Recent research on Alzheimer’s disease has identified drugs to treat high blood pressure as the key to counteracting the development of dementia in a specific ethnic group.
©Cleveland Clinic
Considering how patients of different ethnic groups respond to the same drug could be crucial in finding new treatments for Alzheimer’s, a disorder thatAlzheimer’s Association previously considered a “silent epidemic” among black adults.
The recent study conducted by Cleveland Clinic Published on Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association showed that telmisartan, a drug currently prescribed for people with high blood pressure, is associated with a lower risk of Alzheimer’s, particularly in black patients over the age of 60.
Data from millions of adults over the age of 60 did not show the same potential effect in white patients. Hence, the findings suggest that future clinical trials should prioritize the inclusion of patients from minority populations to find or strengthen such associations.
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More than 6 million people suffer from Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of dementia. Black adults over the age of 60 are 1.5 to 2 times more likely to develop the disease than white patients.
So far, there is only one drug approved to treat a potential underlying cause of Alzheimer’s directly in the brain, although there are other options for addressing the symptoms.
The researchers stated that:
Considering race-specific drug responses has the potential to dramatically improve patient care. Identifying these drugs can also reveal more information about the disease itself.
The research team applied innovative techniques, using artificial intelligence and unidentified data from the extensive electronic health record systems of the Cleveland Clinicto identify new targets and reusable drugs for the treatment of Alzheimer’s.
For this study, the researchers used a state-of-the-art retrospective cohort design analysis to examine data from more than 5 million patients in theAlzheimer’s Disease Sequencing Project. They found that telmisartan it was significantly associated with a reduced incidence of the disease in black participants.
Telmisartan is part of a group of drugs that treat high blood pressure by blocking theangiotensin IIa hormone that causes blood vessels to constrict.
Another blood pressure drug that treats hypertension differently, namely lisinopril, has not shown the same potential benefits as telmisartan, indicating that angiotensin II blockers may be useful in the prevention or treatment of Alzheimer’s in patients. black patients.
Dr. Cheng, first author of the study, pointed out that:
Although black patients are more likely to develop Alzheimer’s and suffer from associated comorbidities, they are chronically underrepresented in clinical trials. Keeping this in mind when recruiting for research can help produce diverse population genetic data, critical for further investigation and discovery.
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Source: Alzheimer’s Association
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