[Arterial hypertension and dementia].

Arterial hypertension (AH) is considered to be an important risk factor for vascular cognitive impairment and probably for Alzheimer's disease, too. In the current review we provide an overview of the major prospective clinical trials on this issue. With respect to the inconsistent findings of these studies one must state that the interrelations between AH and dementia are still incompletely understood. Regarding therapy there thus is a simple rule: AH should be treated until normal blood pressure values are reached. As long as the hypothesis of a J-curve between blood pressure and cognitive dysfunction has not been disproved, overaggressive blood pressure lowering cannot be recommended. Regarding the aim of preventing dementia, there is no evidence for the superiority of a specific antihypertensive treatment regimen.