High Blood Pressure - Danger to People as Young as 40

With a majority of the Jimmy Beans Wool staff under the age of 40, our eyes were caught by this article from Time: High Blood Pressure a Danger for People as Young as 40. Not only are we huge proponents of being aware and taking care of ourselves, so is The Heart Truth. While The Heart Truth's campaign is especially aimed at women ages 40-60 - that's when a woman's heart disease risk starts to rise - the campaign is also sending a message to women who are younger. Heart disease develops gradually, so it's crucial that women of all ages are aware - even us twenty and thirty-somethings.

I must admit, I studied English and Communications in school, so a lot of the scientific lingo in this article flies right over the top of my head; however, the main message is that the brains of people with hypertension (aka high blood pressure) can look up to 7.2 years older than the brains of people with normal blood pressure. The scariest bit of research was that "the team saw changes in brain structure among people with normal blood-pressure readings or systolic readings just slightly over normal." Being aware of your numbers and seeking treatment could shave 7.2 years off your brains health.

Now, what exactly does that mean for our brains? Can games of Sudoku at lunch help?

Brain games may not help the influence of hypertension on brain age, but the underlining message is clear. If we spread awareness, know the signs and symptoms, and take action by visiting our physician we can influence our late-life brain health by starting to treat high blood pressure at an early age (Sudoku games are still encouraged.)