According to observations, systolic blood pressure levels conveying the lowest dementia risk could vary between age groups and therefore there is a need for further trials of personalized blood pressure targets that consider individual life expectancy and health context.

• This is a cohort study of 7 studies with a total of 17,286 participants, wherein researchers investigated if the link between systolic blood pressure and dementia risk is U-shaped and if age and comorbidity have a role in this relationship.

• In older individuals, a lower dementia risk was observed in relation to higher systolic blood pressure.

• A U-shaped association was found only in the oldest age groups.

• These links were not attributable to longer survival with lower systolic blood pressure.