A new study from the University of Cambridge suggests that drugs like ibuprofen and antibiotics could be used to reduce the risk of dementia. The reason? This is all due to their ability to reduce levels of inflammation, which researchers are increasingly linking to a host of chronic illnesses, including dementia.
Scientists have found that several common medications could affect the risk of this condition, with anti-inflammatories such as ibuprofen topping the list. The role of inflammation in dementia is still being studied, but scientists already know that some genes that increase dementia risk are part of inflammatory pathways.
For the latest research, scientists looked at 14 previous studies covering the health of more than 130 million people. They also looked at prescribing data. Although more work is needed, the results so far suggest that there are several effective drugs that could be repurposed to treat dementia and, in doing so, save millions of euros and decades spent on drug development from scratch.
Dementia is on the rise, with predictions that one in three people born in the UK today will develop dementia in their lifetime and around 1.4 million people will suffer from the condition by 2040. “If “We can find drugs that are already approved for other conditions, then we can put them into trials and – most importantly – make them available to patients much, much more quickly than we would for an entirely new drug,” explains Dr. Ben Underwood of the University of Cambridge.
It’s exciting news, but Dr Julia Dudley, head of research strategy at Alzheimer’s Research UK, advises caution, saying researchers will still need to confirm their findings in clinical trials before they can be used in treatment. There is, however, no doubt that this is a welcome and hopeful first step on the long road to the prevention and treatment of dementia.
Disclaimer: Ibuprofen has not been approved to reduce the risk of dementia or for any other off-label use; Please always read the label before taking over-the-counter medications.
