New Study Links Common Medications to Reduced Dementia Risk

A new study suggests that antibiotics, antivirals, vaccinations and anti-inflammatory drugs could reduce the risk of dementia. Researchers from Cambridge and Exeter highlight the potential of repurposing existing medications, accelerating their availability to patients.

In an exciting development, researchers led by the universities of Cambridge and Exeter have found that certain medications, including antibiotics, antivirals, vaccinations and anti-inflammatory drugs, are associated with a reduced risk of dementia. This study, which investigated health data from over 130 million individuals, offers new hope in the fight against a leading cause of death and profound distress globally.

The findings, published in Alzheimer’s and Dementia: Translational Research & Clinical Interventions, could accelerate the search for effective dementia treatments by leveraging existing drugs.

Corresponding author Ben Underwood, an associate professor in Department of Psychiatry at the University of Cambridge, emphasized the urgency of this research.

“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,” he said in a news release

Dementia’s economic toll exceeds $1 trillion globally, and despite considerable efforts, progress has been limited. Recently, while drugs like lecanemab and donanemab have shown promise in slowing Alzheimer’s progression by targeting amyloid plaques, they were not approved for use within the NHS due to insufficient benefits.

However, this study’s systematic review of existing research could pivot the trajectory toward faster, more affordable solutions.

Co-author Ilianna Lourida, a research fellow at the University of Exeter, provided a crucial perspective.

“Because a particular drug is associated with an altered risk of dementia, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it causes or indeed helps in dementia. 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 in the news release.

The team analyzed 14 major studies, drawing data from over 130 million individuals and 1 million dementia cases.

They focused on prescription drugs that might alter dementia risk, finding notable associations with some antibiotics, antivirals, vaccines and anti-inflammatory medications. This supports theories that some forms of dementia may be triggered by infections and highlights the significant role of inflammation in the disease.

Interestingly, the BCG vaccine for tuberculosis also emerged as potentially reducing dementia risk, reinforcing the link between viral or bacterial infections and the disease.

The study did reveal conflicting evidence related to some drug categories, including certain blood pressure medications and antidepressants, which were both associated with increased and decreased dementia risks in different studies. Variations in study methodologies and data collection could account for these discrepancies, illustrating the complexity of the issue.

The UK government backs an Alzheimer’s trial platform that aims to evaluate drug — including repurposed ones — swiftly and efficiently.

“Pooling these massive health data sets provides one source of evidence which we can use to help us focus on which drugs we should try first. We’re hopeful this will mean we can find some much-needed new treatments for dementia and speed up the process of getting them to patients,” added Underwood.

This research underlines the critical importance of continuing to explore existing medications for new therapeutic uses, offering a promising route towards combating dementia more effectively.