Memories or memory takers: drugs and dementia

Visitors to this website and subscribers to our newsletter know that we were very critical of the FDA approval of anti-amyloid drugs for Alzheimer’s disease (AD). They are expensive, barely beneficial to slow down cognitive decline and have serious side effects. There is growing support for a different approach to the MA. We were intrigued to read a new systematic review of drugs and dementia (Translational research and clinical interventionsJanuary 21, 2025). In this analysis, we have learned that certain categories of drugs – antimicrobials, vaccines and anti -inflammatory drugs – were associated with a reduced risk of dementia, while other drugs could increase the risk of dementia. Read the rest for more details.

Infections, inflammation and Alzheimer’s disease:

In 2018, we had the honor of interviewing Dr. Robert Moir in our syndicated public radio program at the national level. He was a deputy professor in neurology at the Harvard Medical School and research in MGH neurology. He was an innovative thinker and a brilliant investigator.

Dr. Moir and his colleagues proposed that beta-amyloid, stuff in amyloid plates, was an immune response to infection, perhaps linked to the herpes virus (NeuronJuly 11, 2018). You can listen to one of our heroes on this link. Simply click on the arrow inside the green circle under its photo. Unfortunately, Dr. Moir died prematurely from brain cancer in 2019, but the ideas of his research live. Dr. Moir’s vision surprised us. Many research has accumulated to suggest that herpes viruses are a risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease. Here is a recent article on this subject.

Do cold pimples increase the risk of Alzheimer’s disease?

Medicines and dementia: antiviral treatments vs ad:

We have asked this question for some time:

Can anti-Herpe treatments prevent Alzheimer’s disease?

The article entitled “Discovery based on the data of associations between prescribed drugs and the risk of dementia: a systematic review” was published in Translational research and clinical interventions On January 21, 2025. These investigators covered the medical literature and found 14 studies with “data from medical files for more than 130 million people and 1 million cases of dementia”.

They describe what they did:

“We have carried out a systematic review to identify and summarize the studies adopting an approach based on data to study the association between prescribed drugs and the risk of dementia.”

What they found on drugs and dementia:

These scientists have trained through a huge amount of data. We will first report what drugs seemed to reduce the risk of dementia. In doing so, however, we must emphasize that there was a lot of variability between studies. But when you assemble them all together and cut and design the data, you find an overview.

The authors wrote:

“Overall, we have found a lack of consistency between studies on the identification of individual drugs that modify the risk of dementia all causes or MA (Alzheimer’s disease). However, certain classes of drugs with biological plausibility have been identified, in particular antimicrobials, vaccines, anti-inflammatory drugs and antihypertensors for risk reduction.

“Despite the lack of consistency for individual drugs, some themes emerge for drug classes and comply with the previously published literature and biological plausibility. The association between antibiotics, antivirals and vaccines and the reduction in the risk of dementia is intriguing. Viral and bacterial infectious causes of current dementia have been proposed, supported by epidemiological data connecting the risk of dementia, antiviral drugs have been identified as some of the most promising reused drugs for dementia, and there is a growing interest in vaccination as being generally protective. Our results support these hypotheses and give more weight to these agents as being potentially modifying the disease or preventive for dementia. »»

The authors mention that blood pressure drugs were potentially beneficial, but their results in this regard were somewhat confusing and contradictory. Losartan (an ARB receptor blocker or angiotensin) seemed to be one of the anti-hypertensive drugs that was beneficial.

Valacyclovir seemed to be the antiviral linked to a lower risk of dementia.

They also pointed out that non -drug approaches could promise:

“The strongest negative correlations with dementia or progression of cognitive decline have been identified for combinations of herbs, zinc, selenium, magnesium, biotin, vitamin A, luteine ​​and chrome picoline. »»

Drugs and dementia: What drugs are worrying?

After going through a lot of research, the authors seemed to conclude that people taking antipsychotics and antidepressants had an increased risk of dementia. Certain drugs for diabetes and hypertension also seemed to increase the risk. This seems confusing, because hypertension and diabetes are linked to the MA. But blood pressure drugs and diabetes drugs work in different ways. Therefore, the kind prescribed medication can make a difference.

The authors mention the “urological”. These are drugs prescribed for the “hyperactive bladder”. Most are what we call anticholinergic drugs. This means that they interfere with the activity of the Critical Neurotransmitter Acetylcholine. We have written a lot about the link between anticholinergic drugs and dementia. Here are some items that provide more details, potentially problematic drugs and the names of anticholinergic drugs:

Anticholinergic drugs and dementia: the link becomes much stronger!

Where can I find a list of anticholinergic drugs?

Do your drugs increase your risk of dementia?

Final words:

What should we do with this review of drugs and dementia? First, what we put in our body has an impact on profit or damage. There is no longer any doubt that the exercise is good for our brain and that the diet also has a huge difference. Although you are undoubtedly tired to hear this, the Mediterranean style diet seems to help dementia. The link to this article will tell you about research supporting this food approach.

As important as the lifestyle is to protect your brain, drugs can also have an impact on the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. This last search in Translational research and clinical interventions (January 21, 2025) confirms what we have suspected for a long time. Medicines make a difference!

They can be memory manufacturers or memory takers. If you click on the link to the full text of the article, you can scroll # 6: “Drugs associated with a reduction in the risk of dementia” And # 7 “Medicines associated with an increased risk of dementia”. Your primary care provider can assess a copy of this article. Because it is “open source”, you can print the full text and take it during your next visit. You can also print our list of drugs that have an anticholinergic activity on this link.

Can we ask for a favor?

If you have found this article of interest, share it with friends or family members. We do our best to stay at the top of the medical literature. This is why we wanted to share the information from the review Translational research and clinical interventions (January 21, 2025). It is unlikely that your doctor has time to follow these publications unless she is dementia. Thank you for supporting our work.