A large clinical trial in the United States found that people treated intensively for hypertension were less likely to develop mild cognitive impairment, which is often the first stage of the disease.Alzheimer's,
The history of Alzheimer's disease is full of disappointed hopes, so the Sprint Mind results published Monday in the Journal of the American Medical Association (Jama) should be treated with caution.
But the large number of participants in the study and the good statistical quality of one of its results make it inevitable in the fight against this incurable disease.
precursor
The study is the first to find a way to prevent memory or concentration problems in the elderly.
"This is the first attempt to demonstrate an effective strategy to prevent age-related cognitive deficits," says Kristine Yaffe, a neurodegenerative physician at the University of California, San Francisco, in a separate editorial. of the study in Jama Magazine.
The clinical trial includes more than 9000 adults over 50 years of age with hypertension. Half received treatment to lower their systolic blood pressure (the first of two figures giving blood pressure) to less than 140 mmHg and the other half to less than 120, a more ambitious target.
After a median follow-up of five years, doctors noticed no difference between the two groups in terms of "probable dementia."
But the intensive group, on the other hand, had significantly less "minor cognitive impairment" than the other group.
Associated with the brain and the heart
Mild cognitive impairment is a stage involving, according to the Alzheimer's Association, obvious difficulties in finding the right word or name, difficulty in remembering the names of the people they have recently met, or forgetting something immediately after reading.
All people suffering from Alzeimer have gone through this stage … But not all people with mild cognitive impairment will have Alzheimer's disease.
The study confirms the idea that "what is good for the heart is good for the brain," said the Alzheimer's Association's scientific director, Maria Carilo.
But these studies do not allow conclusively to conclude that treatment for hypertension will prevent Alzheimer's disease. Further research is needed to clarify this link, which is why Maria Carrillo has announced that the association will fund a two-year extension of the Sprint study to assess patients for a longer period of time until they reach the elderly.
(AFP / NXP)
Created: 28.01.2019, 22:32
