· The research team confirmed a reduction in the risk of dementia and cognitive impairment after treating hypertension
Apr 22, 2025
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This result was obtained in a four-year clinical trial of 34,000 patients, according to a paper published in the medical journal Nature Medicine by Professor Zhang He of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and Professor Sun Ying-shean of Shenyang Chinese Medical University in China.
It is known that high blood pressure increases the risk of dementia as the blood vessels gradually narrow due to high pressure, and oxygen and nutrients are not properly supplied to brain cells. A study found that people who do not treat hypertension have a 42% higher risk of dementia throughout their lives than healthy people. However, randomized controlled clinical trials verifying the effect of blood pressure-lowering drugs on dementia risk are extremely rare, and no research has set dementia as a major test goal, according to the research team.
In the study, the research team conducted a randomized controlled clinical trial of 33,995 hypertensive patients aged 40 or older living in 326 villages across China, with different village-by-town treatment methods and follow-up blood pressure changes and dementia-free cognitive impairment for four years.
17,407 people in 163 villages received antihypertensive drugs from the health-educated workforce '醫' and received treatment such as blood pressure measurement, weight loss, salt intake and drinking management at home through health counseling. As a control, hypertensive patients in 163 other villages received blood pressure management training and received no treatment other than measuring blood pressure in medical institutions.
A comparison of blood pressure changes in the two groups over 48 months showed that the group treated by the village had an average decrease of 22.0 mmHg in systolic blood pressure and 9.3 mmHg in diastolic blood pressure. In addition, the treatment group had a 16% lower risk of cognitive impairment without dementia than the control group, and a 15% lower risk of dementia.
The research team said the findings show that treatment to lower blood pressure is effective in reducing the risk of dementia in hypertensive patients, suggesting that it may be important to take more intensive blood pressure control measures in hypertensive patients to reduce the burden of dementia worldwide.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
