Can blood pressure-lowering therapy reduce the risk of cognitive decline in the elderly?

TL;DRAbstract

Cognitive decline and dementia are inextricably associated with ageing and are increasingly contributing to the global burden of disease, as our populations live longer, right across the world. The most common forms of dementia are Alzheimer's disease, vascular dementia and mixed forms, and unfortunately, there are no proven treatments at present, once these are established. Our hopes for prevention are only marginally stronger and depend on treatment or avoidance of risk factors such as hypertension, diabetes, high total cholesterol and smoking. Indeed, the links between high blood pressure and cognition provide some cause for optimism, but at this time, there is no clear evidence that lowering the blood pressure will reduce the risk of dementia or cognitive decline. The optimism is mainly based on observational studies demonstrating a link between raised blood pressure or hypertension and the risk of dementia or cognitive decline in later life [1–10]. One of the main sources of evide

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