A global study involving over 28,000 participants has provided strong evidence that lowering blood pressure in later life can significantly reduce the risk of dementia.
Dementia has become a growing global concern, affecting approximately 50 million people worldwide, with projections indicating a tripling of this figure by 2050, mainly due to aging populations. The condition currently costs an estimated $20,000 to $40,000 per person annually.
Dr. Ruth Peters, Associate Professor at UNSW Sydney and Program Lead for Dementia in The George Institute’s Global Brain Health Initiative, emphasized that given the lack of significant treatment breakthroughs for dementia, reducing the risk of developing the disease would be a crucial step forward.
She stated, “Our study suggests that using readily available treatments to lower blood pressure is currently one of our ‘best bets’ to tackle this insidious disease.”
Dementia is a global epidemic, and addressing its risk factors is essential for managing the associated challenges.
Dr. Peters explained that while many trials have investigated the health benefits of lowering blood pressure, few have included dementia outcomes, and even fewer have employed placebo-controlled methodologies, considered the gold standard for evidence.
To examine the relationship between blood pressure and dementia more comprehensively, researchers analyzed data from five double-blind placebo-controlled randomized trials that utilized different blood pressure-lowering treatments and followed patients until the development of dementia.
The study included 28,008 individuals, with an average age of 69, who had a history of high blood pressure, from 20 different countries.
The results showed that there was a significant effect of treatment in lowering the odds of dementia among the older population with a sustained reduction in blood pressure.
Dr. Peters noted that the findings implied a broadly linear relationship between blood pressure reduction and a lower risk of dementia, regardless of the type of treatment used.
This research is expected to help inform public health measures aimed at slowing the advancement of dementia and guide treatment decisions, especially concerning how aggressively to lower blood pressure in older individuals.
Dr. Peters emphasized that while this study provides high-grade evidence that long-term blood pressure lowering reduces the risk of dementia without evidence of harm, further research is needed to determine whether additional blood pressure lowering in individuals with well-controlled blood pressure or initiating treatment at an earlier age can further reduce the long-term risk of dementia.
Professor Craig Anderson, Director of the Global Brain Health program at The George Institute, stressed the importance of this work as a foundation for future clinical trials aimed at providing reliable estimates of the benefits and risks of preventive treatments for dementia across different populations.
If you care about high blood pressure, please read studies that early time-restricted eating could help improve blood pressure, and natural coconut sugar could help reduce blood pressure and artery stiffness.
If you care about brain health, please read studies about Vitamin B9 deficiency linked to higher dementia risk, and cranberries could help boost memory.
The research findings can be found in European Heart Journal.
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