Antihypertensive drug treatment may reduce the rates of cognitive impairment and dementia in older patients with hypertension, though formal therapeutic trials are needed to confirm these findings.
Does antihypertensive drug treatment prevent cognitive impairment and dementia in older patients with hypertension?
Preliminary evidence suggests that treating hypertension in older adults may help prevent cognitive impairment and dementia, highlighting the need for formal clinical trials.
The prevalence and incidence of degenerative and vascular dementias increase exponentially with age, from 70 years onward. In view of the increasing longevity of humans, both varieties are bound to evolve into a major problem worldwide. According to several longitudinal studies, hypertension appears to predispose individuals to the development of cognitive impairment and ensuing dementia, after a period varying from a few years to several decades. Antihypertensive drug treatment, according to preliminary evidence, may serve to reduce the rates of such events. Such findings await to be confirmed by formal therapeutic trials against a backdrop of "historical" observational sources.
Birkenhäger et al. (Mon,) conducted a review in Hypertension and Dementia. Antihypertensive drug treatment was evaluated. Antihypertensive drug treatment may reduce the rates of cognitive impairment and dementia in older patients with hypertension, though formal therapeutic trials are needed to confirm these findings.