put that in words. Or the family will say he or she is not the same person. They cannot put that in words. Sort of a feeling, that something is different."
He continued: "Forgetfulness, repeating oneself. They’ll tell you the same thing over and over. That is another factor. Sometimes the disease starts with a personality change, they are more disinhibited, they are more aggressive."
