China study links intensive blood pressure control to lower dementia risk

A long-term Chinese study has demonstrated that intensive blood pressure control can reduce the risk of dementia by 15 percent. The findings from the China Rural Hypertension Control Program (CRHCP) were presented at the ESC Congress 2026 in Munich.

The study involved 33,995 participants from 326 rural villages in China, with an average age of 63. Participants were divided into two groups: one receiving standard care and an intervention group receiving structured management by trained non-physician health workers under physician supervision. The goal for the intervention group was to achieve a systolic blood pressure of less than 130 mmHg and a diastolic blood pressure of less than 80 mmHg.

Over a seven-year period, which included four years of active intervention and three years of observation, the intervention group saw an average systolic blood pressure reduction of 17.6 mmHg, compared to only 2.4 mmHg in the standard care group. Consequently, the incidence of dementia in the intervention group was 8.85 percent, while it was 10.55 percent in the control group, representing a statistically significant 15 percent reduction in risk.