Study Offers Hint of Hope for Staving Off Dementia in Some People

A new study presents evidence that people with hypertension who received intensive treatment to lower their blood pressure were less likely than those receiving standard blood pressure treatment to develop minor memory and thinking problems. Often these type of problems develop into dementia and Alzheimer’s disease later in life. This large study started in 2010 and involved over 9,000 racially and ethnically diverse patients, but all that had hypertension.

Though the study only showed these positive results in patients age 50 or older who had elevated blood pressure and who did not have diabetes or a history of stroke, this actually extends to a large number of people. 75% of people over 65 have hypertension. Dr. Kristine Yaffe, a professor of psychiatry and neurology at University of California San Francisco, said “I think it actually is very exciting because it tells us that by improving vascular health in a comprehensive way, we could actually have an effect on brain health.” Dr. Yaffe did not participate in the study.

The main goal of the study was to determine how much lower blood pressure levels would decrease with intensive treatment rather than standard treatment. The cognitive arm of the study continued to follow the participants for three more years. Those in the intensively treated group had a 19% lower risk of mild cognitive impairment. Because dementia may develop over many years, Alzheimer’s Association said it would fund two more years of the study.

See Pam Belluck, Study Offers Hint of Hope for Staving Off Dementia in Some People, New York Times, January 28, 2019.

Special thanks to Lewis Saret (Attorney, Washington, D.C.) for bringing this article to my attention.