What does it mean to "mind your risks?"
"Minding your risks" means understanding some key factors that could harm your brain health—and taking steps to protect it. One of the most important things you can do to protect your brain is to control high blood pressure between the ages of 28 and 45, which can help reduce your risk of having a stroke and developing dementia later in life. The Mind Your Risks® campaign helps individuals and healthcare providers understand this link and take action.
Led by NINDS, the Mind Your Risks® campaign raises awareness of the connection between high blood pressure and cognitive decline. Here, you’ll find tools, education, and the latest science about preventing stroke and dementia.
How managing blood pressure protects your brain
You can reduce your risk of stroke and dementia by managing your blood pressure when you’re in your late 20s into your 40s. Brain damage from high blood pressure can happen without symptoms, which is why taking early action—before symptoms show up—is essential.
When we have uncontrolled high blood pressure, the arteries that supply oxygen to the brain become weaker and narrower. Over time, as brain cells are repeatedly deprived of oxygen, they begin to die off, shrinking brain tissue and impairing memory and thinking skills. This ongoing damage to the blood vessels contributes to most dementias, including Alzheimer’s disease. Managing your blood pressure helps keep oxygen supply to the brain flowing through healthy arteries, which reduces your risk of dementia.
Our approach
We work with trusted partners such as national and community-based organizations across the country to do the following:
- Share evidence-based information about brain health and blood pressure.
- Provide prevention strategies that are clear, realistic, and actionable.
- Equip healthcare providers with up-to-date research and patient communication tools.
- Support public health efforts to reduce disparities in stroke and dementia.
NINDS collaborates with a range of national and community-based organizations partners who are committed to health equity, brain health, and chronic disease prevention, including the NIH National Institute on Aging (NIA), The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Million Hearts, and The Heart Truth.
Know the risks to your brain
Dementia is a group of symptoms that affect memory, thinking, and daily functioning. It has many causes, but most commonly results from damage to blood vessels and cells in the brain.
Types of dementia
- Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form, marked by changes in brain structure.
- Vascular dementia is often caused by strokes or reduced blood flow to the brain.
- Mixed dementia is a combination of different causes, including vascular and Alzheimer’s-related damage.
- Other conditions that cause dementia include frontotemporal disorders, Lewy body dementia, and more.
How blood pressure affects the brain
- High blood pressure strains blood vessels in the brain.
- It can lead to stroke, which increases dementia risk.
- Over time, high blood pressure may cause silent damage—even without obvious symptoms.
Manage your risks
It's important to take an active role in managing your health. Take steps to manage your risk for high blood pressure. If you already have high blood pressure, take steps to control it. Making healthy choices like these in midlife can help reduce your risk of dementia.
- Know your blood pressure—and track it regularly.
- Stay informed about your health risks.
- Take your medications as prescribed.
- Quit smoking and avoid tobacco.
- Manage your cholesterol and blood sugar.
- Eat a healthy diet and get regular exercise.
- Avoid drug misuse and excessive alcohol use.
- Work with your doctor to build and stick to a health plan.
Research about blood pressure and dementia
Researchers are finding more evidence that high blood pressure may raise the risk of memory problems and thinking issues later in life. The latest research findings highlight:
- The power of early intervention: Managing blood pressure as early as your late 20s can help prevent damage to brain blood vessels.
- Better outcomes with consistent care: Long-term blood pressure control is linked to a lower risk of memory problems and dementia.
- Cognitive benefit from treatment: Trials such as SPRINT-MIND show that intensive blood pressure treatment can reduce the risk of mild cognitive impairment. [ref.] [ref.]
The profound impact of blood pressure control
Improving blood pressure control across the population could dramatically reduce the number of people who develop dementia. Preventing even a small percentage of cases has significant public health and economic benefits.
A key to reducing dementia rates
To reduce dementia rates, it is important to improve education and awareness of the risks of uncontrolled high blood pressure with those who need it most. [ref.] [ref.] [ref.] [ref.] [ref.]
Mind Your Risks® campaign resources
These resources are designed with healthcare providers, educators, and community leaders in mind—but they’re also available to anyone looking to raise awareness about dementia and high blood pressure in their communities.
Check out these ready-to-use materials you can print, post, or share—whether you're a healthcare provider, educator, or someone who simply wants to make a difference.
Patient education materials
Campaign promotion materials
Posters
Click here to download a zip file with three (11"x17") posters to print and share.
Print ads
Click here to download a zip file with three ads (8.5"x11") to print and share.
Social media graphics
Click here to download three images to share on social media.
Videos
Webinars
Additional resources
From the National Institutes of Health (NIH):
- NINDS offers information on stroke treatment and management on its Know Stroke portal, as well as information on a variety of dementias and other neurological disorders.
- The National Institute on Aging (NIA) offers information on Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia on its Alzheimer’s Disease Education and Referral (ADEAR) website.
- The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) offers patient information in English and Spanish.
- MedlinePlus offers basic information about high blood pressure, including an animated slide show on its causes, complications, diagnoses, and control.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provides fact sheets on stroke and heart disease, podcasts on heart healthy diets, downloadable PDFs on high blood pressure in English and Spanish, and information from the Million Hearts® community of health workers.
Million Hearts® has information and resources to help people take steps to prevent heart attacks and strokes. And the Million Hearts® for Clinicians Microsite offers evidence-based protocols, action guides, quality improvement tools, and patient resources to help clinicians and other health professionals reduce their patients’ risk for a heart attack or stroke.