“The most interesting thing about our study is that the data shows that people who take blood pressure medication have a lower risk of being diagnosed with dementia than those who take a placebo,” said Ruth Peters, co-author of the study.
The study, published this week in the European Heart Journal, pooled data from five large clinical trials involving more than 28,000 middle-aged 69-year-old patients from 20 countries. All of them had hypertension.
Each of the trials compared people taking blood pressure medications with people taking a placebo and followed them for an average of 4.3 years. Peters and colleagues pooled the data and found a reduction in systolic blood pressure of about 10 mmHg. Art. and diastolic pressure 4 mm Hg. Art. Significantly reduces the risk of a dementia diagnosis after 12 months.
There was also no indication that blood pressure medications could impair blood flow to the brain later in life.
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Source: Ferra
