Diuretics were linked with 50 percent lowered risk in those in the group with mild cognitive impairment.
According to a news release from Johns Hopkins Medicine, researchers have found that certain blood pressure drugs may lower the risk of Alzheimer's disease dementia.
The researchers discovered that people over the age of 75 with normal cognition who utilized diuretic, angiotensin-1 receptor blockers and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors displayed a lowered risk of AD dementia by at least 50 percent. Also, diuretics were linked with 50 percent lowered risk in those in the group with mild cognitive impairment.
'Identifying new pharmacological treatments to prevent or delay the onset of AD dementia is critical given the dearth of effective interventions to date,' notes Dr. Sevil Yasar, assistant professor of medicine in the Department of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. 'Our study was able to replicate previous findings, however, we were also able to show that the beneficial effect of these blood pressure medications are maybe in addition to blood pressure control, and could help clinicians in selecting an antihypertensive medication based not only on blood pressure control, but also on additional benefits.'
The author and her colleagues examined data collected in the Ginkgo Evaluation of Memory Study. Yasar posited that while the GEMS study revealed no benefit of ginkgo biloba in lowering occurrence of dementia, data was also collected from the participants on their utilization of several types of antihypertensive drugs.
Research reveals that hypertension is a significant risk factor for dementias including Alzheimer's disease, and some have put forth the idea that medicines taken to treat high blood pressure provide a protective impact on the brain. Yasar noted that researchers set out to determine which medicines were linked to a lowered AD dementia risk, and which were not.
The researchers examined 2,248 of the GEMS participants.
'We were able to confirm previous suggestions of a protective effect of some of these medicines not only in participants with normal cognition, but also in those with mild cognitive impairment,' posits Yasar.
According to Yasar, the research is limited by the fact that the information gathered by the GEMS trial was not collected to directly determine the impact of the drugs, as well as a number of other factors.
She noted, however, that this research 'could lead to identification of new pharmacologic targets for preventive interventions to slow cognitive decline and possibly delay progression of AD dementia.'
The study's findings are described in greater detail in the journal Neurology.
