A global study involving 28,000-plus people offers the strongest evidence to date that lowering high blood pressure in seniors can reduce the risk of dementia, researchers said Tuesday.

Without significant treatment breakthroughs for dementia, reducing the risk of developing the disease would be "a welcome step forward," Ruth Peters, associate professor at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, said in a news release.

"Our study provides the highest grade of available evidence to show that blood pressure lowering treatment over several years reduces the risk of dementia, and we did not see any evidence of harm," said Peters, who is program lead for dementia at The George Institute's Global Brain Health Initiative in Newtown, New South Wales, Australia.

What remains unknown is whether additional blood pressure lowering "in people who already have it well-controlled," or whether starting treatment earlier in life, would reduce the long-term risk of dementia, Peters said.

https://www.upi.com/Health_News/2022/10/25/3871666712659/