A new study confirms that treating hypertension reduces the risk of dementia.

Proper treatment of high blood pressure can substantially reduce the risk of dementia and cognitive decline , according to new research published recently in Nature Medicine .

Several recent studies have been pointing to a very important link between neurodegenerative disease and cardiovascular disease, which affects nearly half of all adults in Spain. Not only that, but it also points to addressing hypertension as a valuable preventive strategy against Alzheimer's and dementia.

Positive effects of treating hypertension

In this case, the study consisted of a large-cohort, randomized effectiveness trial (China Hypertension Control Project Phase-3, CRHCP-3) conducted on 33,995 Chinese adults with untreated hypertension aged 40 or older, living in 326 villages across three provinces in the Asian giant.

In the intervention group, the researchers implemented an intensive blood pressure-lowering strategy (in contrast to usual care for the other participants), including medication and regular monitoring aimed at achieving a systolic pressure below 130 mm/Hg and a diastolic pressure below 80 mg/Hg. These volunteers were also provided counseling on home blood pressure monitoring and lifestyle changes, including weight loss, dietary sodium restriction, and reduction of alcohol consumption.

On average, these individuals reduced their systolic blood pressure from 157 mm Hg at the start of the study to 127.6 mm Hg at 48 months (four years), and their diastolic blood pressure from 87.9 to 72 mm Hg. In the control group, systolic blood pressure fell from 155.4 to 147.7 mm Hg, and diastolic blood pressure fell from 87.2 to 81 mm Hg.

A 15% lower risk

This difference was associated with up to a 15% lower likelihood of developing dementia (defined as a category that encompasses all possible causes) in the intervention group compared to the control group. When looking at the risk of cognitive decline, the reduction in likelihood reached 16%.

The associations remained even after adjusting for certain dementia risk factors such as age, sex, education level, cigarette smoking history, body mass index, fasting plasma glucose, and 10-year risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease at baseline.

These results provide robust evidence of the effectiveness of antihypertensive treatment in reducing the risk of dementia in patients with hypertension. The authors say this is an intervention that should be widely adopted and implemented to reduce the overall burden of dementia.

References

He, J., Zhao, C., Zhong, S. et al. Blood pressure reduction and all-cause dementia in people with uncontrolled hypertension: an open-label, blinded endpoint, cluster-randomized trial. Nature Medicine (2025). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-025-03616-8

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