A study led by researchers from the universities of Cambridge and Exeter has identified several approved drugs that could be repurposed to treat dementia.
The research published in Alzheimer’s and Dementia: Translational Research & Clinical Interventions found that certain antibiotics, antivirals, vaccines and anti-inflammatory medications are associated with a reduced risk of developing the neurodegenerative disease.
An estimated 982,000 people in the UK are currently living with dementia, with this number predicted to rise to over 1.4 million by 2040. The disease slowly destroys memory and thinking skills and, eventually, the ability to carry out simple tasks.
Led by Ben Underwood and Ilianna Lourida, the UK team examined 14 previous studies that used large clinical datasets and medical records, and looked at data from over 130 million individuals and one million dementia cases.
Among the drug classes associated with a reduced risk of dementia were antibiotics, antivirals and vaccines, supporting the theory that common forms of the disease may be triggered by viral or bacterial infections. Anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen were also found to be associated with a lower risk.
Underwood, from the department of psychiatry at the University of Cambridge and Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We urgently need new treatments to slow the progress of dementia, if not to prevent it.
“If we can find drugs that are already licensed for other conditions, then we can get them into trials and – crucially – may be able to make them available to patients much, much faster than we could do for an entirely new drug.”
The researchers also found conflicting evidence for some drug classes, with certain antidepressants, blood pressure medications and diabetes treatments connected with a lower risk of dementia and others associated with a higher risk.
However, Lourida, from the National Institute for Health and Care Research Applied Research Collaboration South West Peninsula, University of Exeter, outlined that a drug being associated with an altered risk of dementia does not necessarily mean that it causes or improves the disease.
“We know that diabetes increases your risk of dementia, for example, so anyone on medication to manage their glucose levels would naturally also be at a higher risk of dementia – but that doesn’t mean the drug increases your risk,” she said.