[Towards a prevention of dementia?]

Many studies have shown that high blood pressure and, to a lesser extent, other vascular risk factors could be the target of interventions aiming to reduce the incidence of dementia. Two large controlled trials have demonstrated that blood pressure lowering drugs have a significant effect on the risk of dementia including Alzheimer's disease. On another hand, large epidemiological studies have shown associations between different vascular factors and dementia. Overall, these data suggest that interventions aiming to reduce the level of vascular risk factors might prevent dementia. The expected benefit of these interventions could be estimated from data provided by epidemiological studies, but large population-based controlled studies are needed to demonstrate the efficacy of preventive interventions.