Capsule Commentary on Murray et al. Antihypertensive Medication and Dementia Risk in Older Adult African-Americans with Hypertension: a Prospective Cohort Study

Excerpt

Murray and colleagues1 present a prospective, observational study on 1236 community-dwelling African-Americans with hypertension and no dementia at baseline with longitudinal follow-up of up to 24 years. In models that did not adjust for the effectiveness of hypertension control, being prescribed any hypertension medication was protective against dementia, but this finding was not statistically significant (HR = 0.65, 95%CI 0.38–1.12). An analysis incorporating the effectiveness of hypertension control indicated that optimal blood pressure control (< 140 mmHg systolic and < 90 mmHg diastolic) significantly decreases the risk of dementia (HR = 0.46, 95%CI 0.25–0.82). This work adds to a growing and compelling literature indicating that effective control of hypertension prevents cognitive impairment and dementia. …