Tag Archives: Dementia

Health, Medical, Research, Science

ACE inhibitors may boost brainpower…

BLOOD PRESSURE DRUGS

Scientists and medical practitioners have long recognised that taking blood pressure drugs may slow the onset of Alzheimer’s.

But, now, researchers have uncovered evidence that the drugs, known as ACE inhibiters, may actually boost brainpower.

Those with high blood pressure are more at risk of developing Alzheimer’s and similar diseases, but the study found their memory and thinking skills were protected by the drugs they were taking.

ACE inhibitors – medicines which include ramipril, captopril and perindopril – have become increasingly popular over the past decade, particularly for younger patients.

Researchers in Ireland and Canada investigated drugs which target a specific biochemical pathway called the renin angiotensin system – a hormone system which is thought to affect the development of Alzheimer’s.

The study by researchers compared the rate of cognitive decline in 361 patients diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia (caused by problems in the blood supply to the brain), or a mix of both. Of that group, 85 were already taking ACE inhibitors; the rest were not.

Also analysed was the impact on 30 patients, with an average age of 77, who were taking the drugs for the first time.

The patients were assessed over six months, using the Standardised Mini Mental State Examination or the Quick Mild Cognitive Impairment tests.

The study found that those taking ACE inhibitors experienced marginally slower rates of cognitive decline than those who were not. The findings were first disclosed in the journal BMJ Open.

Scientists from University College Cork in Ireland and McMaster University in Ontario also found that the brainpower of those patients who had been newly prescribed ACE inhibitors actually improved. This suggests for the first time that such drugs may not only halt cognitive decline, but may actually improve brainpower.

The researchers said:

… Although the differences were small and of uncertain clinical significance, if sustained over years, compounding effects may well have significant clinical benefits.

They warn that ACE inhibitors are harmful to some patients, so if wider and larger studies confirm they work well in dementia, it may be only certain people with high blood pressure who stand to benefit.

Previous studies have linked other forms of blood pressure medication with anti-dementia benefits.

A statement issued by the Alzheimer Society, said:

… Any drug which halts cognitive decline is potentially exciting because it has the ability to radically improve quality of life.

But Dr Simon Ridley of Alzheimer’s Research UK, said:

… This is a short study with a small number of participants. It is unclear if the (improvement) could be due to the control of blood pressure, a different effect of the drugs or another factor.

Among the most widely used ACE inhibitors are perindopril (also known as Coversyl), ramipril (Tritace), captopril (Capoten), trandolapril (Gopten), fosinopril (Staril), lisinopril (Zestril and prinivil).

They work by stopping the body from creating the hormone angiotensin II. This has a variety of effects but essentially relaxes blood vessels and helps reduce the amount of water re-absorbed by the kidneys – helping to decrease blood pressure.

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Health, Medical, Research, Science

A drug used for treating diabetes could cut risk of developing dementia…

METFORMIN

A drug used to treat diabetes could cut the risk of developing dementia by 20 per cent, a research study has found.

Around 15,000 people aged over 55 diagnosed with the type 2 form of the disease were given the drug metformin over a period of five years.

But when scientists looked back over medical records they found the drug also reduced the chance of those with diabetes developing dementia.

Metformin, one of the most common forms of treatments for diabetes, makes the body more sensitive to insulin, which diabetes sufferers cannot naturally produce.

About 800,000 people in the UK suffer from a form of dementia, with more than half being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.

The Alzheimer’s Society in the UK said the study results were ‘positive news’ because diabetics are twice as likely to develop dementia as those who don’t have it. The Society has said that whilst this study is encouraging it is still not sure exactly how metformin works with regards to dementia. But it added:

… What is becoming increasingly apparent is the role of insulin in the brain and the way it can regulate the brains behaviour.

Clinical trials are now underway to test metformin as a therapy for both dementia and mild cognitive impairment.

The study by scientists at Kaiser Permanente was presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International conference in Boston earlier this week.

A statement issued by the Alzheimer’s Society said that due to the ‘huge cost’ of developing treatments ‘from scratch’ it was important to explore whether existing drugs could also treat dementia.

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Health, Medical, United States

A new study finds that HRT does not affect a woman’s memory…

Women taking hormone replacement therapy following the menopause are not at a higher risk of developing dementia, a new study has found.

HRT, which is used to treat menopausal symptoms, including hot flushes, has previously been linked with memory deterioration and a doubling of the risk of developing dementia.

Researchers followed a group of more than 1,300 women between the ages of 50 and 55 who were on HRT medication known as conjugated equine oestrogens (CEOs).

The researchers, based at the Women’s Health Centre of Excellence for Research at Wake Forest School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, gave one set of women placebos and one the HRT treatment. The results were studied after seven years.

They found no overall differences in the brain function scores between women taking the HRT treatment and the placebos.

Dr Mark Espeland, a professor of biostatistics, led the research programme, and said it proved giving the hormones at an earlier age of the menopause provided more benefits than prescribing them at a later stage.

Dr Espeland said:

… Our findings provide reassurance that CEO-based therapies when administered to women earlier in the postmenopausal period do not seem to convey long-term adverse consequences for cognitive function.

The researchers did note some minor speech disturbances in some of the women taking CEOs longer-term. But they attributed that to ‘chance’ and reported that it was not statistically significant.

Around 1.5 million British women use HRT, which relives symptoms of the menopause including hot flushes and mood swings by replacing the body’s declining supply of the hormone oestrogen.

Previously, studies claimed the risk of suffering from mental decline could be doubled by taking hormone replacement therapy. A warning in 2003 was given by scientists in the United States who sought to determine if healthy women should turn to HRT to combat ill-health in later life, not just menopausal symptoms.

It is believed that fewer than 3 per cent of women in the UK aged 65 and over are on the therapy.

The research was published in the medical journal, JAMA Internal Medicine.

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