Antihypertensive Medications and Brain Function: Mechanisms Underlying Beneficial and Harmful Therapeutic Neuropsychiatric Effects

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.22533/at.ed.1594122423016

• Palavras-chave: Brain Function, Anti-Hypertensive Medications, Therapeutics.

• Keywords: Brain Function, Anti-Hypertensive Medications, Therapeutics.

• Abstract:

  Goal: To evaluate and synthesize the scientific evidence available in current literature on the effects of antihypertensive medications on brain function, focusing on the mechanisms underlying beneficial and harmful therapy. Methods: Narrative bibliographic review carried out through the PubMed database by applying the search strategy “hypertension”, “antihypertensive”, “Brain function”, “neurological”, “symptons”, in association with the Boolean operators “OR” and “AND”, resulting in 1,471 initial articles. After applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria, only 19 studies became official sources of the work. Discussion: The blood pressure control caused by the use of antihypertensive drugs leads to an improvement in microvascular function with a consequent impact on reducing inflammation in brain cells, which appears to be promising for preventing possible cognitive decline in patients with mild impairment. Final considerations: In elderly patients with dementia, the concrete effect of using antihypertensives is controversial. In this aspect, it is noteworthy that there are still gaps in the literature regarding the effectiveness, effects and management of antihypertensive drugs in alleviating neuropsychiatric disorders.