Thursday, January 14, 2010

Blood pressure drug offers fresh hope for dementia (UK)

Blood pressure drug offers fresh hope for dementia"Researchers believe a drug used to lower blood pressure could be even more effective against Alzheimer's disease than they previously thought. People taking angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) were up to 50% less likely to develop dementia than those taking other blood pressure drugs. Combined with another drug, ARBs also protected against further deterioration among those already with the disease. The study of more than 800,000 men appears in the British Medical Journal. The team from the Boston University School of Medicine presented initial results from the study two years ago, but further work suggests that ARBs - normally prescribed only to patients who cannot tolerate the more standard ACE inhibitors - confer greater protection than had been thought" - BBC

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