High Blood Pressure and Cognitive Impairment in the Elderly

pp 231-238

Abstract

The elderly population is at a high risk of cerebral, heart and vascular complications. The integrity of cognitive abilities is vital for older people to maintain its independence and behavior. The potential risk for cognitive decline in elderly hypertensive sdeserves a careful evaluation. In recent years it has been a matter of debate whether hypertension contributes independently to the cognitive impairment of the elderly. Hypertension has been associated with atherosclerotic changes in largea nd small cerebral blood vessels, with a decrease in cerebral blood flow autoregulation which is known to be a major risk factor for stroke and dementia.Furthermore, clinically silent white matter lesions in the periventricular area and lacunar infarcts have been observed by neuroimaging in hypertensive subjects. These lesions seem to be associated with cognitive decline.In this article we have analyzed the importance of identifying the responsible factors for the cognitive impairment in elderly hypertensive people.