Properly treating high blood pressure can reduce the risk of dementia and cognitive impairment, according to a study published in Nature Medicine, renowned scientific journal. The findings were released on Monday (21) and highlight the importance of intensive control of hypertension.
Previous research has shown that the number of people with dementia worldwide will increase from 57.4 million in 2019 to 152.8 million by 2050, with the highest impact on low and medium -income countries. There is evidence that show that changes in lifestyle, with the adoption of a healthy diet and regular exercise, are ways to avoid cognitive decline, but few studies have tested the effects of drugs that reduce blood pressure on the risk of dementia.
Given this, researchers tested the effectiveness of blood pressure control in 33,995 patients 40 years or older with untreated hypertension in villages in rural China.
In the intervention group (that is, those who received treatment), 17,407 patients took antihypertensive medication and received health guidance on household pressure home monitoring, lifestyle changes (weight loss, dietary sodium reduction and alcohol reduction) and medication adherence.
In the Control Group (the one who did not receive treatment), participants were trained only for blood pressure management and had their pressure measured in a health environment.
The study lasted 48 months, when the authors found that the group that took antihypertensive medication obtained better control of blood pressure than the control group. According to the researchers, intensive blood pressure management reduced the risk of dementia for all causes by 15% and cognitive impairment by 16%.
The findings suggest that proven interventions to reduce blood pressure can help reduce the incidence and global impact of dementia, and that this intervention should be widely adopted and wide to reduce the number of people with the condition in the world.
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This content was originally published in treating high blood pressure can reduce dementia risk, says study on CNN Brazil.
Source: CNN Brasil
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