According to a study published in Neurology on February 11, 2025, rigorous blood pressure control may reduce the future risk of cognitive impairment in those at high risk for heart disease.
7,221 individuals 50 years of age and older who were a part of a previous, larger experiment were enrolled in the study. They were randomly assigned to receive either regular or intensive blood pressure medication, with a systolic blood pressure goal of fewer than 140 or less than 120 points, respectively. (The first figure in a blood pressure measurement is called the systolic blood pressure.) Due to the obvious advantages of intensive treatment for lowering heart disease, the experiment was terminated early, after 3.3 years.
The patients were then monitored for a median of seven years in order to examine the cognitive consequences. Telephone-based cognitive tests were used to categorize the subjects into three groups: no impairment, mild impairment, and definite dementia. Compared to individuals in the standard treatment group, those in the intensive therapy group had a decreased combined rate of cognitive impairment or probable dementia.