• Antonio Coca.
• Institute of Medicine & Dermatology Hospital Clinic, Univertity of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain. acoca@clinic.ub.es
• Curr Med Res Opin. 2013 Sep 1; 29 (9): 104510541045-54.

BackgroundVascular dementia (VaD) - a severe form of vascular cognitive impairment - and cognitive decline are associated with hypertension and therefore it seems logical to consider that reducing BP with anti-hypertensive therapy may protect against the development/onset of cognitive function impairment or dementia.ScopeThis narrative, non-systematic review discusses the available evidence on the potential correlation between the use of anti-hypertensive agents and the risk of VaD and cognitive decline.MethodsMEDLINE was searched for inclusion of relevant studies. No limitations in time were considered.ResultsA consensus on the potential effects of anti-hypertensive treatment in the reduction of VaD and associated cognitive decline has not been reached. A protective effect of anti-hypertensive agents has been observed in a number of studies although it is still unclear whether different classes of anti-hypertensive agents have a different effect on the development of VaD.ConclusionsThe protective effect of anti-hypertensive agents appears to depend on the specific drug used - positive effects have been observed with calcium channel blockers (CCBs), such as lercanidipine and nitrendipine, the combination perindopril-indapamide and telmisartan.

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