Blood pressure management for 3 years could reduce risk of cognitive decline: Study 

Aggressively managing blood pressure for over three years could provide sustained benefits in preventing cognitive decline, a new study has found.

Published in the journal Neurology, the results showed that intensive blood pressure control for three and a half years continues to significantly reduce risk of mild cognitive impairment or dementia long after treatment is stopped in adults with hypertension and high cardiovascular risk.

Researchers at Wake Forest University, US, looked at 9,361 participants aged 50 years and older from the US and Puerto Rico. Over a typical follow-up period of seven years, cognitive tests were conducted both in-person and via telephone.

The participants were then classified as having no cognitive impairment, mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or probable dementia.

“We found that the intensive treatment group had a sustained lower incidence of developing cognitive impairment compared to those in the standard treatment group,” corresponding author David M. Reboussin, a professor of biostatistics and data science at Wake Forest University’s School of Medicine, said.

Previous studies have found that people with hypertension are at an increased risk of cognitive decline and therefore, controlling blood pressure could a strategy to prevent the neurological condition.

“Our study shows that intensive blood pressure control is an important strategy in the prevention of cognitive impairment, a major cause of loss of independence in older adults,” author Jeff Williamson, a professor of gerontology and geriatric medicine at Wake Forest University’s School of Medicine, said.

“Lowering your blood pressure to more aggressive targets can improve the quality of life and extend active life for individuals with hypertension,” Williamson said.

“Among ambulatory adults with hypertension and high cardiovascular risk, intensive treatment vs standard treatment of (systolic blood pressure) for 3.3 years resulted in a lower risk of MCI and cognitive impairment including MCI or probable dementia, but not for probable dementia alone,” the authors wrote.