Common pill for blood pressure is Alzheimer’s hope

A COMMON blood pressure drug could help halt the march of Alzheimer’s, experts believe.

Trials are under way to test whether losartan, which became available in 1995, can help tackle the condition.

Researchers believe the widely prescribed pill can slow the progression of Alzheimer’s by boosting blood flow and breaking the “chain reactions” that cause brain cell damage and memory problems.

The study is being led by the Universities of Bristol and Cambridge, Queen’s University Belfast and University College, London.

Pat Kehoe, professor of translational dementia research at Bristol, said: “In the long-term we are hoping this is the sort of drug that could slow down progression of the disease.

“Alzheimer’s is like a house on fire. It starts in one room and quickly spreads to the rest of the house.

“Treating it is a case of getting into as many rooms as possible to stop it getting out of control. The scientific case is there but we now really need people with Alzheimer’s disease to come forward and offer to take part as their involvement is essential to helping scientists find out if losartan could be a future treatment.”

The trial is looking at whether the drug has additional properties that could slow the progression of Alzheimer’s in people with and without hypertension.

The trial will see participants take either losartan or an identical-looking pill with no active medicine once a day for 12 months.

Nobody, including the doctors or nurses involved in the study, will know until the results are analysed who receives which.

Brain scans will then measure whether losartan affects the rate of brain shrinkage that normally occurs in Alzheimer’s.

Questionnaires on memory performance and quality of life will also indicate whether it could be an effective treatment.

Dr Rosa Sancho, of Alzheimer’s Research UK, said: “With high blood pressure a known risk factor for dementia, clinical trials like this will provide important clues as to whether lowering blood pressure may hold benefits for people living with the condition.

“They are a fundamental step along the path towards new treatments for dementia, but these trials cannot succeed without volunteers giving up their time to take part.”

Dr James Pickett, of Alzheimer’s Society, said: “No new drug for Alzheimer’s has been approved in the past 14 years.

“Testing drugs like this one, which we already know is safe, is a great approach, as it significantly reduces the time it could take to reach patients if it were effective.

“We are already using this approach by funding studies into arthritis and diabetes drugs.”

There are now 850,000 people living with dementia in the UK – 500,000 of whom have Alzheimer’s, the most common form of the harrowing condition.

Enrolment in the £2million project has been extended until February as more volunteers are needed. To sign up call Join Dementia Research on 0300 1115111 or visit joindementiaresearch.nihr.ac.uk