Older adults whose blood pressure fluctuates widely may indicate a greater risk of brain shrinkage and nerve cell injury, according to a new study. 

The study, published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, reveals that short-term “dynamic instability” in blood pressure -- moment-to-moment changes measured over just minutes -- is linked to loss of brain tissue in regions critical for memory and cognition, as well as to blood biomarkers of nerve cell damage.