A global study of more than 28,000 people provides the strongest evidence to date that drugs that lower blood pressure might significantly reduce the risk of dementia.
Science is still a long way from fully understanding how dementia develops and what promotes the disease. But with each additional study on the subject, the puzzle seems to be coming together more and more. Because what research is particularly interested in is the question: How can I reduce the risk of dementia? Apparently with simple and comparatively inexpensive antihypertensive drugs, according to the result of an international, large-scale study.
What is the connection between dementia and high blood pressure?
Dementia is now becoming a global epidemic, affecting an estimated 50 million people worldwide. The number is expected to triple by 2050 – mainly due to the aging population. It has long been suspected that controlling blood pressure may be a key to reducing the risk of dementia, but there are few studies that include dementia results. To examine the relationship between blood pressure and dementia in more detail, researchers at the George Institute for Global Health (Australia) analyzed five double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized trials covering different antihypertensive used and observed the already elderly patients up to a possible development of dementia. The mean follow-up time was just over four years.
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Antihypertensive drugs can reduce the risk of dementia by 13 percent
In total, health data from 28,008 people from 20 countries were analyzed. They all suffered from high blood pressure and were on average 69 years old, according to the study published in the European Heart Journal.1 But the longer and more intensively the participants tried to to lower blood pressure – be it through medication, but also other methods – the less likely they were to develop dementia in the years that followed. In the case of antihypertensive drugs in particular, the risk of dementia was reduced by 13 percent. “We found that treating high blood pressure had a significant effect on reducing the likelihood of dementia,” explains study leader Dr. Ruth Peters in a statement.2 For the scientist, the results indicate a largely linear relationship between blood pressure reduction and a lower risk of dementia.
Strongest evidence to date for suspected association
dr Peters and her team hope their findings will help inform public health interventions to slow the progression of dementia. “Our study provides the strongest evidence to date that antihypertensive treatment, or antihypertensive drugs, over several years drastically reduces the likelihood of developing dementia. And we haven’t seen any evidence of harm.” What the researchers still don’t know, however, is whether adding blood pressure reduction to people with healthy blood pressure or starting treatment earlier in life further reduces the long-term risk of dementia. These questions should now be clarified in subsequent studies.