‘Everyday’ meds to treat Alzheimer’s
Medications used to treat hypertension, diabetes and skin conditions could be doubling as treatments for Alzheimer’s within a decade, according to UK researchers. Led by King’s College London, the research identified four existing drugs and one drug class which could reduce risk or slow down symptoms of the disease.
Medications used to treat hypertension, diabetes and skin conditions could be doubling as treatments for Alzheimer’s within a decade, according to UK researchers.
Led by King’s College London, the research identified four existing drugs and one drug class which could reduce risk or slow down symptoms of the disease.
Published in Nature Reviews Drug Discovery journal last week, the drugs or classes of drugs identified as potential Alzheimer’s treatments by the study included:
- High blood pressure medications – including Nilvadipine – from the calcium channel blockers family.
- Diabetes medications exenatide and liraglutide, which stimulate the brain and have been shown to reduce the formation of plaques on the brain.
- Minocycline, a tetracycline antibiotic used to treat acne.
- Acitretin, a drug used to treat psoriasis, which researchers have shown to modify the way proteins linked to dementia form.
Lead author, Professor Clive Ballard, who is Director of Research at Alzheimer’s Society and Professor of Age Related Diseases at King’s College London, said: “Defeating dementia is one of the biggest challenges facing both medicine and society as a whole. Developing new drugs to treat the condition is incredibly important, but comes with a huge price tag and, for those affected by dementia, an unimaginable wait.
“This study identifies existing treatments and shows the potential to identify other similar drugs which are safe and if effective in clinical trials could be used to treat Alzheimer’s disease in 10 years or less.”
More research to increase the understanding of how these drugs work, and how they could be used to treat Alzheimer’s, is underway.
Researchers warn people should not take these drugs for anything other than the conditions they are prescribed for as more research is needed.
