Lower Blood Pressure To Lower Risk Of Dementia
Previous research suggests that people who have high blood pressure during midlife are more likely to be diagnosed with vascular dementia in older age. Now, a large global review offers the strongest evidence yet that lowering blood pressure can also decrease the risk of developing dementia later in life.
Researchers from Australia’s UNSW Sydney reviewed data from five previous randomized, controlled trials that looked at the effects of various approaches to lowering blood pressure on the risk of dementia. The studies included data on more than 28,000 older people from 20 countries with a history of high blood pressure.
After analyzing the data, the researchers determined that any treatment for high blood pressure that lowered it by an average of 10/4 mmHg — was associated with a significant reduction in the risk of dementia. In fact, the greater the drop in blood pressure, the greater the decrease in dementia risk.
“Our study provides the highest grade of available evidence to show that blood pressure lowering treatment over several years reduces the risk of dementia, and we did not see any evidence of harm,” says the lead researcher. The analysis was published in the European Heart Journal.
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