Update on hypertension and Alzheimer's disease

Several studies report that blood pressure is increased in victims of Alzheimer's disease (AD) decades before the onset of the disease. Years before onset of Alzheimer's disease, blood pressure start to decrease and continues to decrease during the disease process. High blood pressure has also been related to pathological manifestations of Alzheimer's disease (senile plaques, neurofibrillary tangles, hippocampal atrophy). The exact mechanism behind these associations is not clear. Hypertension is also a risk factor for stroke, ischemic white matter lesions, silent infarcts, general atherosclerosis, myocardial infarction and cardiovascular diseases, and often clusters with other vascular risk factors, including diabetes mellitus, obesity and hypercholesterolemia. Also these risk factors have been related to Alzheimer's disease. Hypertension may thus cause cerebrovascular disease that may increase the possibility for individuals with AD encephalopathy to express a dementia syndrome. Hypertension may also lead to vessel wall changes in the brain, leading to hypoperfusion, ischemia and hypoxia which may initiate the pathological process of AD. Finally, subclinical AD may lead to increased blood pressure, and similar biological mechanisms may be involved in the pathogenesis of both disorders. Hypertension is a common disorder and often untreated. Several observational studies have reported that use of antihypertensives decreases risk of AD. Even though hypertension only results in a moderately increased risk of AD, or overall dementia, better treatment of hypertension may have an immense effect on the total number of demented individuals.