Hypertension, Cognitive Decline, and Dementia: an Epidemiological Perspective

Overview

Journal Dialogues Clin Neurosci

Specialty Neurology

Date 2007 May 18

PMID 17506226

Citations 29

Authors

Christophe Tzourio

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Hypertension is a known risk factor for stroke, and thus for vascular dementia. However, recent large observational studies have suggested that high blood pressure may also play a role in Alzheimer's disease. The mechanisms linking hypertension to Alzheimer's disease remain to be elucidated, but white matter lesions seen on cerebral magnetic resonance imaging appear to be a good marker of this association. It is not yet clearly established whether lowering blood pressure reduces the risk of white matter lesions and dementia, so large trials dealing with this question are eagerly awaited. These future trials could confirm the hope that, by lowering blood pressure, we may have a preventive treatment for dementia. This issue is of major importance, as the number of cases of dementia is expected to rise

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