Hypertension and Mild Cognitive Impairment: Understanding the Complexities of the Relationship in Understudied Populations

The association between hypertension and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is complex. Both are increasing in prevalence worldwide and will have disproportionate effects on lower income countries across Latin America. Despite this, there is insufficient evidence investigating this relationship in this region or those of Hispanic or Latino ancestry in higher income countries. In this context, the Study of Latinos-Investigation of Neurocognitive Aging represents a unique dataset. Although more research is required, Marquez and colleagues show that hypertension in this population in the United States is associated with decline in cognitive measures and greater odds of MCI over seven years follow-up.