Arterial Hypertension and Cognitive Decline Is it More than Pure Coincidence?

The life-span increase recorded during the past decades across the global population has led to an increase in the number of people suffering from dementia. Recent analyses have estimated the worldwide number of people living with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and dementia at between 27 million and 36 million, and projections by Alzheimer’s disease International estimate that 115 million people worldwide will be living with AD/dementia by 2050, less developed countries being more affected by these rising numbers(1). Alzheimer’s disease is the most prevalent form of dementia – 60-70% cases, while vascular dementia accounts for another 25% of cases(2). Alzheimer’s disease is a neurodegenerative pathology associated with the intraneuronal accumulation of hyperphosphorylated proteins and with the extracellular aggregation of ? amyloid precursors(3). These structural modifications lead to a metabolic cascade responsible for neuronal death and, subsequently, dementia.