Tulane University researchers found that better blood pressure control reduces the risk of dementia in adults with hypertension. The work is available at: Scientific session of the American Heart Association.
The new study involved 34,000 people over the age of 40 from 326 villages in China. All of them had hypertension: blood pressure 140/90 mmHg. Art. or higher or 130/80 mmHg. Art. or higher in people at high risk of cardiovascular disease.
Residents of half the villages were randomly assigned to receive either traditional blood pressure control or intensive intervention. Patients in the first group were receiving standard treatment from village or city physicians. In the second group, medications were given free of charge or at a discount, the treatment plan was personalized and the target was to reduce blood pressure from above 80 mmHg to below 130 mmHg. Art.
At 48 months, mean blood pressure in the intensive intervention group was 128/73 mmHg. Art. Compared to 148/81 mm Hg. Art. in the normal control group. Additionally, patients in the intervention group had a 15% lower risk of developing dementia and a 16% lower risk of overall memory loss than patients in the usual care group. Better blood pressure control was also associated with a reduced risk of death and hospitalization.
“These results highlight the importance of widespread implementation of more intensive blood pressure control to reduce the global burden of dementia,” the authors concluded.
Previous observational studies have shown that people with hypertension have a 42% higher risk of dementia than healthy people if they do not lower their blood pressure to normal levels. At the same time, those who were able to keep their blood pressure under control had the same risk of dementia as their healthy peers. More research is needed to find out whether lowering blood pressure can reduce the risk of dementia in adults without hypertension.
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